It’s a great moment in the Cook house: we are about to give our 12-year-old son his first smartphone.
In preparation for his new tech gadget, we need to establish some ground rules.
After writing some initial guidelines, I received great advice on Twitter. Holly Grambihler, Sales and Marketing Director of GeekWire, also offered a solid addition: “Parents reserve the right to use the Find my Friend/phone app if needed – useful at Disneyland and whenever they have misplaced their phone!”
GeekWire reporter Charlotte Schubert wrote down a rule for her 15-year-old daughter: don’t be on the phone when chatting with friends or family.
Others shared warnings.
“These are good ideas. This will fail,” GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser joked on our Slack channel. “But good luck.” Kurt also highlighted his post from 2018: Put down your devices and be a kid while you still can: tips for 5th graders and all of us.
We could use some additional advice from those who have been here before. What rules are we missing? What worked for other parents? What is proper daily use?
As the new iPhone 14 hits stores today, I’m sure we’re not alone on this journey.
Feel free to reply to my tweet with ideas, and wish us luck!
