To think primary kids shouldn't have smart watches

[Trainsandcars]

DS wants a smart watch because friends do. He's in primary school. There's a proliferation of disctracting tech. You can't tell them to put it away. They're basically wearing a cheap games console. And its a constant dopamine hit and distraction likely to lead to demotivation etc..

AIBU?
No - they shouldn't be for under 10s
Yes - its no big deal

I delayed getting my child a phone by getting them a smart watch. They weren’t distracted by it much at all. ‘School time’ enabled so functioned just as a watch for set hours. It enabled them to call in an emergency or receive calls from set numbers. There was no camera, very few apps.
Worth it to delay getting an actual phone. Not sure it’s needed for a very young child but for one that’s approaching the end of primary I don’t see an issue.

I feel a smart watch contributed to my child’s eating disorder. The constant need ‘to close rings’ by the end of the of the day, we binned them and they’ve never been missed

It's this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ucani-Tracker-Position-Pedometer-Birthday/dp/B0F5WH57MQ

He doesn't fiddle with it excessively. Re your comment on tracking - my 9 year old is old enough to play out unsupervised but I like to see where he is. He's only ever in the places he's allowed to be, so I feel reassured.

The phone bit is more useful than the tracking bit really - he rings me and asks if he's allowed to stay out, or can he leave the park and go to the fields etc

He's barely wearing it these days but once the weather starts getting better he will again. It's been a great tool for encouraging him to play outdoors more.

A 9 year old monitoring how many steps they’re doing isn’t the good thing you think it is. It’s sowing the seeds of body image being distorted - they just need a healthy amount of any exercise which they’re doing for fun!

DS just turned 9. He's got one, but it's in school mode during school hours. It doesn't do anything besides tell the time while it's in that mode.
He walks to nursery from school and I pick both kids up from there. It means he can reach me, if there's an issue.
My ex bought it for him initially, so he could call him without having to go through me. It's not quite worked out that way.

No they definitely don’t need a smart watch. Get them a regular watch so they can learn to tell the time properly.

Which one is this?

You know his watch is where its supposed to be. Not him.

As a group of parents near me found out... they were leaving their phones at the park when going elsewhere to play.

YANBU. Way too young.

That would be scary, but it's always on him and he calls me to keep me updated on his movements.

If your kid isn't ready to play out unsupervised then no tech in the world will help. You have to know your kid and your surroundings

My daughter has a watch as she walks home from school by herself/ is occasionally left at home for short periods. Shes in year 5 (middle school). The watch has a school mode setting and “sleep settings” so it only works as a watch during school time. And it turns off at 7pm. It’s pretty much forgotten about the minute she gets home and takes it off.

They were banned at the kids' primary school and are also banned at their high school. If it can receive messages / calls, it's not allowed.

I don’t think it’s good. Or bad really. It’s more like wow I ran so much in tennis today and compares with her mate in the class that has a fitbit thing or she’ll say my heart rate went really high when I was skiing that red. It’s not something she looks at a lot, so definitely not ‘monitoring’ it- that would be super weird for a kid. In fact she doesn’t even wear the watch most days and we usually have to ask her to put it on if we’re nipping to the shops and she doesn’t want to come with. Mostly I just want a way for her to make calls in an emergency but she’s way too young for a phone so it seemed like the best solution with the added benefit she can have some music and we can track her if needed, although right now she’s too young to really go anywhere on her own so I’ve only ever used it to see where the ski school group is at.

Thats the point though. Tracking isn't a substitute for trust. If you trust them, you shouldn't need to ttsack them.

Kids all walk to school alone from 6/7 years old where I am, they can definitely still get lost at that age! DD got lost on one of her first days she was walking alone, called me and I could see from the tracker where she was and direct her where to go.
DS got lost in a train station (big city one) last summer, he got off the train before the rest of us without anyone noticing because we were all busy grabbing suitcases and helping my elderly dad and only realised when we were all off and he was nowhere to be seen. He called me in a panic and I was able to calm him down and ask him where he was and tell him to stay still and we'd come to him.

I do trust him but he's 9, I don't want him out for hours at a time without some way of contacting him or knowing where he is.

I don’t get the tracking thing either except in specific cases eg Alzheimer’s or my dd sent me a link as she’s driving here so I can tell when to put food on (I’m guessing she’s hungry!)

When I say I don’t understand tracking, obviously I understand the desire to want to know where your child is and the feeling of anxiety at them going out in the world even though it is time. What I don’t understand is the feeling that a proportional response to that anxiety is to put a tracker on them. If I did that it would be a coping mechanism for me and my anxiety not about preparing them for navigating the world independently.

A tracker can’t protect against the dangers of cars (the biggest risk for children walking to school alone). And nor can it protect against a scenario where the watch is removed.

Long time Primary school teacher here...

SICK TO DEATH of these watches.
They are a constant distraction and totally unnecessary.

Most primary and senior schools I know ban them so pointless buying one.

Yes I think as a teenager I would have occasionally left it at a friends house.

The other issue is you know where they are not what they're doing or who they're with.

I suppose its a minor deterrant and helpful if they get lost and need collecting.

I don't have a smart watch and dont even like my husband having a smart watch. They just feed an addiction to technology. They interrupt conversations, they take you out of the present moment. Not exactly sure what they offer for children but definitely wouldn't give one to my child.

We got our 7 year old one as he likes to tell the time and likes to see his step count. But it does have good controls so all games on it are turned off during school time and we control it via an app so he can't over ride it!

I think it very much depends on the type and the parental control features

I’m don’t have one nor want one so maybe not best placed to answer. I do know however that working with adults who have them, is awful from my experience. A constant constant distraction.

my adult son had one for a while. He sold it in the end. He a slightly anxious addictive nature. It was a like worry monitor to him. How much he’d slept (or hadn’t) how many steps he’d done and the such like. I don’t think primary school child needs one but I can recognise it’s important to fit in at that age.

My 9yr old has a kids one with a cheap sim in, it’s for use at a weekend when she goes to the park/on her bike/to her friends.
I wouldn’t allow her to wear it to school, she has no need to, also they aren’t allowed in school anyway.