To let dd1 take my smart phone into the park unsupervised?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

It's a Samsung Note, so quite expensive.

The reasons behind my asking are as follows:

She is on the verge of becoming overweight, she walks a lot and cycles quite a bit, but loves food and has no interest in any other sports or clubs.

She has just started to show an interest not in running as such, but a running App on my phone called Zombies! Run! a C25k training App. She's desperate to have a go.

I can take her with me as often as possible, but due to school/work shifts that would only be about once or twice a week.

I am considering letting her take the phone into the park to play with the app herself. The phone is insured against loss, theft and accidental damage. We would make it clear to her if anyone challenges her for the phone she is to hand it over immediately without argument and run straight home to tell us. Her safety is more important than a phone. The park is right opposite our house, so she wouldn't be going far. She is 10.

YANBU if you don't mind your contacts, pics etc being lost and the ball ache of claiming through insurance if it did go missing.

because you'd of course say that you lost it not that you gave sole charge of it to a 10 y/o

All of my stuff is backed up on some kind of cloud thingy. Yes, the phone is insured if it's lost by someone else. DH lost one of my phones and we had no problems claiming on the insurance, although the contract is in his name, so I would have to check the small print.

She wouldn't be playing with it, just running with the phone in a running belt. It is an interactive game as in she would win prizes and collect things on her run to build up her base, but all of that is web based, so she'd look at her 'base' at home once she'd finished running.

It's not the running she is interested in. She has no interest in any sport what-so-ever. When she started using her bike we tried to encourage her to join a cycling club or attend the local BMX classes, but she refused. It's the Zombies she is interested in. She is obsessed with Zombies. She constantly asks when she will be old enough to watch Zombie movies I am hoping to use the App to encourage a love of running, particularly as she can also track her run and see how many miles/km she has run, which is something she likes doing on dog walks and I could use her competitive streak to try and get her to beat me.

I will be home, but I'll be home on a break and will be doing their dinner, sorting their uniforms, feeding the dogs etc, before I have to go back to work. On evenings I am off I will take her out with and do those things after the run.

I would let her, only on MN does no one touch a smart phone until they are 21 and graduating from Oxford with a 1st

I think I will probably let her. Her aversion to physical activity is quite worrying. More worrying than losing my phone would be. We've tried anything and everything we can think of.

She's been to dance clubs, she did quite well at this, she has natural rhythm and likes doing well and being the best at things, she went for about a year and then they moved her up to the older, more advanced class, earlier than they would normally have done because she was so good, when she was no longer the best dancer in the class she started refusing to go, saying it was too hard and she didn't like it anymore. We tried making her go for a while and explained that she can't be the best at everything she does, but tbh, it was making everyone including dd1 miserable and she never joined in even when we did get her there. She refused to join a different dance school.

She won't do gymnastics because she thinks it will be too hard, contact sports like martial arts or boxing are for boys, BMX is for boys, cycling club is boring, why can't she just cycle where she wants and not where everyone else has to and anyway, they go too far and too fast and she would sweat, which is what boys do. She had a fleeting interest in trampolining but quickly gave up on that idea when it became apparent that dd2 was better than her at trampolining. She likes swimming but I can rarely take her because dd2 cannot yet swim, so when we do go, we don't get much actual swimming done. I've tried getting her up early to go to early morning swims before school, but apparently she doesn't like swimming that much to get up that early. She went horse riding once and then declared that horses smelled bad and made her clothes smell funny Running is literally our last hope at raising her to be active.

You'll let her run on her own but not swim alone? The mind boggles! If she can swim 50m with confidence then I would go with that... Infact I am watching my 9yr old do exactly this as I use mumsnet

Runners are very vulnerable - I ran for years and was always very aware of needing to watch my back - I thought about my routes carefully and had my iPod turned down low do I was aware of my surroundings.., my friends who are runners do the same.

She is old enough to join a running club - I would look for one for her... Much safer

The swimming pool is a bus ride away. The park is directly opposite our house.

I run a few times a week and would never have joined a running club without building up my confidence. I say that as a confident women who loves exercise and with no real body hang ups.

I can't imagine a self conscious , exercise loathing 10 year old is just going to join a running club.

To give an idea of what I am dealing with here, she's just been out for a run with me. She wore a neon pink, chiffon dress, neon pink and black knee high socks, a pink and white floral scarf, neon pink heart shaped sunglasses and I had to fight with her for ten minutes to get her to put her trainers on, which of course, are pink.

She stopped half way through because she was starting to sweat and might make her dress smell bad [sigh] She liked the zombies though.

She would not join a running club, not unless we can use this App to turn her love of Zombies into a love of running first.

Its just an android app. Buy a cheap android phone and let her use that instead of yours.

She stopped half way through because she was starting to sweat and might make her dress smell bad [sigh]

I don't have any special knowledge about small girls, but I had that problem when I started to exercise: I didn't want to sweat. In my case, I told myself not to be so stupid, and made sure I had a shower and changed. That's part of exercise. I also had a bunch of clothes specifically kept for exercise (= sweating).

Maybe you could get your daughter some work-out clothes, and insist she shower/change after exercising, whether she needs to or not.

I second Dayshiftdoris in that you are much more vulnerable running with earphones in and plugged into music, especially in a park. I prefer to run and hear what's going on around me, to avoid surprises such as being overtaken unexpectedly by a bike or faster runner! I suppose it depends how open or busy the park is.

But if someone else could supervise her from a distance that would be a good option.

Well, if she dresses like that to run, you are probably dealing with quite a determined character!

If she is likely to run with this app for more than a passing fad, it would be worth getting her a device on which to run it. Even though your phone can be replaced, sod's law means it's bound to happen at the most inconvenient time possible.

Eliciting rational co-operation in general from a preteen can be challenging, regardless of compliance levels before that age. Good luck!