My Thoughts on Smartwatches

I will start by saying that plenty of families are not interested in smartwatches at all (I get into the cons below). They certainly aren’t necessary. But if you are thinking about them, here’s what you need to know:

Smartwatches have 2 good use cases 

• As a tool for giving elementary school aged kids getting very first steps to independence

• As a way for middle school kids who will not be getting smartphones to get in touch with friends “on the go.”

Smartwatches and Elementary School

The use case for smartwatches in elementary school is to allow some early independence. We gave them to our kids so they could walk to and from school alone & hang on the playground after school without us wondering where they are. They allow kids some freedom. They help parents untether.

The cons, however, are more significant than I first realized.

Schools without strong smartwatch policies or policies that aren’t being enforced are now environments where learning is being frequently interrupted. They are reducing our children’s ability to learn and stay focused.

If  smartwatches aren’t set up correctly – school mode on, fun stuff limited or removed entirely, they can be worse learning distractions than phones.

My best advice on elementary smartwatches is this

• Give a smartwatch, intentionally e.g. to unlock some independence. I do not recommend them as a form of entertainment

• Make sure your child’s watch has school mode on or better yet, insist that they leave the watch in their backpack during the day (even if this is not the policy)

• Coach your child on communication etiquette. Practice with them so learn when it is appropriate to call or text and what are appropriate phone or text manners.

• Severely limit or better yet block access to internet, games and apps unless they are needed

Best Elementary School Watch Options

This group of options has very few, boring extras, no internet and all have GPS tracking.

• Gizmo - limit of 20 contacts, can only text non-family members that also have the Gizmo. No apps, 1 very boring game.

• Tick Talk can only text non-family members that also have the Tick Talk. No apps, no games. GSM networks only (no Verizon or Spint).

• Troomi - can only text non-family members that also have the Troomi, limited apps, does have games

• Gabb limit of 10 contacts, can text outside of family members, no games, limited apps

Apple Watch is not on this list. I don’t love it for young kids because there is too much to lock down. It's not impossible to lock it down- just a lot of work.

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Smartwatches and Middle School

Many parents do not want to give their children smartphones for middle school. The use case for giving or maintaining a smartwatch at the start of middle school is to allow our kids a way to communicate with their friends, with a device that is harder to lose because it's attached to their bodies and doesn’t come with all the extras of a smartphone. 

I do think giving middle schoolers a way to get in touch and meet up after school is important.

There are cons, however.

Having a device attached to your body makes it harder to have a break from the device.  Depending on the school policy, they may be wearing it during the day, which you don’t want. Constant notifications are disruptive and bad for focus.  

I will say it gets harder and harder to be a “watch kid” as they get farther into middle school. The “watch kids” will be fine in 6th— there will be plenty of kids who start middle school with a watch.  But, the majority of kids, it seems, will transition to a phone at some point in middle school. The need for access to specific apps will feel more urgent.

Best Middle School Watch Options

-Gabb Watch. It allows texting, it has text monitoring if you need it, It has no way to get to the internet. it can block group texting if you need that too BUT, it only holds 10 contacts.

-Apple Watch - With the Apple Watch you get texting but are risking access to the internet, disable group texts doesn’t really work and it doesn’t have text monitoring unless you use a snoop-pad* or buy a 3rd party text monitoring service like Bark (which other parents tell me is laggy and buggy)

*a “snoopPad” as I learned from another mom is when you have an iPad logged into your child’s apple ID that allows you to monitor their texts, browser histories and settings on any apple device they are using. 

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