When did you give your kid(s) a cell phone?

[Baboontyme 2825]

44 minutes ago, achooloco said:

No kids but whats wrong with a land line until they are old enough to travel about without you? As in, when they get a car, they can then pay for their own phone? Not hating, just curious. Everyone up thread  (not trying to be a soldierhorn here) seems like they are actually good parents and want to protect their kids and are so far doing the right thing for their situation; just curious what's wrong with other alternatives. Best comment against my suggestion is kids just talk different now a days which I get but actually speaking words won't hurt anyone and the parents don't have to worry about apps, pics, etc. 

 

It's not about giving them a means to communicate with their friends, it's about you knowing where they are at all times and them being able to get in touch with you when apart. As they get a little bit older, you start granting them freedoms but not without major strings attached. I suppose I'll adjust as I go but at this point I can't imagine not wanting/needing to know where my kids are essentially every hour of their lives until they leave for college. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

The general consensus on this seems to be when the after school activities start up, and schedules get a little more complicated,  which for most is middle school.

[Your Mom 4852]

If my kid had to speak to other kids verbally over the phone or even text them he’d have no friends. They all talk with an app now, actual text messaging is for the olds.  You can force your kid to communicate whichever way you like but if his friends are not communicating the same way you’re fucking his social life over quite a bit. If you don’t care about that that’s cool but I like my kids having a healthy active social life.  It’s not a complete free-for-all, there are some limitations and expectations. The more they meet my expectations the fewer limitations I give them. 

My kids both got phones when they hit middle school. I monitored them pretty thoroughly for the first couple years and gradually eased up on it.  i’m sure they’ve seen more than a few tiddies on them and I’m sure they’ve had communications I wouldn’t approve of but, all in all, they are thriving and doing well in life.  Good grades, hang out with a good group of kids that are going places, good manners, a few typical teenage fights now and then but nothing that lasts very long. I can’t remember the last time I looked at either of their phones.

I got into my share of mischief as a kid too.  A certain amount of that is healthy for a teenager. How they’ll be able to manage that and how much rope you give your kid to hang themselves is something that only you can have an idea of. What’s right from my kid might be wrong for yours and what’s right for yours might be wrong for mine. 

[Jerry Callo 8732]

9 hours ago, achooloco said:

No kids but whats wrong with a land line until they are old enough to travel about without you? As in, when they get a car, they can then pay for their own phone? Not hating, just curious. Everyone up thread  (not trying to be a soldierhorn here) seems like they are actually good parents and want to protect their kids and are so far doing the right thing for their situation; just curious what's wrong with other alternatives. Best comment against my suggestion is kids just talk different now a days which I get but actually speaking words won't hurt anyone and the parents don't have to worry about apps, pics, etc. 

My girls both got phones when they entered the 7th grade.  That's when they start athletics before and after school.  Just easier to communicate pick ups, drop offs, changes to schedules, etc.

[tbone_ 14179]

If my kid had to speak to other kids verbally over the phone or even text them he’d have no friends. They all talk with an app now, actual text messaging is for the olds.  You can force your kid to communicate whichever way you like but if his friends are not communicating the same way you’re fucking his social life over quite a bit. If you don’t care about that that’s cool but I like my kids having a healthy active social life.

This. I don’t particularly like it but this is exactly how it is now.

[Sbbruin 21897]

5 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

My girls both got phones when they entered the 7th grade.  That's when they start athletics before and after school.  Just easier to communicate pick ups, drop offs, changes to schedules, etc.

Yep, 6th grade graduation for both my kids.

[hornbri 1417]

We gave our 9 year old a AppleWatch that is on a family plan with her mom's phone. Not quite a phone but does allow us to call/text her with out all the social media issues. It is also fairly locked down to only phone numbers/contacts we have approved (which is only family right now)

[markstanco 12627]

What I am looking for is age, but most importantly maturity for that age. My oldest kid will get one well before my youngest. And likely by 2-4 years.

So the not that you care update.

Good choice on the older kid. He got it at 11 and a half. He constantly chases tail in the hood on the SXS so it’s good to keep up with him and texts. He is almost 13 now.

Our youngest who is sadly immature to where we held him back (now 10 yrs old and still colors and plays with legos) won’t get one for a few years at best. Breaks my heart where he compares his bro to him on a finite age.


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[HiggyBaby 2546]

Start of 7th grade. And they are locked down.

[4th&Five 41597]

Our oldest got hers the weekend before middle school started. We wanted to wait a bit longer but she would have been a social outcast pretty quickly. 

[txhorns 2413]

On 6/16/2021 at 8:25 PM, markstanco said:

So the not that you care update.

Good choice on the older kid. He got it at 11 and a half. He constantly chases tail in the hood on the SXS so it’s good to keep up with him and texts. He is almost 13 now.

Our youngest who is sadly immature to where we held him back (now 10 yrs old and still colors and plays with legos) won’t get one for a few years at best. Breaks my heart where he compares his bro to him on a finite age.


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Wait was I supposed to stop playing with Legos at some point?

[Jkwellborn 6747]

Our youngest who is sadly immature to where we held him back (now 10 yrs old and still colors and plays with legos) won’t get one for a few years at best. Breaks my heart where he compares his bro to him on a finite age.


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You can’t compare kids like that though. Nothing wrong with coloring and legos.

[Prepuce of Doom 21106]

 

[Baboontyme 2825]

 I have an older Android I'm going to give to my oldest before middle school starts in a month or so. 

1. Any recs on Google Play apps? I want to be able to monitor location from my phone. (We are on Google Fi)

2. I would also like to lock certain things down. Either the internet entirely, or possibly if I could lock the internet away from home network? Can you lock certain apps outside of home network? 

3. Any apps that allow you to monitor other activity - text conversations etc - from your phone? 

 

[elfenix 34337]

reading @Armybrat's grandson fuck up the previous page is kind of a trip

[Armybrat 40920]

15 minutes ago, elfenix said:

reading @Armybrat's grandson fuck up the previous page is kind of a trip

Say what? Where?

my kids did just fine without cellphones...

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by Armybrat

[elfenix 34337]

the poster formerly known as @Soldierhorn

[crash_davis 23115]

On 7/22/2021 at 10:16 AM, Baboontyme said:

 I have an older Android I'm going to give to my oldest before middle school starts in a month or so. 

1. Any recs on Google Play apps? I want to be able to monitor location from my phone. (We are on Google Fi)

2. I would also like to lock certain things down. Either the internet entirely, or possibly if I could lock the internet away from home network? Can you lock certain apps outside of home network? 

3. Any apps that allow you to monitor other activity - text conversations etc - from your phone? 

 

Family Link app. Not sure what all you can do but that's a good place to start. At the very least, you should be able to share location, which you can do in Google maps Location Sharing anyway.

https://families.google.com/familylink/

 

[crash_davis 23115]

Location Sharing

In his/her Google Maps app, click on the mug shot/Upper case letter in top right

Location Sharing

+ New Share in oval box in the lower right hand map window

Add who you want to share location with and for how long.