Poll of the Day > why do people give their second graders smart phones?

(+) Yeah! (+)

my boyfriend's niece is 7 and in second grade and she just added him on snapchat. and she constantly tries to video chat him.

like why does a second grader need a smart phone?

i don't get it
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Kids are annoying enough when you don't have them pestering you (even nieces and nephews), I feel sorry for your bf
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It makes it easier to keep in touch with relatives, and if she has any kind of medical emergency at school she'll be able to call her parents easily. That, and all the other kids have one too.

so they can ask each other if they have any games on their phone

gps for parents
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Selenara posted...

It makes it easier to keep in touch with relatives, and if she has any kind of medical emergency at school she'll be able to call her parents easily. That, and all the other kids have one too.

where is a second grader having a medical emergency where an adult wouldn't be able to call their parents?

their parents have phones to keep in touch with relatives.

AND WHY DO OTHER SECOND GRADERS HAVE SMART PHONES?!

Muscles posted...

Kids are annoying enough when you don't have them pestering you (even nieces and nephews), I feel sorry for your bf

it's annoying af for me because whenever someone calls he puts it on speaker phone and tries to get me on the conversation. so when she video chats he tries to get me to do it too and i hate that shit. i don't wanna video chat anyone or talk on your speakerphone. go in a different room.
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VeeVees posted...

gps for parents

they make actual emergency phones for children that have that functional use and only allow the kids to make calls out to specified numbers and 911 if needed. and they aren't smart phones. they're flip phones.
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My niece is 2 and is already on a smart phone constantly

She cant even read but she knows the icons and uses them to watch her cartoons and play this little game that sings letters to her. She has these tiny toddler hands but they zoom around on the screen, its actually pretty impressive for somebody that falls on her butt like twenty times a day
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Jen0125 posted...

it's annoying af for me because whenever someone calls he puts it on speaker phone and tries to get me on the conversation. so when she video chats he tries to get me to do it too and i hate that shit. i don't wanna video chat anyone or talk on your speakerphone. go in a different room.

Here is the real problem.
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SunWuKung420 posted...

Here is the real problem.

no that's just an annoyance. i told my boyfriend if we ever have a kid it's not getting a dang ol' cell phone when it's 7 years old. that's ridiculous.
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i mean hello has no one seen to catch a predator!?
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Jen0125 posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

Here is the real problem.

no that's just an annoyance. i told my boyfriend if we ever have a kid it's not getting a dang ol' cell phone when it's 7 years old. that's ridiculous.

By that point they'll have smart device implants by age 7 and cell phones will be old hat
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I love how some people involved in creating the social media addiction are now actively fighting it out of guilt from feeling they've helped destroy society.
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Well, smart phones and tablets are the new babysitters.
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Doctor Foxx posted...

By that point they'll have smart device implants by age 7 and cell phones will be old hat

dun dun dunnnn
i'll ask my personally assigned fbi agent about that

TheCyborgNinja posted...

I love how some people involved in creating the social media addiction are now actively fighting it out of guilt from feeling they've helped destroy society.

what makes you think i'm "addicted to social media?" lmao
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Jen0125 posted...

where is a second grader having a medical emergency where an adult wouldn't be able to call their parents?

their parents have phones to keep in touch with relatives.

AND WHY DO OTHER SECOND GRADERS HAVE SMART PHONES?!

Some medical emergencies aren't necessarily obvious to teachers, like low blood sugar. It gives parents peace of mind to know that they can reach their child at any time, and that the child can reach them if needed. And I'm guessing you've never tried keeping in touch with a young relative who lives some distance away, because I can tell you from experience it's a lot easier when the child has their own phone.

Mead posted...

She cant even read but she knows the icons and uses them to watch her cartoons and play this little game that sings letters to her. She has these tiny toddler hands but they zoom around on the screen, its actually pretty impressive for somebody that falls on her butt like twenty times a day

Haha, I have a one year old niece who knows to swipe the screen to scroll through pictures. She loves looking at cat photos xD

Selenara posted...

Some medical emergencies aren't necessarily obvious to teachers, like low blood sugar. It gives parents peace of mind to know that they can reach their child at any time, and that the child can reach them if needed. And I'm guessing you've never tried keeping in touch with a young relative who lives some distance away, because I can tell you from experience it's a lot easier when the child has their own phone.

that's why they give medical directive to the school nurse and the nurse will give them the care they need. calling your parent isn't going to get you help faster than someone at school can.

And you don't need a smartphone for that, btw. They make phones for children that have set numbers they can call which can include the parents.
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Jen0125 posted...

that's why they give medical directive to the school nurse and the nurse will give them the care they need. calling your parent isn't going to get you help faster than someone at school can.

Not every school has a nurse, and teachers aren't medical professionals. Even if there is a nurse, a lot of parents will want to know immediately if there's a problem. If you become a parent, you'll most likely be singing a very different tune, especially if your child has a condition like diabetes or asthma.

Jen0125 posted...

And you don't need a smartphone for that, btw. They make phones for children that have set numbers they can call which can include the parents.

A lot of people have old phones lying around, so those get used instead of buying a new one. Seriously though, you asked why do people give their second graders smart phones, and I gave you several legit reasons. But you keep nitpicking them trying to justify your position that kids don't need smartphones. Why did you bother asking if you'd already decided there was no legit reason?

what school doesn't have a nurse? are you in the US? every grade school in the US has a nurse. and asthma is a terrible example. that example actually lends credence to my argument that a kid doesn't need a phone. if you're having an asthma attack you don't want to call your parents. your parents should be leaving an inhaler at the nurse so you can go use it while you're at school. that's what every other kid with an inhaler did when i was in school and no one died of an asthma attack.

same with insulin and diabetes. that is something you need assistance with ASAP and the nurse at school is trained to help you with that. then they will call you as the parent to inform you there was an issue.
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honestly, this is only weird to us because we grew up when cell phones were shitty bricks, and most of all, rare for anyone to have

likehelly posted...

honestly, this is only weird to us because we grew up when cell phones were shitty bricks, and most of all, rare for anyone to have

i just think, anecdotally, every child i've met that has been exposed to excessive use of tablets or smartphones has had the attention span of a gnat and is not well behaved. every child i've met that has had that usage limited is not that way.

i wonder if any studies have been done about the effect of excessive media exposure on young children
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is it that much more different than when you were a kid though?

as far as i can tell, kids act pretty much the same as we did back then, and most issues stem from the parents now instead of what technology they have access to

Jen0125 posted...

likehelly posted...

honestly, this is only weird to us because we grew up when cell phones were shitty bricks, and most of all, rare for anyone to have

i just think, anecdotally, every child i've met that has been exposed to excessive use of tablets or smartphones has had the attention span of a gnat and is not well behaved. every child i've met that has had that usage limited is not that way.

i wonder if any studies have been done about the effect of excessive media exposure on young children

Screen time has been linked to negative effects, especially with younger children. You're not even supposed to let a child under 2 watch television, let alone use smart devices
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likehelly posted...

is it that much more different than when you were a kid though?

as far as i can tell, kids act pretty much the same as we did back then, and most issues stem from the parents now instead of what technology they have access to

When I was a kid we were always playing outside. We can hardly get any of the kids we're around to want to move around at all because they're making obnoxious faces into their smartphones.
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likehelly posted...

is it that much more different than when you were a kid though?

as far as i can tell, kids act pretty much the same as we did back then, and most issues stem from the parents now instead of what technology they have access to

IDK about you helly but I lived outside on my bike. My inside activities were reading or drawing. until we got a home PC and the internet when I was 9 or so. Then I was inside a lot more. But still out of the house doing activities any day it wasn't too cold.

There were times for TV or games. But they were in common areas in the house. And there were limits. Even my crappy parents did that.
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i guess maybe it's just where i live then

Jen0125 posted...

what school doesn't have a nurse? are you in the US?

No, every school in the US does not have a nurse. Less than half have a full time nurse on staff. But you've already decided what you want to think, haven't you? You didn't make this topic to hear other people's reasons, you made it to hear people validate your own point of view. No matter what reasons I give you and how many other parents agree with those reasons, you'll find some kind of excuse to ignore them anyway, because obviously you know better even though you're not a parent yourself.

Growing up I spent a lot of time on handhelds. I see tablets and mobile phones as being no different on that front. Also phones at least have the added benefit of the parent being able to keep tabs on the kid or being used in emergencies. Like anything it's fine in moderation.
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Jen0125 posted...

what school doesn't have a nurse? are you in the US? every grade school in the US has a nurse. and asthma is a terrible example. that example actually lends credence to my argument that a kid doesn't need a phone. if you're having an asthma attack you don't want to call your parents. your parents should be leaving an inhaler at the nurse so you can go use it while you're at school. that's what every other kid with an inhaler did when i was in school and no one died of an asthma attack.

same with insulin and diabetes. that is something you need assistance with ASAP and the nurse at school is trained to help you with that. then they will call you as the parent to inform you there was an issue.

You are right. Every school I've taught in and been to had a nurse. Not a trained teacher but an RN. Not only that, more than one in call because if we had a field trip with a certain students a nurse went too with equipment.

Teachers are made aware of medical problems of their students if it is something that is life threatening and what to watch out for and what to do.
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https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/screen-time-and-young-children

http://nationalpost.com/health/kids-are-getting-too-much-screen-time-and-its-affecting-their-development

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/toddlers-screen-time-linked-slower-speech-development-study-finds
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I had one around that age, but it was a dinky Samsung flip phone I could only make calls on. Smartphones weren't a thing.

I see a lot of kids with like, iPods and tablets though. It seemed weird at first, but I guess it's not unlike the Game Boys we had when I was that age.
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Because society has evolved to a place where technology is part of everyday life and access to people instantly is bordering on being a requirment to daily living.

Selenara posted...

No, every school in the US does not have a nurse.

provide proof of this claim, because every school i've been to, or seen, has had a nurse or two on staff.

but anyways, come to think of it, when i got my first gameboy, i couldn't stay off of the thing

likehelly posted...

Selenara posted...

No, every school in the US does not have a nurse.

provide proof of this claim, because every school i've been to, or seen, has had a nurse or two on staff.

Public schools require them, I'm guessing there might be loopholes for private schools

i would imagine private schools have their own nurse or medical person, too, though

something happens to you, what're you gonna do? go to ms. jones the librarian because she might have some bandages since she's old and has a gigantic purse?

That's why I asked if that person was from the US. I've never heard of a school in the US without a nurse.
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Not only do they have nurses we also have some students that require an aide with them at all times if they have severe enough health problems.
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Jen0125 posted...

likehelly posted...

is it that much more different than when you were a kid though?

as far as i can tell, kids act pretty much the same as we did back then, and most issues stem from the parents now instead of what technology they have access to

When I was a kid we were always playing outside. We can hardly get any of the kids we're around to want to move around at all because they're making obnoxious faces into their smartphones.

good times i still remember climbing trees and making tree houses

also my immune system is great thanks to all the outdoor stuff i did back then
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What's the term? Absentee parenting?
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