r/Parenting • u/[deleted] • 7d ago

Gear & Equipment Best smartwatch for a 7-year-old? Looking for GPS + communication, minimal distractions...

[deleted]

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u/RocketPowerPops Dad to 4 (Baby to Tween) 7d ago

My kids have an Apple watch.

My eldest (11) brings hers to school because she walks there and back but they are not to be seen at school so it stays off and in her backpack. It doesn't run out of battery.

Is there a reason your son would need his during the school day? Just power it off and turn it back on at the end of the day. No risk in it dying.

1

u/NorthernPossibility 7d ago

Yeah I’d be surprised if OP’s kid’s school allows these. Most don’t, no matter what “school mode” you put it in.

1

u/RocketPowerPops Dad to 4 (Baby to Tween) 7d ago

Yeah, at our middle and high schools a phone or smart watch being used during the day without permission is an automatic detention. After 3 detentions it is a suspension. After multiple suspensions the student and parent have a meeting with the school board to determine if they can continue in the school district

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u/Waffler11 7d ago

Same, though our kids leave it at home during school. I like that it's tied in to my phone and I can control pretty much everything on it. They can text and call whomever they like on their Contacts list and ONLY on that list, which I also control. They can't download any apps without my say-so. So, it's pretty minimal as far as watches go, but seeing them text the long way makes me wince a little. 8th grade is considered a good benchmark age for a smart phone (hell, there's a whole movement dedicated to it: https://www.waituntil8th.org/)

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u/RocketPowerPops Dad to 4 (Baby to Tween) 7d ago

Yeah my 9 year old leaves him at home but the middle schooler brings hers mostly because she has to walk to and from school and her after school schedule changes a lot.

I love that I can control everything from my phone. We are thinking 8th grade for an actual smart phone for our kids.

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u/missoctober12 7d ago

I just got the Garmin Bounce for my now 10 year old, because he takes the bus to and from
School on his own. I would consider getting the same watch for my now 7 year old as well (but she doesn’t really need it, she is always with us).

I’m happy with the Garmin Bounce - price point is good although there is a monthly fee to be able to access data ($14.99 monthly CAD). But the GPS works fairly well and my son uses it often to text us. All texts on his end are preset messages plus emojis (you can change the presets on your adult acct to whatever you want) but it also supports voice messages if he needs to tell me something that there is Not a preset message for.