To be shocked that 97% of 12 years olds have smart phones?

[Rhayader]

My DCs school does not allow smartphones and most of the schools around here are the same. The kids all have Nokias (and often an AirTag or similar for tracking).

I can’t believe it’s 97%! Am I totally out of touch? She’s never even asked for a phone.

https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/23/children-who-dont-have-smartphones

Yes, it would probably be so out of what is expected that having one alone it would justify a trip to the station if the police found a child with one.

Do you think other kids at the school all have them and my DD has just not mentioned it?

Their parents have probably told them to keep it quiet, if they were essentially forced to sign a nonsense pledge by the school.

So in your opinion 97% of parents do bad parenting? You must be able to see that can't possibly be correct, it's far too black and white to be defensible

You have to sign a contract not to get a smartphone until YEAR 12??

Where we are (in the USA) every single child has a smart phone from Grade 6 (Year 7).

Loved my Blackberry when I was younger! 🤣

OP I think if you’re in a school community where it’s generally agreed by school and all parents, that kids should have a dumb phone until Y12, then probably they don’t have them at home. The kids all have the same method to communicate with each other without one, maintain friendships, arrange meet ups etc. It’s a good position to be in really. The issue in schools without that sort of policy, is that once a few have them, and they set up WhatsApps groups etc, those that don’t have them are under huge peer pressure and do miss out on stuff.

100% of the school have been round your house and used their phones?

Also for clarity - this is not an attack on parents whose kids have smartphones. If it was the norm at her school we would get her one. She has a laptop at home, my DH is a software developer and I am a data scientist. We are not anti-technology at all! I just thought more schools had this rule…. And my mind is blown that I am apparently living in a weird bubble.

I'd say schools both private and stay not allowing phones during school hours is routine nowadays but lots of them expecting children not to have them at all isnt

No I mean - all of the children have dumb phones to contact their parents after school.

I’m sure some of them also have smartphones but they do check bags etc and I’ve just checked the behaviour policy and it would be three after school detentions if a smartphone was discovered so I doubt many kids risk that!

Interesting that your decision is predictaed on what the school say, why don't you feel able to make an independent choice?

But smart phones don’t have to mean free access to the internet. Often they mean calls, texts, GPS, ability to do homework, scan to pay for lunches or public transport and snacks etc, use of a map if walking different directions, google translate to help converse with other classmates who don’t have English as their first language, some games to play whilst waiting for the lift home, voice notes to record what needs to be remembered for the following day, school app to get information and upload responses etc. Normally the actual internet aspect is locked down or linked to certain times of the day and for a set duration.

I’m surprised it’s as high as 3% tbh, I don’t know a high school age child who doesn’t have one.

I think this is a great example of, just because most people are doing it doesn't make it right.
I feel a responsibility to protect my children from the online world for as long as I can.

I don’t want to teach my kid that the rules don’t apply to her and this is the school that she chose to attend. We have an acceptable workaround with a Nokia and an AirTag. We all knew about this school policy before she accepted a place.

I’ve just checked the behaviour policy and it would be three after school detentions if a smartphone was discovered so I doubt many kids risk that!

I think you are being naive.

I find it more disturbing that parents are tagging and tracking their 12 year old tbh.

We appear to be talking about 2 different things.

I'm not talking about the phone they bring to school, I'm talking about the fact a large number of them very probably have smart phones at home.

Parents will sign up to any old nonsense to get their kids into certain schools.

So what you're seeing in school, is very probably not representative of what the kids have at home.

And given 97% of 12 year olds have smart phones, that would make sense.

I live on the Uk with secondary aged DC and I don’t know a 12 yo without a smart phone.

It’s very possible.

My kids got smartphones the year they started year 7. I don’t remember any of their friends ar that tine not having phones. A lot of their friends had them in junior school so if I’d had to guess I would hsve said about the same.

Also shocked you're shocked, I don't even know they still made Nokias.
At our school they take photos of homework, reckon material etc.

Kids having phones for a huge variety of reasons is an absolute fact of life today. The real issue is kids having unrestricted access to smart phones, which is a sad reality for many.

I don’t agree at all that’s it’s bad parenting to give a 12y old a smart phone. It’s bad parenting not to monitor them and teach them how to use them properly. We had huge issues with Y7 WhatsApp groups with both my now Y11 and my current Y8. But all the parents were monitoring the chats and if anyone saw anything out of order, we’d alert other parents on the parents WhatsApp chat. We’d collectively come down on them like a tonne of bricks if we saw any hint of bullying/inappropriate behaviour.

My Y11 is now perfectly capable of using his phone sensibly, none of them are sending stupid comments on the kids group chat. They mainly use it to ask about homework, if anyone picked up their water bottle, what time do they need to meet for the sports fixture. They tend to regulate themselves now and it wouldn’t be cool to be behaving like a dick on the group WhatsApp.

It’s the Nokia 105 - I had to use the largest size SIM card in it which was a bit of a blast from the past…