I bought smartwatches to my kids and I regret it.
My oldest daughter got her smartwatch when she was 8. She insisted that she wanted a phone. Most of her friends had either a smartwatch or a phone. Since I didn’t want her to have unsupervised access to the Internet, I thought a smartwatch would be better.
After one year the phone stopped charging. I gave an old phone to her while I tried to get the smartwatch repaired. She was happier than when she first got her smartwatch. She didn’t want her smartwatch back.
My fears of unsupervised Internet use were misplaced. She keeps the phone on her backpack most of the day (as she had done with her smartwatch) and she uses it as intended to call when she wants to go home to a friend after school or to invite a friend over.
When at home, she already had access to an iPad, so there is no big difference with regards to Internet use.
It turns out that her experience is fairly typical. Her friend across the street also had a smartwatch that got damaged, she got an old iPhone as a replacement, she was happier with it and never went back to the smartwatch.
I wasted my money with the smartwatches. An old phone is much cheaper, the kids like it better and they use it responsibly.
Last updated: 2021-05-01