Thread: smart phones for small children

Originally Posted by Alana*sMommy

My oldest (she'll be 8 next week) has been begging for a cell phone. Most of her friends have one. However, I don't see a true need for her to have one and I can see it leading to problems (and I don't need another thing to monitor).

Alyssa will be 8 in May, and none of her little friends have a phone. She does call Grandma, but she uses my phone. Even the kids that we know that go to school do not have a phone until teen years. Thankfully!

Originally Posted by AlyssaEimers

Alyssa will be 8 in May, and none of her little friends have a phone. She does call Grandma, but she uses my phone. Even the kids that we know that go to school do not have a phone until teen years. Thankfully!

Alana does have older friends at dance (9-13), but even the kids in her class have them. I didn't believe her until I chaperoned a school field trip. I refuse to get her a phone just because her friends have one.

Originally Posted by Alana*sMommy

Alana does have older friends at dance (9-13), but even the kids in her class have them. I didn't believe her until I chaperoned a school field trip. I refuse to get her a phone just because her friends have one.

That is so crazy to me. She is already growing up so fast!

Originally Posted by Alana*sMommy

I refuse to get her a phone just because her friends have one.

This. I just don't see "everyone has one" as being a good reason to buy something.

Our oldest has a cell phone that she pays for. (she will be 13 next week) It is not a smart phone though and she will not be getting one anytime soon. We still monitor internet use pretty regularly so smart phones would just be one more thing for us to keep track of.

We love the educational apps on our tablet! My kids dont play on it everyday, but when they are allowed they love it. In fact I am writing a grant right now to get a set of 4 of them for my classroom (ages 3/4 and 4/5) Some kids learning style is perfect for the tablets and since technology is not going away, so I want to equip them now.

I kid you not, almost every parent I speak to from DDs class we're getting their kid either the normal ipad or the mini that has just been released!!

I felt like a crap Mum because her biggest present was a bike.

They're creating a rod for their own backs though IMO. Get them big things at 4/5 yrs old, they expect bigger and better as they get older!

xx

Oldest is 11 and this Christmas she got a basic Kindle...and thats it. They don't have any other electronics.

I already feel like I have to battle screen time issues, I don't think they need to own their own screens, it will just make it worse. They like to play on my phone sometimes and they play on the computer sometimes too.

At Emma's age many of her friends have iphones or ipads. Thankfully she doesn't seem to be begging for one and seems to understand that we have real reasons why we think it would be better if they were older. She does want a cell phone, but i think she mainly wants to text. Her having a basic cell phone at this point would be handy. She will probably have on before school next year, possibly this February when our contract is up.

My mother told me she would like to get Emma and ipod touch for her birthday next August. I told her i would be okay with that.

Aodhan will pitch a fit. He is the one that wants all of the electronic stuff and would be glued to the video screen if I did not actively monitor and he will surely be jealous and feel its unfair. Sometimes i wish he was the oldest...i think it would be better for his mental health. *sigh*...but i digress.

ETA: Aodhan said to me in the car yesterday "I don't think its fair, all the kids at school got electronics for Christmas, like iPads and iPhones"

ugggh

DD did get a LeapPad for xmas. We've been pretty resistant to introducing too much technology too fast up till now (the kids' cousin who is 6 got an iPad or something crazy expensive) but DD's in kindy and they're using computers for learning. DS uses the LeapPad sometimes and learns to draw letters on it. Nice thing about that is I don't end up with a table or wall or 3 y.o. covered with marker

I just can't imagine being able to give iPads out as gifts to your kids. They're $500!

at 5 or 6 yrs old? Nope.

Older? yes. We gave the oldest his at 12.