re: Kids with phones or tablets.

Kids don’t need a phone before middle school. Any parent who gives them one just wants them to leave them alone. It’s a social thing now like wearing Nikes vs Jordache back in the 80s.

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Can’t speak to a percentage, but as someone who teaches at an upper middle class middle school, I can say that the overwhelming majority of students have smart phones. In fact, two years ago, we had a student who didn’t have a phone at all and she was brought up by the counselor for potential social issues because of it.

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that is nuts. My kids go to upper middle to wealth private school and my oldest is in 5th. no kids have cell phones in 5th and really only see some of the 8th graders.

there is nothing wrong with them having the phones, its the social media and the ability to send pictures in text that is the issue.


OP my kids have tablets, also have access to internet. I can see every sight they go to from my phone through the unifi system. Also they have messenger and i can see all of those too. I am lucky and have good kids and havent had to restrict too much yet.

Also have it setup where it turns off internet access to their tablets at 830 and tvs at 9.

Only my oldest has a cell phone (in college)

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So when the kid is emotionally distraught due to a lack of friends and difficulty to connect with them outside of school, the counselor should just ignore it? Or say, “this is what your parents decided. Get over it”?

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yea its none of her fricking business.

in the end the parents should have a home phone. But in middle school, how much do you need to be connecting to your friends outside of school?

maybe different for girls, but my boys(oldest is 5th grade) live in a neighborhood and all the boys are outside everyday not sitting inside talking and texting on the phone.

but mine have tablets but only facebook messenger that i monitor.

they will get a phone in 7th or 8th grade that will prolly not have the ability to send photos or receive and for sure will not have social media.

socail media is the fricking devil imo, especially for little girls.

Our 11 year old got her phone at the start of the school year. She started middle school and it is assumed by teachers and admin that all students will have a phone. She is not allowed to use it in school or they can take it. She uses it mostly to text us about who is picking her up from school in the afternoon or when her sports practice is done or text friends. When she walks in the door, the phone goes down on the charger until she is done with her homework and chores. She usually gets it back a little before bedtime but then hands it over to us when it is lights out. We have it locked down and frequently go through her messages and history. I would say she watches weird YouTube Shorts mostly.

I still thought she was too young for a phone but I compromised on the condition she wasn't allowed to have apps like Snapchat, Tik Tok, or Instagram (which most of her friends have and is super annoying as a parent who says no). I'm glad I stuck to that because SO MUCH drama this year has happened on those two platforms. My kid stays out of drama normally but it is easier when she doesn't have those apps.

Our six year old has a Kindle that is locked down to Netflix, Prime, and Disney+ set to her profile. She mostly watches it at night to wind down. She'd much prefer raking leaves outside or playing Mario Kart on the Switch to any games on the tablet anyway.

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yea its none of her fricking business.

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Except it’s literally the counselor’s job to ensure the social and emotional well-being of students in order for them to participate and succeed in school. You could always homeschool if you have an issue with that.

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Curious what percentage of parents with children under the age of 13 allow them to have a phone or tablet and what is their reasoning?

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10 year old twins here, only phones they have are older phones of mine that they can basically only use at home. It has no data, just WiFi access.


In fact, just last weekend the one kid proved why they aren't getting their own phones to have and take everywhere. I took him to a monster truck, and we basically had a near 2 hour lull between going down on the floor to see the trucks and the start of the show, so it was probably the first time I ever let him take the phone out of the house and with him...aaaaaand he lost it lol. Luckily it's an older phone of mine so I don't care in the least, but it just proved why they can't have their own regular phones, and instead they have watches with text/calling access that they wear to school and we can use for GPS if needed.

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Except it’s literally the counselor’s job to ensure the social and emotional well-being of students in order for them to participate and succeed in school. You could always homeschool if you have an issue with that.

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not having a cell phone doesnt mean someone is not social or emotionally well enough to participate in school!!

how frick up is this...you are saying...if you dont have a smartphone by middle school...you are not emotionally capable of attending school. How frickign retarded are you?

and sorry 7th adn 8th graders arent doing that much on the phone anyways. I have neices that age adn i will say little girls do way more but they arent on it all day and night.

Mine had a phone younger but she would travel without me and I wanted her to have one. I always had certain parental controls on there.

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Kids with phones or tablets.
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Kids are active, kids need a phone.

Mine got one in middle school. She'd do things like staying after school for track or band practice. She needed to be able to call us to come get her, stuff like that.

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This