Read This Before You Buy An iPhone For Elementary School Graduation

I have some concerns and some alternatives for your consideration

Hi

When I’m stuck I make lists.

If you’ve got a child graduating elementary school this year, you may be agonizing about whether to give them an iPhone or not.

Today I’m sharing two lists and an FAQ to help you decide. I’m also giving you some additional resources to help and a quick rundown of some recent tech headlines that all parents need to know about. Paid subscribers get a bonus section where I share how to add a google wallet to a parent managed phone.

Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash

List #1 - iPhone Pros and Cons

PRO’s

• Its the one the kids want so it = social clout/acceptance

• Your child can communicate with friends & family

• Your child can easily access practical apps like apple pay, google maps, all trails (hiking) and uber for teens (when they are 13)

CON’s

• It has really poor parental controls. Like honestly, the worst parental controls of any choice you can make.

• It has many, many unnecessary distractions including access to the internet, apps store and games that are difficult to manage/

• Apple devices have Siri, Notes & Airdrop which are sneaky, hard to manage ways kids to message and get to the internet.

List #2 - Parent Managed Phone Pros and Cons

PRO’s

• A way to communicate with friends & family

• Great parental controls

• Minimal distractions

CON’s

• Not cool like an iPhone

• getting practical apps on the phone can be a pain (but probably worth it to keep the app store off the device?)

FAQs

What is a parent managed phone?

A parent managed phone is a phone with strong parental controls, no internet and no app store. Examples are Bark, Troomi, Gabb and Pinwheel.

What do you mean specifically by Apple has really poor parental controls?

• The control to set time limits on specific apps is broken in Apple Parental Controls

• Apple Parental Controls do not allow you to monitor the content of messages nor manage group chat nor disable MMS - all of which are essential, IMO, if you have a young texter

• And there is no solution for using Notes as sneaky text messaging

What about giving an Apple Watch?

Apple Watches have the same operating system and parental controls as an iPhone. Distracting activities are harder on an Apple Watch than an iPhone but you will have the same issues with time and managing group chat + all the sneaky ways kids can get to the internet on Apple devices. I would say Apple Watches are marginally better than iPhones.

What about an Android Smartphone?

Parent Managed Phones are built on top of Android phones. As long as you going Android you might as well choose a parent managed phone with excellent parental controls and make it easier on yourself. Android parental controls are pretty good, but the parental controls on parent managed phones are better.

What about a dumbphone?

A solid choice. There is very little to distract children on dumbphone. The Wisephone, allows you to add on practical apps if you like as well. BUT, dumbphones do NOT have parental controls–which means no time settings or text monitoring. For me this is a problem. Rising middle schoolers 100% need help with time management and group chat.

What do you mean by “Practical Apps”

These are helpful apps when out in the world. Yes, we survived before smartphones but now that we have them–they are very useful. For me practical apps include:

• A way to pay

• Help if you are lost (like a map)

• A way to call a cab or car service

• A distraction free way to take notes (ie not Apple Notes),

• A way to see a boarding pass, ticket or other important item (think Apple wallet not ticketmaster app)

What did you give your child?

Great question! We went with The Pinwheel Phone at the start of Middle Achool. Pinwheel is a parent managed phone. The parental controls are great. I like that i can monitor and manage group chat and time from an app on my phone. I like that i can turn group chat on and off.

Worth Flagging

1. Need more support figuring out the right device for your child? Check out Tweens & Tech the on demand course that walks you through how to make the best decision for your child.

2. Want a deep dive on devices ? This Smartphone Alternative Matrix compares each device feature by feature.

3. Are you looking for Graduation Gift Ideas? Check out my top picks for tech forward / tech safe graduation gifts for every graduation milestone (here)

4. Join Hot Tips About Group Chat TODAY at noon! RSVP here!

ICYMI - Recent Tech News Headlines For Parents

• New York State has announced a bell to bell policy for public and charter schools grades K-12 beginning next school year. This means no phones during lunch, free periods or in between classes (with some notable exceptions like medical necessity). School districts will have discretion on how to implement it. NY is the largest state to do this. South Carolina and Virginia have similar bans already. Gov Hochul’s announcement here.

• The Take It Down Act has passed both houses of congress and is now on the President's desk awaiting signature. The Take It Down Act criminalizes the publication of nonconsensual intimate images (NCII), including AI, and requires its removal within 48 hours of a verified request.

• The Wall Street Journal has reported that Meta AI chatbots on Instagram and Facebook have engaged users, including those potentially identifying as minors, in sexually suggestive or inappropriate conversations.

Bonus Item for Paid Subscribers

The inspiration for today’s post came because I got stuck trying to figure out how to install Google Pay on my son’s Pinwheel. For about 45 minutes I was convinced I wouldn't be able to allow it without opening up the app store for him. And this literally had me rethinking whether the Pinwheel was the right choice for him. But then customer service wrote back. And explained exactly what I needed to do.

Paid subscribers read on to see how to do it