His friends at school all have tablets or tablets and he's jealous. I'm not ready for this yet but I also don't want him to be the only kid without something. My wife thinks we should get him one with heavy parental controls and I think that's reasonable but I honestly have no idea what apps are appropriate or how much screen time is OK. Anyone else dealing with this age group? What did you decide?
My kids went through the same thing at that age. We held off until 8 and honestly, looking back, we should have waited even longer. Stay strong on this one.
This is the digital parenting battle we all face. My take: get him a cheap tablet you control completely, not a phone. Huge difference. Phone = gateway drug to everything else.
We held off until 8 with our oldest and it felt right. Maybe compromise with a basic tablet for educational stuff only, no social media? Takes the pressure off without going full smartphone.
This is the million dollar question with four kids and honestly there's no perfect answer. What helped us was being clear about what a device is FOR, not just saying no to everything.
This is coming from peer pressure not real need. At 6 your kid doesn't actually need a phone. I'd hold the line on this one. Maybe offer alternatives like a basic watch or something?
I'm dealing with this exact thing right now with my 6yo. The peer pressure is real and it sucks. We decided to set a hard line at 7, and we've been pretty firm about it. The jealousy will pass, I promise.
We waited until 10 for our oldest and honestly I'm glad we did. At 6 they're still figuring out basic self control. The jealousy sucks but it passes.
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My son started asking at 5 too. I explained that his friends' parents made different choices for their families. We did let him use our tablet on weekends with time limits. Might be a middle ground?