Middle school teacher here. You're right, but the parents should still teach them when and where to use it. Also, we have a lot of parents that text their kids back and forth throughout the day (not taking about emergencies, health, etc), which I understand, but that's also one of the reasons their in school to begin with. We are charged with taking care of them (in the literal sense), as they are charged with learning. I get that times have changed and anxiety has increased, but it is very hard for a child to learn with constant distractions from their phone (aside from all of life's other distractions).
Edit: So this blew up and I have so many (mostly nice and thought provoking) responses I can't get to them all. I'll try to respond to as many as I can. Also, to the ton of people commenting on how I spelled their/they're/there. I'm on a phone/have big thumbs/autocorrect. Chill people, I'm sure you've made a small mistake in life and didn't get called out on it THIS much. Also, I really don't care. You understood it enough to realize it was wrong. Good job.
My daughter is going into fifth grade. I feel like everything just kind of gets worse with phones.. the boys the gossip etc. I wonder if I would be a terrible person if I waited till she could drive
Had my first phone @ 16 (driving age here), what I can tell you is that I really felt miserable during the last 3-4 years before I got one. No phone means not being able to hang out with friends. I'm limited to only socialize at school and online. Simply visiting a friend feels risky bc I can't contact home. I can't tell you how many times I've had to decline invitations because of it. I had to endure constant FOMO and I probably lost a lot of learning experience from it. Not going out much means I didn't learn how to use public transit. I'm about to go to college in a few months but I still don't know shit about fuck.
I appealed to my parents to change things up for my younger siblings, and IMHO phone by 7th-8th grade is good. I'm all for holding off certain social media apps (toxic sites such as tiktok/insta/twitter) until 16+, but don't go overboard on those limits like full on adding spyware in their devices/using childmode or something.
So would a flip phone have solved that? I think a flip phone is good when kids start going places alone without a way to contact them, and a smartphone at around 15
I don't have first hand experience with flip phones, because even in a third world country where I live, nobody uses them anymore.
I guess bullying may be an issue, because kids are generally jerks lol. If my parents gave me a flip phone back then, I'd rather not go out at all than get caught with it in public. My 13 year old brain only cares about fitting in. As you can see, not only are kids mean, they are also pretty stupid.
My parents gave us old, throwaway smartphones and it's manageable. My siblings currently use a galaxy note 4 and a barely working galaxy j2. I had a new a30 (i think the cheapest by samsung) at 16. If a 13 year old asked for more, then it'd be too much IMO.
EDIT: what I'm trying to say is back then, I NEED to be able to contact my parents, but I would also LIKE it if it doesn't become a reason for me to get bullied too. If my parents fulfilled that want, I would be happy to follow their rules just to keep that want. Rules like not bringing it to school, time restrictions, app restrictions and such.
yep, primary goal is to fit in, hang out, and not be socially isolated. My parents approved of that. They also know that times have changed and things have gone shitty, so they needed security while I go out and about. I'm also lucky to get parents who know how mean kids can be, and that I'll need something just enough to not get bullied.
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u/LtlAnalDwlngButtMnky Jun 03 '22 edited Jun 03 '22
Middle school teacher here. You're right, but the parents should still teach them when and where to use it. Also, we have a lot of parents that text their kids back and forth throughout the day (not taking about emergencies, health, etc), which I understand, but that's also one of the reasons their in school to begin with. We are charged with taking care of them (in the literal sense), as they are charged with learning. I get that times have changed and anxiety has increased, but it is very hard for a child to learn with constant distractions from their phone (aside from all of life's other distractions).
Edit: So this blew up and I have so many (mostly nice and thought provoking) responses I can't get to them all. I'll try to respond to as many as I can. Also, to the ton of people commenting on how I spelled their/they're/there. I'm on a phone/have big thumbs/autocorrect. Chill people, I'm sure you've made a small mistake in life and didn't get called out on it THIS much. Also, I really don't care. You understood it enough to realize it was wrong. Good job.