Apple Watch instead of phone for tween

[georgiegirl]

Has anyone given their tween an Apple Watch (with cellular) instead of a phone?

I really, really don’t want to get DS1 a smartphone. However the time has come since he’s almost 12 and he will be in middle school in person this fall. We got DD a phone for her 11th birthday so she would have it for middle school, and DS1 was expecting a phone when he turned 11 last year. We “lucked out” with covid and online learning this year, so DS didn’t need a phone. But he’s had more freedom with roaming the neighborhood, and it would be nice to be able to get a hold of him and know where he is at all time (GPS tracking.). However, he has a major screen time addiction (we keep all devices and remotes locked in a safe), and I don’t want him to have a smart phone. DH suggested a flip phone, but DS’s shorts often doesn’t have pockets, and I fear he’d just leave it in the grass somewhere and then we can’t find it since it doesn’t have GPS tracking. So I thought, hey maybe one of those Apple watches with cellular that don’t need to be tethered to a phone. It seems like a great choice for DS1. We can text him and call him and know where he’s at with the tracking. We are an Apple family, so it seems perfect. I’d love to hear some stories from real life people who have tried this.

Thanks!

I know there is a thread about this, but ms pacman’s mailbox is full, so I can’t message her but I hope she will respond.


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[gatorsmom]

My DS3 is hugely addicted to screen time and this is what we did for him. His Apple Watch is connected to DH’s phone which is how he makes the changes to his phone. He can call or text me. It’s working well for letting him communicate with me while he’s out and about.

I think you are right about wanting to keep him away from more screen time. My 3 oldest teens were never really hooked on electronics but ones they got their phones, they are always searching stuff. Even my dd. It’s sad. They don’t read much for fun anymore. I guess the phone is just much more exciting.

[georgiegirl]

My DS3 is hugely addicted to screen time and this is what we did for him. His Apple Watch is connected to DH’s phone which is how he makes the changes to his phone. He can call or text me. It’s working well for letting him communicate with me while he’s out and about.

I think you are right about wanting to keep him away from more screen time. My 3 oldest teens were never really hooked on electronics but ones they got their phones, they are always searching stuff. Even my dd. It’s sad. They don’t read much for fun anymore. I guess the phone is just much more exciting.

I’m glad to hear it’s working well for your family. Does your son feel like he’s missing out? Was he mad not to get a phone? Or is the Apple Watch good enough?


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[gatorsmom]

I’m glad to hear it’s working well for your family. Does your son feel like he’s missing out? Was he mad not to get a phone? Or is the Apple Watch good enough?


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He never complains about not having a phone. None of his friends have one yet so there is no peer pressure. But DS3 is a little unusual. He’s a little behind socially and really only has one close friend. Since that friend doesn’t have a phone, he doesn’t care that he doesn’t have one (they socialize by playing video games together several tonight’s each week). Ds’s been great about answering the texts we send him and he will let us know when he needs to be picked up from some activity. He rarely asks to play with the settings on Dh’s phone. That was the manipulative move of the other 3 kids. When we got them watches they were required to be connected to separate phones. They always asked to play with their watch settings and eventually they were “just checking something” on their phones was their constant excuse for having the phones out. I should have been paying closer attention or done a phone break. Now they are looking at them constantly.

[niccig]

We got DS a phone when he started middle school. We did use a subscription app that let us set screen limits and control what apps he had on it. He’s high school now and no limits. DS school requires them to show a QR code of health screening, either on a device or a print out. Having his own phone makes that easier


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[MSWR0319]

We got DS a phone when he started middle school. We did use a subscription app that let us set screen limits and control what apps he had on it. He’s high school now and no limits. DS school requires them to show a QR code of health screening, either on a device or a print out. Having his own phone makes that easier


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If you think he’ll need a phone in the next few years and don’t want to buy a watch and a phone in that time frame, you can always use the screen time controls on Apple and make it just a phone. That’s what we did with DS at first. He wanted to text his friends and I wanted him to be able to call us but didn’t want all of the other distractions. So we just blocked everything but phone and messages. Now we’ve started allowing him a bit more freedom a year later and it’s nice to be able to control that.

[georgiegirl]

If you think he’ll need a phone in the next few years and don’t want to buy a watch and a phone in that time frame, you can always use the screen time controls on Apple and make it just a phone. That’s what we did with DS at first. He wanted to text his friends and I wanted him to be able to call us but didn’t want all of the other distractions. So we just blocked everything but phone and messages. Now we’ve started allowing him a bit more freedom a year later and it’s nice to be able to control that.

I can’t fathom giving him an iPhone at his level of maturity. He’s careless with his belongings, and I’m 100% sure he’s lose it and/or break it immediately. Eventually he will need a phone, but if I can put it off 2 years or even one year, that would be great

[MSWR0319]

I can’t fathom giving him an iPhone at his level of maturity. He’s careless with his belongings, and I’m 100% sure he’s lose it and/or break it immediately. Eventually he will need a phone, but if I can put it off 2 years or even one year, that would be great

Fully understand! DS2 will be like that. We had old iPhones laying around from DH because his work phone gets upgraded all the time so we started out with one of those. We did have to buy a new one last fall when it got dropped in the lake but we buy the $199 ones from Walmart, so I was ok with it.

[legaleagle]

If the issue with the flip phone is mostly that you'll think he'll lose it, you can get a Tile or the new apple airtag and attach it to the phone.

[georgiegirl]

If the issue with the flip phone is mostly that you'll think he'll lose it, you can get a Tile or the new apple airtag and attach it to the phone.

Clever idea. DH and I joked about implanting the Apple tag into his body so we can track him. [emoji23]. He also don’t always have pockets on his clothing, and it might be difficult to text on a flip phone. We can punt the issue for another week since he injured himself at his friend’s house yesterday, so he can’t leave the house for a few days (somehow split his scalp open by falling on a tree stump while playing football with a friend...such a typical boy thing to do.)


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