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?

Am I the only one that thinks that this isn't a healthy thing to do, psychologically? Getting kids to 'track' their fitness or activity is surely a short cut to problems later on?

Anorexia, orthorexia, body hang ups, feeling of inferiority... Teenagers already think they have to look like soft porn models to be 'normal'.

Not really bouncing as it makes you aware of your daily movements and encourages you to do more. That’s what I find anyway. So if I’m on 8500 steps and it’s nine o clock I’ll take the dog out to get to 10,000.

YABU. It’ll get broken, lost/stolen, cause rows when kids want to borrow it and upset your DS.

As an aside, why do you think lactose intolerance has made him overweight and sluggish? One of mine had full-on CMPI (much more severe) and it did not affect her weight or energy levels.

Reduce his snacks and portions and get him moving outside of school. The Fitbit is a red herring.

I'd check the schools policy on them. DS had a Fitbit but had to remove it for PE (as kids were getting too competitive when wearing them ) and it ended up getting stolen while left in his bag in the changing room.

Not really bouncing as it makes you aware of your daily movements and encourages you to do more.

Surely what bouncing is inferring is that he cant do more exercise at school than he already does. They wont let him have another break time to increase his step count because he's nearly at 10000 when the rest of the class is doing science. He will only be able to do the same amount of exercise he did prior to the holidays e.g. running at break time and lunch time and doing PE.

I do know that heads!

The point is that i can quite see why it is good for him to have it there to keep track. So if at the end of school day he has done 3000 steps then it’s another 7000. Otherwise you’re guessing.

@bouncingraindrops but OP is encouraging her child to be more active so a PE class in which they previously lurked at the back they might now be working harder and burning more energy. Which is what the FitBit is tracking.

DNs have them. I'm with gobbyone!

so a PE class in which they previously lurked at the back they might now be working harder and burning more energy. Which is what the FitBit is tracking.

In any school I've ever worked at he wouldn't be allowed to wear the tracker during PE anyway, it would need to be removed in the same way bracelets and watches are. So even if he wore it, it wouldn't be giving an accurate overview of the exercise he had done that day.

Not really bouncing as it makes you aware of your daily movements and encourages you to do more

He is 6 years old. He has to do what he is told in school. He can't just tell his teacher he needs to go for a run around because his step count is low

Surely what bouncing is inferring is that he cant do more exercise at school than he already does.

That's exactly what I meant

but OP is encouraging her child to be more active so a PE class in which they previously lurked at the back they might now be working harder and burning more energy.

OP is going to give her child a serious problem if she needs to be involved in the child PE class via a Fitbit.

Bouncing can you please point me to where I said he could just get up and run round whenever he felt like it?

No?

Ok then.

@MindyStClaire

Glad to hear it- this is insane.

And people wonder why we have a huge surge in mental health problems in young people.

I think they are brilliant. My DC 6&8 both wear their kids marvel Garmin fitness trackers (just like a Fitbit) to school, I checked with their teachers first and they had no issue. They got them for Xmas and have worn them to school ever since, they have never got damaged or lost.

@hashtagthathappened

Do you have some sort of problem? I responded to what you said, I didn't copy what you said

But I didn’t say it!

Fit bits are great. Not because you can get up and walk around when you feel like it but because they make you aware of your activity levels. I wasn’t suggesting the OPs son runs round the classroom but getting used to wearing it and his activity levels is no bad thing.

Having said that I’d be inclined to buy the cheaper version but looks like op has already purchased.

but getting used to wearing it and his activity levels is no bad thing.

He's 6 though does he really need to worry about whether he has hit the magic (although of no scientifically backed up evidence) 10,000 steps? Should he need to be aware of his activity levels? Surely the easiest way to resolve weight gain in a 6 year old is to monitor their food and reduce portion sizes not give them a complex obsessing over counting steps?

I would be far more interested in cultivating healthy eating habits and helping such a young child find exercise they love. I can’t understand such a young child having a Fitbit.

Most kids in my Y5 DDs class had either a Fitbit or a Garmin. It has definitely made my DD more active. But her teacher made them take it off for PE. DD kept hers on, hidden by tracksuit top, as she gavels it defeated the point I& a fitness tracker.

They only got lost on PE days when teacher made them take them off!

I would check with the school to see if they're allowed. I would imagine he'd have to take it off for PE, though, which kind of defeats the purpose if you want it to monitor his activity levels.

To be honest, though, I'm not sure what you'd really learn. Presumably you know how much PE he does at school, so what are you going to do if it transpires he doesn't run around much in the playground? He'll just be playing with his friends. You can't really engineer his playtimes.

I think if you want him to step up his activity levels, you're best off doing things like taking him for a walk or a bike ride after school, or finding an activity like karate or something that he can do a class in, if he enjoys it.

Or maybe the poor kid's already completely knackered from school and his 'sluggish' behaviour is because he's burnt out and needs a bloody good rest...

They’re very fashionable in ds’s school!

From experience, don't send in an expensive watch on a young child. After the novelty wears off they do t really look after it.
As PP said they have to take off for PE, the number of times it got forgotten about to be put back on and we then spent days trying to track down where it was put, if it was still there, eventually it was permanently lost after a few months .

This was on top of the wet, paint, etc exposure it had from various things at school and ither children borrowing it to wear because it was fun...

Just get a cheaper one for now

Yes it may well get damaged. Or stolen.

DD has had her fitbit watch since P2. She’s just finished P5, it has never been damaged or stolen.

He'll probably have to take it off for PE. No jewellery or watches allowed. Primary schools are a hectic messy environment so it's very very very likely to get lost, damaged or stolen.

Any recommendations for a good basic kids fitness tracker?

@SconeofDestiny

A set of scales and an instagram account?

Much cheaper, unlikely to be lost and will likely have the same long term effect 👍