Kids and phones ?

[Bucknaked]

When they can pay their own bill. I am not buying them one and they can buy one themselves when they get a job. Same with cars. Worked for me and has worked for my oldest, 2 more kids to go...

Yes This!!!

[FireNguns]

I just got my 8 year old daughter an angel watch. It allows me to track her at all times. She can call, video call or text only the numbers I put in the address book. Also has an SOS button that automatically call 3 programmed numbers over and over until someone answer. Has a bunch a health monitors like temp, o2, heart rate, etc…. No internet or social media apps and doesn’t receive unknown calls not approved by parent app. Very secure and good way to keep tabs on here when she is playing with friends around our small town.
Watch was $159 and $10 a month unlimited att

[Tyrex750]

Gave me daughter one at around 10 yrs old

[Chief Big Toe]

Strummer,
We got our kids one when they started middle school.
I hate to say it but they used it a lot for school and it helped us to communicate with them about practice times and what not.

Same,
my daughter was in Band, Softball as well as Volleyball and powerlifting, so it was useful for her as well as us.. but if i had to do it again, probably not, as my son would constantly go over,(this was back when there was no unlimited)

but every parent is different as well as the situation

[sotx]

14

[Pineywoods]

We got them one when they were in 7th grade because of sports, practices, etc. It made communication so much easier. When I was growing up I had to try to find a pay phone to communicate that stuff with my parents which wasn't always easy. Also, at that age they were old enough to stay home by themselves at times, and since I haven't had a home phone since the 90's, they needed some form of communication while there by themselves. It's a tool that can be used differently by different people. One 13 year old is not necessarily equal to the next. It's like anything else, with boundaries and moderation, it's not a problem.

[BTLowry]

When they started driving and with stipulations

[Jon Stewart]

WHY. You made it without one when you were young. I know I did. IMHO it is part of the dumbing down of America. Just make an effort to look at people the next time you are out in public. You will be one of the few without out a phone up to your face. What the heck is SO important that people need to be on those things all day long?

I know they can come handy like when you need an ambulance or a wrecker but to walk around with one at your face all day long is nuts and now you are considering letting your teenage kids to do the same thing?

Nothing beats sitting in a restaurant looking at a table of 4 all on a phone.

[gemini2759]

When they get their driver's license.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

[Cory.Shumate]

WHY. You made it without one when you were young. I know I did. IMHO it is part of the dumbing down of America. Just make an effort to look at people the next time you are out in public. You will be one of the few without out a phone up to your face. What the heck is SO important that people need to be on those things all day long?

I know they can come handy like when you need an ambulance or a wrecker but to walk around with one at your face all day long is nuts and now you are considering letting your teenage kids to do the same thing?

Nothing beats sitting in a restaurant looking at a table of 4 all on a phone.

I agree with you on hating seeing everyone buried in their phones today, however, while I didn’t have a cell phone everywhere I went when I was younger, I recall being able to use a pay phone to contact parents in some situations and that isn’t available anymore. And they still make phones that don’t have data plans and don’t exactly have as much to offer you to keep your face buried in all day.

[Cory.Shumate]

I don’t want to do it yet. My wife is on the fence about . Leaning towards getting her one .

Oh quit leaning and just get your wife a phone.

[Pineywoods]

WHY. You made it without one when you were young. I know I did. IMHO it is part of the dumbing down of America. Just make an effort to look at people the next time you are out in public. You will be one of the few without out a phone up to your face. What the heck is SO important that people need to be on those things all day long?

I know they can come handy like when you need an ambulance or a wrecker but to walk around with one at your face all day long is nuts and now you are considering letting your teenage kids to do the same thing?

Nothing beats sitting in a restaurant looking at a table of 4 all on a phone.

I agree with much of what you said and if a person of any age stares at their phone like a zombie all day, it's an issue. With that said, when I was growing up everyone had a landline phone in their homes and pay phones where able to be found if needed. I can't imagine leaving my kid at the house by themselves without a way to call me or 911 if needed. I would always have to find pay phones after away football games to communicate with my parents to pick me up ect. A mobile phone remedies these things. Like a gun, any other tool can be dangerous or useful in the right hands. If parents are parenting, it can be managed. I love the way I grew up and I'm not a guy that's crazy about all of the technology. I'd rather live like a hermit in the mountains personally but I have to admit that the reality is that things have changed a lot.

[CEO]

Same story as many above. Daughter started asking for one around 12. When she turned 14 she started drill team and studio dance, wife wanted her to have one so she could keep in touch. Got her a pre paid flip phone (two actually). After she didn't lose or destroy that one for a predetermined amount of time we got her an iphone.

[gatt40]

Beware. Our neighbor got their daughter one when she turned 12. Mother checked it one day & saw she was getting messages from a pervert. They were very explicitly sexual in nature. Yes, phone was taken away.

[JHT]

My kids got one in 6th grade.

Once they got into afterschool sports/activities it was necessary due to their not being phones at the school to use without having to wait in line for 30 minutes to use.

Their middle school teachers use the smart phones in class too so it helps when the kids have one to use the apps as well.

They are in high school now and I can't see how they could get by without not having one in regards to sports/drama/dance/school.

As far as locking down the phones with restrictive rules and safety features to make it safe just remember as long as they have a friend that has internet access they are going to see all the things you are trying to protect them from whenever they wish.

Something else. Kids have work arounds for almost every parental control software that's out there.

As a parent you just need to stay on top of it. Our kids learned their bad phone behavior from us. A few simple rules:

No phones at the dinner table/restaurant.
They get turned off at X time at night.
The grades go the phone goes.

My rule is I spot check their internet history. Write down the date you give them the phone. They know the phone will be taken away from them if the internet history has been deleted since the last time I checked it.

Only twice have they came to me fessing up they clicked on a Youtube link that took them to adult themed blogs/website. They fessed up rather than try hiding it.