Thinking about pulling the plug on smartphones for my 10 and 13 year old and just giving them basic flip phones for calling and texting. They can use iPads at home on WiFi only with parental controls. My wife thinks I'm insane but I'm tired of fighting about apps and YouTube. Has anyone else done this? How did it go?
Not crazy at all, actually thinking about this too. My kids are 8 and 11 and I'm so tired of managing screen time constantly. A flip phone for calls and texts sounds honestly peaceful. What model are you looking at?
I respect the move but curious how you'll handle peer pressure when every other kid at school has Instagram. That's the part that worries me with this approach.
You're not crazy, but good luck getting a 13 year old to accept a flip phone in 2024. My kids would revolt, but I respect the instinct here.
Not crazy at all. My 13 year old actually appreciated having limits set, even if she complained at first. Flip phones for calls and texting make sense at that age.
I get the appeal, but have you thought about what happens when they're the only kids without a smartphone? Might be worth finding middle ground with screen time limits instead.
This is genius honestly. The smartphone is designed to be addictive anyway. Flip phones are basically a return to reality without being completely ridiculous.
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Do it. Seriously. My nephew got a flip phone at 12 and he actually talks to people now instead of being glued to a screen. His mom says his grades went up too. The pushback will be real for like a week then they adapt.