Get DD phone or Apple Watch??

[mattwhit]

Dd is year 6, started waking to school alone, i feel an AirTag isn't enough and want to be able to contact her or vice versa.

We tried a spacetalk it was pants.

Should i just bite the bullet & get her a phone or should I go for an Apple Watch?

I want to be able to track her location and contact her.

Thanks

Phone. We got one for DS1 in Y6. DH has put him on his Family Plan with Sky Mobile and tops up his data each month as DS has a real basic contract re data (Sky Mobile rolls over unused data so DH has a bank of it).

We use Google Family Link on DSs phone. It's locked between 930pm and 7am automatically and you can set screen times. His locks apps after 3 hours of screen time apart from those we've designated unlimited (camera, WhatsApp, texts, calling, Audible, Amazon Music). We also track him with it, but I prefer Life360 as it alerts me when he's left and arrived at home and school.

We control Family Link from our phones and can lock it down remotely too. Handy when he was engaged in a WhatsApp verbal war with two boys from his class and wouldn't step away to defuse the situation.

We monitor his messages on there. It's a learning curve for us all and we're pretty strict about the conduct we expect to see from him and his peers.

WhatsApp really isn’t recommended for young teenagers. It generally causes far more trouble than it’s worth.

It does. Which is why we monitor it closely. We allow it so that we can exchange pictures with DS (such as when he and DH went somewhere and DS sent me photos). We have stopped him joining any big groups eg year group groups as that's where the trouble is and he has no other social media.

As someone said upthread, monitoring is key.

Be careful with the watch they are not allowed at Dts school. Neither are phones but they can be switched off and handed in as they arrive.

Can anyone talk me through how an air tag would work in terms for tracking a year 6 dc walking to and from school and if there are any security issues with this? Where would the air tag be stored for example?

I don't like the 'concept' of air tags for tracking a year 6 10/11 year old.

In the past, the year 6s walked to school. School contacted if they didn't arrive.
Then they had to have phones in case something went wrong.
Now they have to be tracked.
It doesn't really sit well with me to be honest. It's like 'pretend' giving them freedom, without really doing it.

True. Sending them out into the world with no way of contacting mum/police or getting kidnapped is much better.

Year 6's are only 10, they're not 14/15

True. Sending them out into the world with no way of contacting mum/police or getting kidnapped is much better.

Conversely, letting them sort minor issues without ringing parents leading to increased confidence. Stopping an adult and asking for help is still possible.

An air tag / phone won't stop them being kidnapped.

Obviously there are benefits to the new technologies, but I think it is fair to question whether we are keeping them safe or curtailing their growing independence.

I'd go second hand phone, iphone if you have one so you can use 'find my iphone'

Why is it one or the other?

just get her a cheap phone, all it needs to do is make calls and send texts.

I have a smart watch, they’re not necessarily cheaper than phones AND have less functionality. I think I paid £900 for my Apple Watch and I still need my phone for certain features. Answering and accepting calls on the watch can be difficult for your child if eg she’s at school in a noisy playground or walking home with lots of traffic/winds. Both the speaker and microphone will be on her wrist, so you might not be able to hear each other well enough even if she puts the watch to her ear. If I take calls on my watch, I only use my AirPods.

also sending texts through my watch takes so much time as the keyboard is so small, that I just keep it to one word answers so that’s not even straightforward functionality if you need lots of information vs a yes/no answer

This made me laugh! I have a 44mm Apple Watch on a small wrist but it looks alright. Agree that OP sounds clueless about tech and needs to research.

Personally don’t agree with all the comments about Apple Watch theft. The resale and trade in value of Apple Watches are very low compared to phones - see the attachment. Just like iPhones, they’re all activation locked too. This means the thief cannot use a stolen watch without putting in an encrypted password, it’s essentially a paper weight. There’s not much money to be made by pilfering smart watches.