Does your Middle School child have a Smart Phone?

[hbridge]

I am coming to the conclusion that most of my daughters friends have Smart Phone, most are IPhones! My DC has a flip phone. I guess I don't really understand giving a tween/young teen a $500+ device.

My question also stems from the fact that DC needs a new Ipod (she is using my very old nano which will no longer hold a charge) for her long commute to school every day and I am trying to determine which device would be best.

Update:

So DC finally agreed to use and IPhone ! Of course, only because we are "making her"! This came on the heals of her Ipod running out of charge when she still wanted to use it (it was fully charged that morning) and a transportation issue on Friday with me unable to get in touch with her! So she has a phone!!!

Now, a couple of questions:
-What do you recommend for tracking? All I need is a locator in case the phone is lost and a gps tracker so I know where she is if there is a transportation issue (stuck in traffic, ect).
- Can anyone recommend an audio book app? I tried Audible, but it will become expensive quickly since DC commutes 10+ hours a week.
- What other apps are a must for a teen?

Thanks so much!

[bcafe]

My 13 yr old DD has a smart phone but with no 3g/4g data. She can only access the web via a wifi connection. Her phone was $99.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I had planned to wait till the summer between middle school and high school but got it a few months sooner. It was just a lot easier for all of us if he had one. It's been great. He got an iPhone SE bc I have an iPhone and can do family share and location services.


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[cheme]

My 13 yr old dd doesn't have anything, but she is at a K-8 school and I bring her to most of her activities so she really doesn't need one yet. I plan to wait until the summer before high school. All of her friends have something, but she has accepted that she won't be getting anything for another year and we don't hear too many complaints.

[JBaxter]

Nathan got one when he was going into 6th. He had a choice of a birthday party or getting a 6s iPhone. He chose the 6s ( we still went out for dinner and he had a cake) we have an unlimited data text and cell to cell is free after 7 is free the 5 of us share 1500 anytime minutes.

[essnce629]

I gave DS1 (almost 13) my super old Samsung Galaxy Victory phone before he started 6th grade. My main reason was because I dropped him off at swim team practice at a local community college every night and then he'd wait for either DH or I to pick him up outside at 7:30pm. I didn't want him out there alone, in the dark, with no phone. I will always get myself a new phone first and then pass down my old phone to him. I don't think he needs a brand new phone at this point. I also make him pay half of his monthly bill. His phone is so old though that even though it's a smartphone, it really can't handle any apps and the screen is super dim now! But he can text and call me and that's all that matters. He basically just uses it to listen to music every day. Everyone in my family has Samsung phones and so do all my friends so he's never cared about an iPhone. I have my two year old Samsung Galaxy S3 that I can pass down to him next if I get it to work again (screen won't turn on)! If I can't get my S3 to work then I would probably buy him a new phone the summer before he starts high school, so in a year, but it definitely won't be the latest and greatest phone (which I don't even have). It would be another no contract Samsung phone that I could get for around $150 or less.

[KrisM]

DS1 is going into 7th. He has the use of a "family" Tracfone when needed, but it's not his phone. If he is going to ride his bike home from school (3 miles), he takes it with him. Otherwise he hasn't taken it to school. I thought about getting him on last Christmas, but he wasn't interested when I asked him. His first phone will most likely be a flip phone.

[gatorsmom]

DS1 is going into 7th. He has the use of a "family" Tracfone when needed, but it's not his phone. .

ds1 uses a tracphone when we drop him at the ski hill during ski season, but otherwise he doesn't really need a phone. None of his friends have one and he hasn't been asking for one.

[BunnyBee]

She has an old iPhone that she had been using as an iPod. It was cheaper than buying a dumb phone. She has a bare bones plan without much data at all, so basically it's a dumb phone unless there's wifi (mostly home).

[pinkmomagain]

DD is headed to middle school in fall. She has had an old iphone with no phone/data plan for over a year (it was one of our old ones and she uses wifi to text, surf the web, etc.). She will be getting a newer iphone with phone/data in August. Our district does not have late buses, so if she stays after school she will need to call for pick-ups. Iphones are the norm around here.