Kids Fitbit and school

[SparkleGem]

Aibu to let my 6 year old wear his Fitbit watch to school, I bought him this as he is lactose intolerant and we are controlling his diet and in doing so this is our chance for him to be active and lose a little weight as he's not so sluggish and bloated, so I bought his this to increase his fitness levels in a fun way but I want to let him wear it to school so I can see how active he is at school, will this get damaged or will he get spoken about for wearing an expensive watch to school. I just don't know what to do, thanks in advance for any advice and if your child has a Fitbit do they wear it to school?

My children don't have one but I wouldn't let them wear them to school. Way too expensive, always easy to lose, and they don;t always allow watches anyway.

Yes it may well get damaged. Or stolen.

Ask the school what their policy is ?

My 6yo dc has an £11 am on basic fitbit type watch that she wears to school. She asked for if for her birthday because so many dc have them. I wouldn't allow a proper fitbit because you can't expect the school to be responsible for it.

*amazon basic fitbit.

I think it’s fine if it stays on his wrist

I doubt a primary school would be happy with children wearing something like this. Just something extra for them to sit and fiddle with or to get lost.

It’s too much responsibility for a six yea old to have to look after something expensive at school. Schools aren’t set up with places for children to keep expensive breakable items.

Also if you want him to be more active,, he shouldn’t have to be being careful at playtime. He should be able to run and jump without having to think about not breaking a Fitbit.

If it is something that you don't mind getting lost or broken then absolutely let him wear it and as long as you don't go whinging to the school when it does inevitably get lost or broken then I see no problem. If however you would expect the teachers to keep an eye on it and make sure its looked after because lets be honest a 6 year old wont care then that would be unreasonable.

The school will be unwilling as it will distract everyone

I also have a 6 year old DS. He has a child's Fitbit which he wears to school. School have asked him on a few occasions to remove it for PE, but not always (guess it depends on what they are doing for PE).

YABU to say this is your chance for him to be active. You can encourage that in lots of other ways, before and after the diet change. Lifestyle changes are more important than teaching a child that exercise is only worth doing if it’s recorded on tech. Look for ways to increase his activity generally - walking to school if possible, for example.

As to wearing it in school...
My school: no problem, there was one year when they ALL seemed to have them, the trend passed as quickly as loom bands though.
My sister’s school: it would get nicked, no question.
My friend’s school: banned, too much have and have nots split going on

My 8 year old wears his Fitbit to school most days - as do many of his friends. He uses it as a watch and him and his friend compete to see who has the most steps each day.

I don't let him wear on swimming days as I don't like him leaving it in the changing rooms as they're not locked

School also isn't a "chance" for kids to be active.

My son is 6 and wears his Garmin Jnr to school. Most kids in his class wear them.

I’ve taught older children wearing fitbits (year 5 and 6), I think KS1 is a little young to be looking after it properly.

Most of my children’s school seem to have fitbits or smart watches.

I wear my Fitbit to school. It’s surprising how many steps you clock up!

They're banned at my dcs school.
Too many kids get too distracted by theirs, so blanket ban.

You can get cheaper versions of a fit it which may be better as it won't be so costly to replace if anything happened.

I've had to argue with my kids school to allow him wear an allergy bracelet. I can't see them approving of fitbits!

I bought him this as he is lactose intolerant and we are controlling his diet and in doing so this is our chance for him to be active and lose a little weight as he's not so sluggish and bloated, so I bought his this to increase his fitness levels in a fun way want to let him wear it to school so I can see how active he is at school,

But he won't be increasing his fitness levels in school, he will just be having a usual school days. You don't really need a Fitbit to tell you he sits down a lot and goes out to play for a while.

Just keep things like this at home and be very careful not to make him aware of how exact you are trying to monitor him, otherwise it won't be fun; it will be a problem.

My 7 year old wears hers to school everyday no issues from school.

But he won't be increasing his fitness levels in school

Don’t schools have PE lessons any more?

@RhiWrites

Of course they have PE. But you asking if they don't do it anymore is kind of my point. It's not extra activity. It's just usual PE. So it isn't going to change