He's begging for one and literally every other kid in his class seems to have one. I'm torn because I want him to fit in socially but I also don't want him doom scrolling through TikTok all night. My wife thinks we should wait until 12. What age did you guys let your kids have smartphones? Any regrets either way?
At 10 my daughter didn't have one either and she still had friends. Just saying you can hold that line if you want to.
We held off on phones until middle school and honestly it worked out fine. My boys have plenty of ways to be social without needing their own phone at 10. You don't have to follow what everyone else is doing.
Don't feel pressured by what other families are doing. We go on bike rides every weekend and our kids are plenty social without phones yet. He'll be fine waiting a couple more years.
Honestly 10 feels too young in my opinion but every family is different. My oldest just turned 11 and we said no phone until high school. He's got an iPod Touch that can do most stuff when he's at home on WiFi but no cellular phone. The 'everyone else has one' argument is eternal but it's not actually true.
If it makes you feel better not every kid in his class actually has one. They just talk like they do. But also this is a tough one because you have to balance what's reasonable for safety with not wanting him to feel like a total outcast.
I don't let my 10 year old have a smartphone and I'm sticking with it. The FOMO is real but honestly a lot of kids that age with phones are just dealing with drama and social anxiety they're not equipped for yet. You can be the unpopular parent on this one.
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We went with a basic flip phone at 12 for contact purposes only. It's a compromise between total no and giving him the full smartphone experience at 10. The data access and social media stuff can wait a few more years in my opinion.