Apple watch for 10 year old?

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davebo
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Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by davebo »

Our kids are getting to the age where they are roaming the neighborhood more, need rides home, or just want to keep in touch. My oldest (12) has a cell phone, but that is even a challenge for him because he doesn't keep it on him all the time. We've done the Gizmo in the past and it's OK, but it's a little bulky and the functionality is limited....plus the one that we had just broke.

I like the idea of the device being attached to them, so the Apple watch is appealing but it would be pretty expensive. Apparently now you don't need to have a phone to go with it, you just pay for the line charge of $10/month.

Anyone have it? Like it or no?
SmokeyAbe
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by SmokeyAbe »

davebo wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:07 pm Our kids are getting to the age where they are roaming the neighborhood more, need rides home, or just want to keep in touch. My oldest (12) has a cell phone, but that is even a challenge for him because he doesn't keep it on him all the time. We've done the Gizmo in the past and it's OK, but it's a little bulky and the functionality is limited....plus the one that we had just broke.

I like the idea of the device being attached to them, so the Apple watch is appealing but it would be pretty expensive. Apparently now you don't need to have a phone to go with it, you just pay for the line charge of $10/month.

Anyone have it? Like it or no?
Love the Apple Watch, would never trust any of my children with one.
invest2bfree
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by invest2bfree »

It is not stand alone needs a phone with it.

I tried doing it with my older daughter but finally gave up.
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ShadowRegent
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by ShadowRegent »

invest2bfree wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:17 pm It is not stand alone needs a phone with it.

I tried doing it with my older daughter but finally gave up.
You can now use Family Setup with cellular Apple Watch-- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211768
invest2bfree
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by invest2bfree »

Thanks that is great news.

My older girl will be taking a bus in August to Middle School so this will be perfect.
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inbox788
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by inbox788 »

You could, but it's a bit costly at the moment. Are you more interested in it as a watch, a phone, a tracker or other apps?

The Mickey Watch Face is good for all ages, but for a 10 year old, this Mickey watch https://www.walmart.com/ip/Men-s-MCK619 ... h/51554288 might be just as good and smaller loss if it gets lost or broken.

I don't think much of these new tracking tags (Tile, AirTag), but besides tracking your stuff, is it practical to use to track your kid (and/or kids backpack as a proxy location for the kid)?

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/04/ ... es-airtag/


Should We Be Freaked Out About Tile, the World’s Cheapest New Location Tracker?
https://www.vice.com/en/article/qbedmx/ ... on-tracker

Anyway, as far as the watches, for me functionality has to improve and costs have to come down before I'd really consider it for your application, and deal with the cell phone issues.
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Beensabu
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Beensabu »

What's wrong with a prepaid cheap old flip phone for emergencies, check-ins, and pick up calls? They're gonna have to learn how to keep their phone on them and not break it before they get a nice fancy one anyway. It's like a trainer phone.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Dottie57 »

SmokeyAbe wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:08 pm
davebo wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:07 pm Our kids are getting to the age where they are roaming the neighborhood more, need rides home, or just want to keep in touch. My oldest (12) has a cell phone, but that is even a challenge for him because he doesn't keep it on him all the time. We've done the Gizmo in the past and it's OK, but it's a little bulky and the functionality is limited....plus the one that we had just broke.

I like the idea of the device being attached to them, so the Apple watch is appealing but it would be pretty expensive. Apparently now you don't need to have a phone to go with it, you just pay for the line charge of $10/month.

Anyone have it? Like it or no?
Love the Apple Watch, would never trust any of my children with one.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Monsterflockster »

Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
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davebo
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by davebo »

Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
Not sure your point. We use a lot of things that we didn't use when we were growing up because they weren't invented yet. I don't know how that makes someone more "woke", I don't even think you're using that term correctly.
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davebo
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by davebo »

Beensabu wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:38 pm What's wrong with a prepaid cheap old flip phone for emergencies, check-ins, and pick up calls? They're gonna have to learn how to keep their phone on them and not break it before they get a nice fancy one anyway. It's like a trainer phone.
There's nothing wrong with it, I just think the likelihood of it getting lost would be very high, much more than something that he can attach to his wrist.
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lthenderson
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by lthenderson »

I'm sure every child is different but ours certainly wasn't ready for one at 10. We did give her one at age 14 when she entered high school and were into sporting programs where having a phone with them all the time wasn't feasible. Overall the child much prefers using the phone to the watch for communications as the watch is much more cumbersome and time consuming to work with.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by dukeblue219 »

Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
There were also payphones on every corner and you probably knew most of your neighbors if you needed help, nevermind that life is more urban and traffic is heavier than it was in the past.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by alfredwallace »

I'm 52 years old and have yet to buy a cell phone, not just a smartphone mind you, but any cell phone of any type. I keep telling myself I'll buy one when I finally can't live without it. So far, I think I might die without ever buying one.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Ddd7651 »

alfredwallace wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:51 am I'm 52 years old and have yet to buy a cell phone, not just a smartphone mind you, but any cell phone of any type. I keep telling myself I'll buy one when I finally can't live without it. So far, I think I might die without ever buying one.
I admire that and so many people find peace without one. Having one is not needed in every circumstance. In my circumstance, I am so happy my parents got one. We send them non stop photos and pictures and facetime with their grandchildren on a regular basis. They constantly tell us they are so happy they can stay in touch throughout the week. We only get to visit a few times a year since they live far away but being retired, they live for all the photos and videos they can get.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by RickBoglehead »

Today we are much more aware of what's going on in the world, including things that we'd never knowingly want our children to be near, or be at risk of. Years ago our parents, and their parents before them, were ignorant of some of these things. Now we're not.

I would not give a 10 year old an Apple watch (or for that matter a teenager). I'd insist my child keep their cell phone nearby, and if they don't, then they lose privileges. But that's me.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by liynus »

Ok will post something informative instead of veiled criticism of the new world we live in. I’m sure I’ll say the same thing about new holograms in 30 yrs.

Thought about this idea too with new Apple Watch. As long as it qualifies for family set up. Needs gps. It’s $10 a month.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thever ... -explainer

You can have it auto shut down during school hours so they can play with it. Just shows watch face and can take calls from emergency contact list. I think you can actually limit who they can call and who can call them. However schools have individual policies that may not have caught up with the tech. (Surprised!) and many times even watches are banded during school so check with the teacher/school first.

They can text with friends. Play Spotify on wireless headphones. You can track them. They can call you. Battery life is all day but u do have to charge overnight. They can’t lose it if they wear it. Yes my kid will lose their phone at this age. Or worse won’t have access to it when I need to reach them.

I’m thinking of one but realistically figured it’s only good for 1-2 years and then kid will want a phone. But it can be up cycled to the younger one. If we can get 4 years out of 300-400 product not bad. And then I have a free Apple Watch for myself.

You do need an iPhone to pair it for set up. But then the watch should have its own number for functions like text calls and acts independently. This is a new feature of this new watch os. Before the watch would be linked to a phone and the phone and watch would ring at the same time.

Apple is going to expand on this idea a lot.

Someone suggestedd air tags as an alternative if it’s just in the neighborhood. Fair point. I got a box and will test it out in the next month to see it’s ability as kid tracker.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by stoptothink »

dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:42 am
Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
There were also payphones on every corner and you probably knew most of your neighbors if you needed help, nevermind that life is more urban and traffic is heavier than it was in the past.
Statistically, children are more "safe" today than they were when we were growing up (ie. less kidnappings, etc.). That's certainly multifactorial, with one reason being that parents are far more cautious about letting their kids out of the house at all. Our kids are younger (9 and 5) and we let them roam the neighborhood, they have friends all over and there are two separate parks in our neighborhood (the further being ~1/3m away). We have long-range walkie-talkies that they have to take if they ever go past the speed bump, which is about 200ft. from my front door. It's worked out great for us. A phone or smartwatch would be lost or broken in the possession of our kids before the end of the first day.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by RickBoglehead »

alfredwallace wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:51 am I'm 52 years old and have yet to buy a cell phone, not just a smartphone mind you, but any cell phone of any type. I keep telling myself I'll buy one when I finally can't live without it. So far, I think I might die without ever buying one.
Can't imagine someone not having one in this day and age. If it works for you, great.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Arabesque »

I let my kids roam our town in 2000-2018: Just bikes and only cells, for the teens' convenience, when they were in late high school. They loved the independence and were well prepared for college and adulthood (though one did want a cell earlier).

One of my kids was shocked that a teenage friend was so sheltered that she didn't know how to cross a street safely! The pediatrician was clearly pleased and amazed when one of mine cut her foot on glass while catching minnows in the creek with a friend. The MD saw too many obese kids tied to computers and not enough kids finding the Toad in the garden.

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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by dukeblue219 »

alfredwallace wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:51 am I'm 52 years old and have yet to buy a cell phone, not just a smartphone mind you, but any cell phone of any type. I keep telling myself I'll buy one when I finally can't live without it. So far, I think I might die without ever buying one.
Not being snarky here, but what would you do if you had a car breakdown at 11pm on a cold night in January? Broke your ankle on a jog in the park? Needed to coordinate a pickup of someone at the airport?

Hey whatever works, but I don't see how it's possible anymore.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Beensabu »

davebo wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:24 am
Beensabu wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:38 pm What's wrong with a prepaid cheap old flip phone for emergencies, check-ins, and pick up calls? They're gonna have to learn how to keep their phone on them and not break it before they get a nice fancy one anyway. It's like a trainer phone.
There's nothing wrong with it, I just think the likelihood of it getting lost would be very high, much more than something that he can attach to his wrist.
Yeah. They're definitely probably going to lose it or break it at least once. Probably a few times in the span of a year. That's why the cheap burner.

You have to learn to keep your phone in your pocket or your bag. You have to learn how not to lose the things in your pocket. You have to learn how not to lose your bag. Maybe everyone will be able to waltz through life with only the things attached to their body at one point, but we're not quite there yet. That's my perspective anyway.

I'm sure your kid will be super happy if you get them an apple watch.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by dboeger1 »

stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:05 am
dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:42 am
Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
There were also payphones on every corner and you probably knew most of your neighbors if you needed help, nevermind that life is more urban and traffic is heavier than it was in the past.
Statistically, children are more "safe" today than they were when we were growing up (ie. less kidnappings, etc.). That's certainly multifactorial, with one reason being that parents are far more cautious about letting their kids out of the house at all. Our kids are younger (9 and 5) and we let them roam the neighborhood, they have friends all over and there are two separate parks in our neighborhood (the further being ~1/3m away). We have long-range walkie-talkies that they have to take if they ever go past the speed bump, which is about 200ft. from my front door. It's worked out great for us. A phone or smartwatch would be lost or broken in the possession of our kids before the end of the first day.
Granted this was just my experience, I suppose kids walking to school in an urban core might be totally different, but as a kid, I just never went anywhere surprising or unknown to my parents. If I went to a friend's house, it was either a drive away where my parents would drop me off and have contact numbers to check up on me every so often, or it would be the next door neighbors and I was generally expected to let my parents know when I was hanging out over there and they would tell me by what time I'd have to be back. I get the point that it's a different, more connected world, but one thing that isn't different is that kids are still in developmental stages. I just don't think mobile devices are optimized for their development as a whole. Sure, there might be an educational app here or there, but there are also tons of ads and micro transactions and questionable social media influencers and so on. Organic urban gardening is more popular now too, but I'm not going to hand my kids the chainsaw to prune our fruit trees just because it's a different world now. I also wonder how healthy all the tracking tools will end up being in the long run once kids find out about it. Many things change on the basis that they're being monitored, and I know quite a few people from cultures where intense family pressure results in some horribly unhealthy and undesirable dynamics. I just don't see that much good coming from kids having full-fledged cell phones on them. It would be a different story if it was more of a locked down system purely designed to allow kids to talk, call 911, set parent-approved schedules and reminders, etc.

I think there's also some nuance to the point about statistical safety measures, as you certainly acknowledged. There are probably less kidnappings, but I can't imagine things like cyber bullying and inappropriate pictures haven't increased. You would think there would be many related issues like eating disorders. It's hard to measure the effects of these things because like you said, they're complex issues, and there are also opposing forces like sex education and safety training.

Last but not least, I'm surprised how long parents expect their kids to be out and about to the point that they absolutely need a cell phone. My play dates with friends lasted like 1-2 hours under the supervision of parents with a scheduled pickup time. Are kids just casually having 3-6 hour social gatherings with undefined boundaries and minimal supervision to the point that parents have to be able to reach them specifically? Man, maybe I was just sheltered.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by stoptothink »

dboeger1 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:30 am
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:05 am
dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:42 am
Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
There were also payphones on every corner and you probably knew most of your neighbors if you needed help, nevermind that life is more urban and traffic is heavier than it was in the past.
Statistically, children are more "safe" today than they were when we were growing up (ie. less kidnappings, etc.). That's certainly multifactorial, with one reason being that parents are far more cautious about letting their kids out of the house at all. Our kids are younger (9 and 5) and we let them roam the neighborhood, they have friends all over and there are two separate parks in our neighborhood (the further being ~1/3m away). We have long-range walkie-talkies that they have to take if they ever go past the speed bump, which is about 200ft. from my front door. It's worked out great for us. A phone or smartwatch would be lost or broken in the possession of our kids before the end of the first day.
Granted this was just my experience, I suppose kids walking to school in an urban core might be totally different, but as a kid, I just never went anywhere surprising or unknown to my parents. If I went to a friend's house, it was either a drive away where my parents would drop me off and have contact numbers to check up on me every so often, or it would be the next door neighbors and I was generally expected to let my parents know when I was hanging out over there and they would tell me by what time I'd have to be back. I get the point that it's a different, more connected world, but one thing that isn't different is that kids are still in developmental stages. I just don't think mobile devices are optimized for their development as a whole. Sure, there might be an educational app here or there, but there are also tons of ads and micro transactions and questionable social media influencers and so on. Organic urban gardening is more popular now too, but I'm not going to hand my kids the chainsaw to prune our fruit trees just because it's a different world now. I also wonder how healthy all the tracking tools will end up being in the long run once kids find out about it. Many things change on the basis that they're being monitored, and I know quite a few people from cultures where intense family pressure results in some horribly unhealthy and undesirable dynamics. I just don't see that much good coming from kids having full-fledged cell phones on them. It would be a different story if it was more of a locked down system purely designed to allow kids to talk, call 911, set parent-approved schedules and reminders, etc.

I think there's also some nuance to the point about statistical safety measures, as you certainly acknowledged. There are probably less kidnappings, but I can't imagine things like cyber bullying and inappropriate pictures haven't increased. You would think there would be many related issues like eating disorders. It's hard to measure the effects of these things because like you said, they're complex issues, and there are also opposing forces like sex education and safety training.

Last but not least, I'm surprised how long parents expect their kids to be out and about to the point that they absolutely need a cell phone. My play dates with friends lasted like 1-2 hours under the supervision of parents with a scheduled pickup time. Are kids just casually having 3-6 hour social gatherings with undefined boundaries and minimal supervision to the point that parents have to be able to reach them specifically? Man, maybe I was just sheltered.
Spot on. The reason we won't consider a cell phone or smartwatch is because it invites all kinds of other issues. If we gave them a phone, they'd be playing on it and not with their friends when they were not under our supervision. The walkie-talkie's do the trick for our specific situation.
Last edited by stoptothink on Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
Seasonal
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Seasonal »

dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:24 am
alfredwallace wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:51 am I'm 52 years old and have yet to buy a cell phone, not just a smartphone mind you, but any cell phone of any type. I keep telling myself I'll buy one when I finally can't live without it. So far, I think I might die without ever buying one.
Not being snarky here, but what would you do if you had a car breakdown at 11pm on a cold night in January? Broke your ankle on a jog in the park? Needed to coordinate a pickup of someone at the airport?

Hey whatever works, but I don't see how it's possible anymore.
So many things we do essentially require a smartphone because so many places just assume everyone has one. Displaying tickets or, these days, COVID questionnaires to enter places, summoning car services to pick us up from places where there's no transport alternatives, wandering around when traveling, then finding nearby museums or restaurants or just our way back to a hotel, contactless payments, etc. etc. Plus, it's nice to always have a camera, music, movies, other entertainment in your pocket.

Obviously YMMV.
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davebo
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by davebo »

Just to give some background, I thought of myself as having a longer leash when I was younger but in reality I pretty much just stayed within a 2 block radius of my house. The moms all stayed home, so my mom could call down the street to find out where we were. In other words, we were being tracked :)

For the most part, the immediate neighbors do just walk over and walk home when needed. But my son's good friends all live a little further away and (up until this point) would require a dedicated play date. What we've noticed (esp. recently) is that kids are starting to roam further now, probably because the parents feel comfortable since they have access to them. I could NOT give my son any device and tell him to come home if his friends are going someplace else.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by onourway »

Our 10 year olds could handle an Apple Watch just fine. The big issue would be how much time they'd spend fiddling with it (not that different for some of us adults, I suppose). In fact just this week when my wife got an Apple Watch for her birthday, I handed the box to one of them and told him to set it up for his mom. He did the whole thing - all she had to do was put it on.

Of course he wants one of his own, but no reason he needs one at this point. I told him to save his own money if he wants one.
MadAsgardian
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by MadAsgardian »

Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
Back when I was a kid, armchair investors probably had to make do with a subscription to the Wall Street Journal and the occasional episode of Wall Street Week on PBS. And we didn’t need to practice active shooter drills in class. Times change, for everyone not just adults.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by nepats »

We gave one to my daughter for the same exact reason and it has worked out really well. She texts or calls when she gets to her friends places in the neighborhood. She is responsible with her things so I don't worry about having to replace it. It's pretty hard to break the glass on the Apple watch anyway. Apple family setup along with Screen time works well. Highly recommend it over other watches if you are in the Apple ecosystem.
squirm
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by squirm »

Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
Our kids aren't allowed phones, etc. The oldest is 14. I don't see the point of any of them having one. When they need to get a hold of me they can use a friends.
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by lightheir »

stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:38 am
dboeger1 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:30 am
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:05 am
dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:42 am
Monsterflockster wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:48 pm Crazy how in 5th & 6th grade I’d leave the house and go to a friends and we would go all over on our bikes. I wonder what if my parents ever worried? Crazy how a generation later we want to chip our children and have access to there whereabouts 24-7. Have times changed that much or are we just more woke?
There were also payphones on every corner and you probably knew most of your neighbors if you needed help, nevermind that life is more urban and traffic is heavier than it was in the past.
Statistically, children are more "safe" today than they were when we were growing up (ie. less kidnappings, etc.). That's certainly multifactorial, with one reason being that parents are far more cautious about letting their kids out of the house at all. Our kids are younger (9 and 5) and we let them roam the neighborhood, they have friends all over and there are two separate parks in our neighborhood (the further being ~1/3m away). We have long-range walkie-talkies that they have to take if they ever go past the speed bump, which is about 200ft. from my front door. It's worked out great for us. A phone or smartwatch would be lost or broken in the possession of our kids before the end of the first day.
Granted this was just my experience, I suppose kids walking to school in an urban core might be totally different, but as a kid, I just never went anywhere surprising or unknown to my parents. If I went to a friend's house, it was either a drive away where my parents would drop me off and have contact numbers to check up on me every so often, or it would be the next door neighbors and I was generally expected to let my parents know when I was hanging out over there and they would tell me by what time I'd have to be back. I get the point that it's a different, more connected world, but one thing that isn't different is that kids are still in developmental stages. I just don't think mobile devices are optimized for their development as a whole. Sure, there might be an educational app here or there, but there are also tons of ads and micro transactions and questionable social media influencers and so on. Organic urban gardening is more popular now too, but I'm not going to hand my kids the chainsaw to prune our fruit trees just because it's a different world now. I also wonder how healthy all the tracking tools will end up being in the long run once kids find out about it. Many things change on the basis that they're being monitored, and I know quite a few people from cultures where intense family pressure results in some horribly unhealthy and undesirable dynamics. I just don't see that much good coming from kids having full-fledged cell phones on them. It would be a different story if it was more of a locked down system purely designed to allow kids to talk, call 911, set parent-approved schedules and reminders, etc.

I think there's also some nuance to the point about statistical safety measures, as you certainly acknowledged. There are probably less kidnappings, but I can't imagine things like cyber bullying and inappropriate pictures haven't increased. You would think there would be many related issues like eating disorders. It's hard to measure the effects of these things because like you said, they're complex issues, and there are also opposing forces like sex education and safety training.

Last but not least, I'm surprised how long parents expect their kids to be out and about to the point that they absolutely need a cell phone. My play dates with friends lasted like 1-2 hours under the supervision of parents with a scheduled pickup time. Are kids just casually having 3-6 hour social gatherings with undefined boundaries and minimal supervision to the point that parents have to be able to reach them specifically? Man, maybe I was just sheltered.
Spot on. The reason we won't consider a cell phone or smartwatch is because it invites all kinds of other issues. If we gave them a phone, they'd be playing on it and not with their friends when they were not under our supervision. The walkie-talkie's do the trick for our specific situation.
Hah hah walkie talkies, good luck getting your 10 year old to carry one of those today LOL.

I think the most likely thing for a child to lose is not the apple watch itself, but the bluetooth headphones that are need for making cellular calls via the watch only (assuming cellular watch, not paired with an iphone). Those earbuds are easily misplaced!

An advantage of a kid in this age group having a cellular Apple watch (with no paired iphone) is that there is less risk of them spending all their time gazing at the screen while out and about. The screen size and lack of easy text entry inherently limits social media and screen time compared to a full sized smartphone. Yet parents and kids can still call each other for pickups, heads ups, etc as needed.

My nearly 11 year old kid would do great with an Apple watch with cell. Literally the only reason I haven't gotten one for her yet is that she's been remote learning without in-person school so there is absolutely no need to buy one now - I tend to wait until the last second possible for electronic devices due to the rapid improvement/obsolescence curves.
dukeblue219
Posts: 4071
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:40 am

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by dukeblue219 »

Would also point out that BH represents a wide range of backgrounds. Many here live in rural area, others in quiet suburban neighborhoods with cul-de-sacs, others in town homes on a state highway, and others in tall condo/apartment complexes. All of them will have very different standards for how connected a child needs to be.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by stoptothink »

lightheir wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:44 pm
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:38 am
dboeger1 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:30 am
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:05 am
dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:42 am

There were also payphones on every corner and you probably knew most of your neighbors if you needed help, nevermind that life is more urban and traffic is heavier than it was in the past.
Statistically, children are more "safe" today than they were when we were growing up (ie. less kidnappings, etc.). That's certainly multifactorial, with one reason being that parents are far more cautious about letting their kids out of the house at all. Our kids are younger (9 and 5) and we let them roam the neighborhood, they have friends all over and there are two separate parks in our neighborhood (the further being ~1/3m away). We have long-range walkie-talkies that they have to take if they ever go past the speed bump, which is about 200ft. from my front door. It's worked out great for us. A phone or smartwatch would be lost or broken in the possession of our kids before the end of the first day.
Granted this was just my experience, I suppose kids walking to school in an urban core might be totally different, but as a kid, I just never went anywhere surprising or unknown to my parents. If I went to a friend's house, it was either a drive away where my parents would drop me off and have contact numbers to check up on me every so often, or it would be the next door neighbors and I was generally expected to let my parents know when I was hanging out over there and they would tell me by what time I'd have to be back. I get the point that it's a different, more connected world, but one thing that isn't different is that kids are still in developmental stages. I just don't think mobile devices are optimized for their development as a whole. Sure, there might be an educational app here or there, but there are also tons of ads and micro transactions and questionable social media influencers and so on. Organic urban gardening is more popular now too, but I'm not going to hand my kids the chainsaw to prune our fruit trees just because it's a different world now. I also wonder how healthy all the tracking tools will end up being in the long run once kids find out about it. Many things change on the basis that they're being monitored, and I know quite a few people from cultures where intense family pressure results in some horribly unhealthy and undesirable dynamics. I just don't see that much good coming from kids having full-fledged cell phones on them. It would be a different story if it was more of a locked down system purely designed to allow kids to talk, call 911, set parent-approved schedules and reminders, etc.

I think there's also some nuance to the point about statistical safety measures, as you certainly acknowledged. There are probably less kidnappings, but I can't imagine things like cyber bullying and inappropriate pictures haven't increased. You would think there would be many related issues like eating disorders. It's hard to measure the effects of these things because like you said, they're complex issues, and there are also opposing forces like sex education and safety training.

Last but not least, I'm surprised how long parents expect their kids to be out and about to the point that they absolutely need a cell phone. My play dates with friends lasted like 1-2 hours under the supervision of parents with a scheduled pickup time. Are kids just casually having 3-6 hour social gatherings with undefined boundaries and minimal supervision to the point that parents have to be able to reach them specifically? Man, maybe I was just sheltered.
Spot on. The reason we won't consider a cell phone or smartwatch is because it invites all kinds of other issues. If we gave them a phone, they'd be playing on it and not with their friends when they were not under our supervision. The walkie-talkie's do the trick for our specific situation.
Hah hah walkie talkies, good luck getting your 10 year old to carry one of those today LOL.

My 9yr old and 5yr olds carry one (usually in their backpacks) every time they go out of sight of our home except for school. The walkie talkie is about the size of a smartphone. Even if it was somehow different, your primary concern is that your child may be embarrassed to carry it? If they want to go play out of the boundaries with friends, they take it with them; that's the rule and they never forget. It meets the needs of our situation, with none of the downsides of a smartphone. I guess we have different priorities.
lightheir
Posts: 2684
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:43 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by lightheir »

stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:03 pm
lightheir wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:44 pm
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:38 am
dboeger1 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:30 am
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:05 am

Statistically, children are more "safe" today than they were when we were growing up (ie. less kidnappings, etc.). That's certainly multifactorial, with one reason being that parents are far more cautious about letting their kids out of the house at all. Our kids are younger (9 and 5) and we let them roam the neighborhood, they have friends all over and there are two separate parks in our neighborhood (the further being ~1/3m away). We have long-range walkie-talkies that they have to take if they ever go past the speed bump, which is about 200ft. from my front door. It's worked out great for us. A phone or smartwatch would be lost or broken in the possession of our kids before the end of the first day.
Granted this was just my experience, I suppose kids walking to school in an urban core might be totally different, but as a kid, I just never went anywhere surprising or unknown to my parents. If I went to a friend's house, it was either a drive away where my parents would drop me off and have contact numbers to check up on me every so often, or it would be the next door neighbors and I was generally expected to let my parents know when I was hanging out over there and they would tell me by what time I'd have to be back. I get the point that it's a different, more connected world, but one thing that isn't different is that kids are still in developmental stages. I just don't think mobile devices are optimized for their development as a whole. Sure, there might be an educational app here or there, but there are also tons of ads and micro transactions and questionable social media influencers and so on. Organic urban gardening is more popular now too, but I'm not going to hand my kids the chainsaw to prune our fruit trees just because it's a different world now. I also wonder how healthy all the tracking tools will end up being in the long run once kids find out about it. Many things change on the basis that they're being monitored, and I know quite a few people from cultures where intense family pressure results in some horribly unhealthy and undesirable dynamics. I just don't see that much good coming from kids having full-fledged cell phones on them. It would be a different story if it was more of a locked down system purely designed to allow kids to talk, call 911, set parent-approved schedules and reminders, etc.

I think there's also some nuance to the point about statistical safety measures, as you certainly acknowledged. There are probably less kidnappings, but I can't imagine things like cyber bullying and inappropriate pictures haven't increased. You would think there would be many related issues like eating disorders. It's hard to measure the effects of these things because like you said, they're complex issues, and there are also opposing forces like sex education and safety training.

Last but not least, I'm surprised how long parents expect their kids to be out and about to the point that they absolutely need a cell phone. My play dates with friends lasted like 1-2 hours under the supervision of parents with a scheduled pickup time. Are kids just casually having 3-6 hour social gatherings with undefined boundaries and minimal supervision to the point that parents have to be able to reach them specifically? Man, maybe I was just sheltered.
Spot on. The reason we won't consider a cell phone or smartwatch is because it invites all kinds of other issues. If we gave them a phone, they'd be playing on it and not with their friends when they were not under our supervision. The walkie-talkie's do the trick for our specific situation.
Hah hah walkie talkies, good luck getting your 10 year old to carry one of those today LOL.

My 9yr old and 5yr olds carry one (usually in their backpacks) every time they go out of sight of our home except for school. The walkie talkie is about the size of a smartphone. Even if it was somehow different, your primary concern is that your child may be embarrassed to carry it? If they want to go play out of the boundaries with friends, they take it with them; that's the rule and they never forget. It meets the needs of our situation, with none of the downsides of a smartphone. I guess we have different priorities.

I'm not worried about my 10-11 yr old playing about in my immediate home locale. At 9 or under, I'd be out with them anyway due to street traffic.

The cell watch (or phone) is for when they are away from home, well out of walkie talkie range.

My daughter would have literally laughed me to the ground even at age 9 if I proposed giving her a walkie talkie to play outside. And she'd literally video me and text it to her friends as a meme if I did it now at age 10 just to embarrass me about it! :shock:
aj44
Posts: 309
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 11:22 am

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by aj44 »

I plan to get my son a cellular Apple Watch using the family feature but don’t know what age I’ll do it yet, he’s two months so technology may change enough by then something else is a suitable option.

If my son were 10 today I’d absolutely do it.
getthatmarshmallow
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by getthatmarshmallow »

We're hopefully a few years from that but I think I'd go with a flip phone over an Apple Watch (aside from the fact that I don't have an iPhone.) The Watch might not get lost, but I'd worry that it would get smashed to bits, and I think it's good for a kid to learn to keep track of an inexpensive device before getting a smartphone. M

It's not a crazy idea at all, though, just likely to be expensive. Maybe buy refurbished?
mrsbetsy
Posts: 479
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:16 am

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by mrsbetsy »

I would buy this for a 10 year old. I would not give them anything worth anything if they are going to be out and about. Certainly, no internet capabilities at this age. You are inviting trouble.



https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/alc ... lsrc=aw.ds




davebo wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:07 pm Our kids are getting to the age where they are roaming the neighborhood more, need rides home, or just want to keep in touch. My oldest (12) has a cell phone, but that is even a challenge for him because he doesn't keep it on him all the time. We've done the Gizmo in the past and it's OK, but it's a little bulky and the functionality is limited....plus the one that we had just broke.

I like the idea of the device being attached to them, so the Apple watch is appealing but it would be pretty expensive. Apparently now you don't need to have a phone to go with it, you just pay for the line charge of $10/month.

Anyone have it? Like it or no?
crossbow
Posts: 365
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:47 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by crossbow »

I'd be concerned about my kid getting the shiny new watch/iphone forcefully taken off them. But, maybe this is just me looking back on my teenage self of getting mugged by 3 older teens who wanted my flip phone (today's latest iphone equivalent).
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:03 pm
lightheir wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:44 pm
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:38 am
dboeger1 wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:30 am
stoptothink wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:05 am

Statistically, children are more "safe" today than they were when we were growing up (ie. less kidnappings, etc.). That's certainly multifactorial, with one reason being that parents are far more cautious about letting their kids out of the house at all. Our kids are younger (9 and 5) and we let them roam the neighborhood, they have friends all over and there are two separate parks in our neighborhood (the further being ~1/3m away). We have long-range walkie-talkies that they have to take if they ever go past the speed bump, which is about 200ft. from my front door. It's worked out great for us. A phone or smartwatch would be lost or broken in the possession of our kids before the end of the first day.
Granted this was just my experience, I suppose kids walking to school in an urban core might be totally different, but as a kid, I just never went anywhere surprising or unknown to my parents. If I went to a friend's house, it was either a drive away where my parents would drop me off and have contact numbers to check up on me every so often, or it would be the next door neighbors and I was generally expected to let my parents know when I was hanging out over there and they would tell me by what time I'd have to be back. I get the point that it's a different, more connected world, but one thing that isn't different is that kids are still in developmental stages. I just don't think mobile devices are optimized for their development as a whole. Sure, there might be an educational app here or there, but there are also tons of ads and micro transactions and questionable social media influencers and so on. Organic urban gardening is more popular now too, but I'm not going to hand my kids the chainsaw to prune our fruit trees just because it's a different world now. I also wonder how healthy all the tracking tools will end up being in the long run once kids find out about it. Many things change on the basis that they're being monitored, and I know quite a few people from cultures where intense family pressure results in some horribly unhealthy and undesirable dynamics. I just don't see that much good coming from kids having full-fledged cell phones on them. It would be a different story if it was more of a locked down system purely designed to allow kids to talk, call 911, set parent-approved schedules and reminders, etc.

I think there's also some nuance to the point about statistical safety measures, as you certainly acknowledged. There are probably less kidnappings, but I can't imagine things like cyber bullying and inappropriate pictures haven't increased. You would think there would be many related issues like eating disorders. It's hard to measure the effects of these things because like you said, they're complex issues, and there are also opposing forces like sex education and safety training.

Last but not least, I'm surprised how long parents expect their kids to be out and about to the point that they absolutely need a cell phone. My play dates with friends lasted like 1-2 hours under the supervision of parents with a scheduled pickup time. Are kids just casually having 3-6 hour social gatherings with undefined boundaries and minimal supervision to the point that parents have to be able to reach them specifically? Man, maybe I was just sheltered.
Spot on. The reason we won't consider a cell phone or smartwatch is because it invites all kinds of other issues. If we gave them a phone, they'd be playing on it and not with their friends when they were not under our supervision. The walkie-talkie's do the trick for our specific situation.
Hah hah walkie talkies, good luck getting your 10 year old to carry one of those today LOL.

My 9yr old and 5yr olds carry one (usually in their backpacks) every time they go out of sight of our home except for school. The walkie talkie is about the size of a smartphone. Even if it was somehow different, your primary concern is that your child may be embarrassed to carry it? If they want to go play out of the boundaries with friends, they take it with them; that's the rule and they never forget. It meets the needs of our situation, with none of the downsides of a smartphone. I guess we have different priorities.
Do you have a link to aforementioned walkie talkies? That's actually a pretty neat idea - we may try it.
User avatar
alpenglow
Posts: 1798
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by alpenglow »

As a school teacher, I can tell you that kids are constantly distracted by these things. Cell phones are also a problem, but they are easier to spot and take away.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
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Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by stoptothink »

lightheir wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 2:09 pm

My daughter would have literally laughed me to the ground even at age 9 if I proposed giving her a walkie talkie to play outside. And she'd literally video me and text it to her friends as a meme if I did it now at age 10 just to embarrass me about it! :shock:
Sounds like we raised our kids much differently. The only laughing came from me, when my 9yr old asked for a phone because all her friends had one.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by stoptothink »

crossbow wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:12 pm Do you have a link to aforementioned walkie talkies? That's actually a pretty neat idea - we may try it.
I believe these are the ones https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089NFFZ9F/re ... NrPXRydWU=


We have tested them well over a mile and they work great. And unlike Lightheir's child, ours actually think they are fun and our 14yr old neighbor will occasionally ask to borrow them to play neighborhood games. If my children were regularly going a few miles away without our supervision, obviously we'd need something else, but this is a cheap, durable, and simple solution (without the possible complications of a smart device) for us.
Last edited by stoptothink on Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Jags4186 »

I wouldn’t recommend an Apple Watch for a 10 year old for a few reasons:

1) they’re going to break it
2) they’re going to lose it
3) they’re going to forget to wear it
4) they won’t charge it regularly (needs daily charging)
lightheir
Posts: 2684
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:43 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by lightheir »

stoptothink wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:40 am
lightheir wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 2:09 pm

My daughter would have literally laughed me to the ground even at age 9 if I proposed giving her a walkie talkie to play outside. And she'd literally video me and text it to her friends as a meme if I did it now at age 10 just to embarrass me about it! :shock:
Sounds like we raised our kids much differently. The only laughing came from me, when my 9yr old asked for a phone because all her friends had one.
Ha, even if we did, my kid is literally like the best behaved kid I've ever met. She also has a great sense of humor, and appropriately so.

And no, I don't take any special parenting credit for that - she literally just turned out that way. I do think parenting skills do go a long way, but if you're lucky enough to have an intrinsically good/easy kid, they are almost not necessary. I was raised in a 100% nurture vs nature household, but now that I'm older/wiser, I'm seeing the truth of it.
lightheir
Posts: 2684
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:43 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by lightheir »

Jags4186 wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:55 am I wouldn’t recommend an Apple Watch for a 10 year old for a few reasons:

1) they’re going to break it
2) they’re going to lose it
3) they’re going to forget to wear it
4) they won’t charge it regularly (needs daily charging)
I asked my 10 year old daughter this very same question, but more as to specifically her friends,since I know she'd be able to manage it no problem.

She told me that quite a few of her friends have had Apple watches for years (one kid since kindergarten, there was a reason for it though not just for show) and was quite firm that her friends would easily be able to manage and not break/lose their watch at age 10. I'll acknowledge that there is likely difference between boys vs girls at this stage as well, so YMMV.

The airpods that go with it though....yeah, good luck with those.
stoptothink
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Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by stoptothink »

lightheir wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:42 am
stoptothink wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:40 am
lightheir wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 2:09 pm

My daughter would have literally laughed me to the ground even at age 9 if I proposed giving her a walkie talkie to play outside. And she'd literally video me and text it to her friends as a meme if I did it now at age 10 just to embarrass me about it! :shock:
Sounds like we raised our kids much differently. The only laughing came from me, when my 9yr old asked for a phone because all her friends had one.
Ha, even if we did, my kid is literally like the best behaved kid I've ever met.

And no, I don't take any special parenting credit for that - she literally just turned out that way. I do think parenting skills do go a long way, but if you're lucky enough to have an intrinsically good/easy kid, they are almost not necessary. I was raised in a 100% nurture vs nature household, but now that I'm older/wiser, I'm seeing the truth of it.
I'm sure your daughter is great and I know nothing about you, and even if I did it's no place of mine to judge anybody as a parent.

"...even at age 9 if I proposed giving her a walkie talkie to play outside. And she'd literally video me and text it to her friends as a meme if I did it now at age 10 just to embarrass me about it!"

That's not happening in my home, period. There is no "proposing", they want freedom to roam the neighborhood with friends, they take the walkie talkies and there is no discussion about a smart device as an alternative. Different styles.
onourway
Posts: 3778
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:39 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by onourway »

Jags4186 wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:55 am I wouldn’t recommend an Apple Watch for a 10 year old for a few reasons:

1) they’re going to break it
2) they’re going to lose it
3) they’re going to forget to wear it
4) they won’t charge it regularly (needs daily charging)
None of these would be an issue with our 10 year olds. They have different, but similarly expensive Garmins and all of our kids have had tablets and computers much more expensive than an Apple Watch for years and never an incident.
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by Jags4186 »

I’m always impressed with how responsible and mature our fellow Bogleheads’ preteen children are. I sometimes wonder if they also file their parents taxes, manage their portfolios, and look after their elders’ advance medical directives.

Meanwhile my 10 year old niece still has a tantrum if she’s asked to wear something she doesn’t like.
onourway
Posts: 3778
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:39 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by onourway »

Jags4186 wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:16 pm I’m always impressed with how responsible and mature our fellow Bogleheads’ preteen children are. I sometimes wonder if they also file their parents taxes, manage their portfolios, and look after their elders’ advance medical directives.

Meanwhile my 10 year old niece still has a tantrum if she’s asked to wear something she doesn’t like.
Oh they will still do that as well - this is the joy of kids, right? We have successfully instilled in them to have respect for their property however, and lost or damaged items are extremely unusual in our family.
lightheir
Posts: 2684
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:43 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by lightheir »

Jags4186 wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:16 pm I’m always impressed with how responsible and mature our fellow Bogleheads’ preteen children are. I sometimes wonder if they also file their parents taxes, manage their portfolios, and look after their elders’ advance medical directives.

Meanwhile my 10 year old niece still has a tantrum if she’s asked to wear something she doesn’t like.
I'd say it should be no surprise that a lot kids of parents who are forum members of an index-fund with a risk-averse non-flashy investing style, requiring responsible planning and investment, would share similar traits and behaviors.

I'm sure I'll still have the crop-top battles down the road though...
momvesting
Posts: 513
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2016 9:18 pm

Re: Apple watch for 10 year old?

Post by momvesting »

They are banned at some schools, so you may want to check on the rules at your child’s school.
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