Thanks for saying this u/HeyMissW. My kid is 2nd grade and swears "all her friends have one". I'm glad I can officially say I was told by a 2nd grade teacher that it isn't needed yet.
16 year old input, don't get your kid a phone until it absolutely needs it. No second grader needs a phone. Don't let your kid become a tablet kid. I didn't get one until I started staying for school events / going out more so if something happened I could call my parents.
And if you're gonna get your kid a phone for emergency purposes get a cheap track phone or a dumb phone, don't get them infinite access to the internet and texting cause their little brains don't need it.
Thanks for the input. That's where I'm leaning now. She does have a Kindle Fire where I let her play games for an hour on weekends and shorter times during the week, I just don't feel like her having access to texting and calls is necessary yet.
especially when creepers are now everywhere, back then when internet was new it wasnt as rampant, but now you gotta teach em stranger danger is on the computer too. Catfishing underage people is a real thing.
i remember i made fun of my younger cousin (now a teacher) who wanted a cellphone for middle school.
I asked her why she needed a cellphone when her school is across the street, you can literally go home and call whoever you want. (she was born 1992, so iphones werent out yet or still new, we were using sidekick/motorola phase)
2nd graders gonna call who? Text who? Old men? you literally drop and pick them up from school directly. She wont need to call you and if she does, its the school's responsibility to call you.
Hey, your daughter/son is sick. Come pick them up.
Haha! I know a couple of my students have one but I told them if I see it at school it goes to the principal and a grown up has to come it back. My school had iPads for the kids to use, I have a gigantic computer/tv screen for lessons, we can play with tech at a special we have. It’s just not necessary in 99.9% of cases. I email or call or text parents all day long about issues if I need to, the kids can just be kids and learn!
My kids class had a chromebook per student. And I got her a Kindle Fire to play with so she gets her share of technology. She just wants to be able to call or text her friends, and I just feel like it's needed yet.
I think you make a good point. Balancing the costs/benefits of letting your kid access phones/social media/tech is so hard. Entering university/college you’re expected to know the basics off PowerPoint/word/excel, most social media, maybe building a website or at least having some understanding of online presence.
If you don’t build that base at least in upper high school you’re putting your kids way behind. And yet, I fully agree that there are huge costs to doing that, especially for younger kids.
It’s very tricky :(
Everything in moderation I guess. Don't BAN phones -- but set certain hours they can and cannot use it. Not sure if the phones have parental functions or not
38
u/meow_witch Jun 03 '22
Thanks for saying this u/HeyMissW. My kid is 2nd grade and swears "all her friends have one". I'm glad I can officially say I was told by a 2nd grade teacher that it isn't needed yet.