Parent Perspective: When your daughter is the last 6th grader to get a phone
After a recent conversation, I asked one of my closest friends to share her experience giving her 6th grader her first phone. I hope her account will give you some confidence that you CAN do this!
One of the most stressful decisions I’ve faced as a parent has been deciding when to let my 6th grader have her first smartphone. As we know from our favorite Digital Mom’s recent newsletter, this is a complicated matter, with no clear cut rules for what to do and when. From Surgeon General warnings to scary articles in the media, my consistent answer to my daughter when she asked for a phone has been that there is legitimate evidence surrounding the dangers of having that kind of access to the digital world at her age. And, that I am genuinely scared of the effect it would have on her. I am looking out for her health and safety, and I’m not making this stuff up.
My daughter has had a smartwatch since she was 9. So, as far as I was concerned she had everything she needed to communicate and stay safe. But I also knew I couldn’t keep her in a bubble forever, and frankly I got tired of her using my number for her group chats with friends and classmates. I rarely give in to the “everyone else has one” argument (I mean yes, I did get her a Stanley when everyone had it, but she did promise to drink more water!) My husband and I were the last holdouts amongst her friend group and it legitimately seemed like we were one of the last in her entire grade at school (she’s 11). So we caved and gave her an iPhone for Christmas.
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