D had a flip phone through high school. She loved that phone, mostly because it easily fit in her pocket, and she could call and text just fine. We forced her to get a smart phone before she started college and she thanked us before the end of first semester! She’s in a large city and uses it to navigate and use public transportation. Another consideration is that the colleges and campus groups communicate via social media—having a smart phone helps with staying on top of various activities. Wait for an email and you might miss things. A smart phone may not be a necessity quite yet, but it sure is convenient.
For a student in a new city the ability to have transit maps, street maps and gps at your fingertips is pretty huge
You can disable the newer feature that causes videos to play automatically (both my kids did) and you can turn off the data so you can use wifi only. I make my son do this as he can suck data watching a video. You get a text alert from Verizon as you work through your data allotment. On campus they are just using wifi.
My kid got home form his orientation late last night and reported that he made 2 “really good friends”. He then said that they exchanged snapchats and FB and whatever else they had for electronic communication methods. They won’t probably ever talk on the phone this summer, but I know my kid will cement the friendships with lots of texting, snapchats of the dog being cute and whatnot. It is how most kids connect and stay in touch.
I also found when older kid was away and after younger kid got his smartphone junior year they communicated more. They would send snapchats of one thing or another and it was just the right level of casual informality for them to keep in touch when you have nothing specific to say but see something that reminds you of the other person. They actually got closer again that year because they had more casual communication.
I’m in the “it’s a necessity” side of the argument. (Instant email and web access–my DD is constantly looking stuff up --, so many useful apps, texting etc) But having said that, I could see how using a tablet with wifi on campus could probably fulfill most of your smartphone needs. But if he ventures off campus he’ll lose some of those benefits if he doesn’t have a dataplan. (Depending on your tablet you could get a dataplan for that instead of a smartphone). When my DD goes off campus (or comes home) she uses “Waze” (as do I!) to find her way around and to check traffic conditions.
Of course, as previously pointed out, a smart phone is a much more convenient size than a tablet for your pocket!
He needs a smartphone, come on.
And students are not always walking around with laptops or tablets. As my daughter says he can easily look stuff up with the phone. He’s transitioning. Make sure he fits in with the other kids.
It’s probably time to move smartphones out of the “toy” category and into the “tool” category.
I use my smartphone for tons of things…and so do my kids. It’s a phone. It’s a little portable computer. It’s a GPS. It has my calendar in it…very handy. It has my music. It Is my camera. It has my photo library too.
Could my old flip phone do all of these things? I don’t think mine could.
I should add…neither of my kids had smartphones while in college. One graduated from undergrad in 2010…got her first smartphone in 2011. The other got a grad degree in 2009 and that is when he got his iPhone.
They both survived college without smartphones.
S graduated college in 2010, D in 2012. We got smartphone in 12/2012. We are happy with them and have no plans to return to “dumb phones.”. We like the old iphone 5 as our iTouch and our new android phones for most other things.
OP says she’s getting her new entering college freshman a phone, not as a necessity but a nice to have.
A lot has changed in those years with how people communicate. My 2015 HS graduate didn’t get his smart phone until late 2013 and it was fine but a real inconvenience for a year or so until then. When you are the “only” person without one life can move on without you. There comes a point when real time communications are how things are done. Again, when friends, classmates and professors communicate with a group they do it in real time in ways that a “flip-phone” won’t get.
D got hers in 2012 when she went off to college.
A few comments. We have Verizon and all the smartphones (we have iPhones, Samsung, and LG) all default to WiFi when in range of a known network. So while on campus at least, they should not be chewing up data usage. I would think they all pick up on WiFi automatically, but I can’t say that with certainty. It is absolutely worth asking before buying the phone.
I think those that say their kids got through college fine without a smartphone are not taking into account how fast things are changing. The pervasive use of smartphones leads to the assumption that everyone has one and can download apps or use them in other ways that are pretty much expected. I mean this in both an academic and social situations. No professor would even consider that a student doesn’t have a laptop these days, although technically they probably could get by without one. Not having a smartphone is rapidly getting to that same state of affairs, and you have 4 more years for things to move further in that direction before he is done with college. Why wait?
Finally, and I am a little surprised this has not been mentioned yet, many schools have custom apps for things like safety, event calendars, general information, etc. Maybe his school hasn’t gotten there yet, who knows. But Tulane did (my D recently graduated form there) including the shuttle alert which showed them exactly where a shuttle was on its route (there were several shuttles for going to different locations in the city and suburbs) so they could maximize their time and safety. There is a one touch app to alert campus police when the student was leaving one off campus location and arriving at a second location, etc. Of course it worked on campus too, but that isn’t an issue at Tulane.
The point is that apps and smartphones are rapidly becoming the default way to innovate new services, if they aren’t already. No sense being left behind. That’s all in addition to the positives many have already mentioned, such as GPS/maps, easy communication with classmates, airplane tickets, etc. I recommend strongly that you get the insurance and get an Otter cover or similar protective case. I love my cover, and kids are much harder on their phones than I would ever be.
Not really. But it’s certainly fun to have one.
In a similar vein, does your kid really require more than one pair of shoes?
Buy your kid a used unlocked iphone 4s on amazon or ebay for like $100. That antiquated brick smartphone will make his/her head explode as compared to a flip phone.
OP here. As HImom notes, I did concede already that I will get my son a smart phone because ya’ll convinced me that there are many conveniences associated with it, and I’m happy to make his transition to college a smooth one. I am conscious of the fact that most people assume everyone else has one, and I think the point about school apps is a good one. I would love a class schedule, coupled with some kind of alert function that reminds him to go to class, for example. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but I am sure there are other things like sending an alert when washing machines are free. Or printers are working.
I understand that it is pretty easy to make sure that the phone is set to default over to wifi when available. So, we can probably bring it in for something between $40 to $60 a month, which seems to be worth it, all things considered.
Having said all that, I want to also say that some people function fine without smart phones. But when my son is back from his first year I’ll see if he agrees that it is a “necessity” or just fun/convenient.
@Northwesty. My kid only has one pair of shoes. I offer to buy him more but he just says no! Now I guess you’re going to tell me I have to get him another pair before he leaves for college.
As for phones, I was thinking about something running Android, not an iPhone. Probably getting something rehabbed from Verizon (or Amazon, that is a good idea).
Might be worthwhile seeing what is available at WalMart, as they sometimes have inexpensive smart phones that have no contract. Actually iPhones are nice because so many folks know how to use them and they are VERY intuitive to use and work with all other apple devices. I personally have always preferred PCs, but the iPhone convinced me to get an iPad mini. I use these two much more than I use the android and windows phones we have. I’d offer the child $xxx for a phone and let him do the research and buy the phone he wants, having him kick in whatever extra it costs above his budget. Let him have some ownership in the process. Also, buy the phone with a CCard that will provide insurance/extended warranty.
A friend of mine resisted getting a smartphone for a LONG time and barely accepted even having a cell phone at all. She visited my city yesterday and using her smartphone was able to plan visits to places in the city via public transportation and walking using various apps, found a place to eat and how to get there, took photos of her adventures, messaged me so we could coordinate meeting up, posted her photos and stories about her trip on social media, and today is taking a tour arranged through another app. Tomorrow she’ll use the phone to remotely check in with her airline. And so much more.
While we all “lived without them”. I do think college kids will only find them more and more useful. nycparent-H and I prefer our Androids, D is an iphone fan. We usually get the previous year’s model at a discount but we all just changed Verizon plans and upgraded to the newest models with a good deal. The most useful app-PERIOD? The GPS. We use it often and just yesterday got us to a spot we’d never been without a problem, even directing us around construction we didn’t know was there. I’d recommend it for anyone going to a new city-such as a college student going away for school.
I think virtually all high school kids have smartphones nowadays.
@fallenchemist brings up an excellent point I forgot about - safety! At Berkeley, and I’m sure everywhere pretty much, they have a range of shuttle services after dusk, and you access them through the app to get picked up.
And also to reiterate, what was fairly doable in 2012 and even 2013 (no smartphone), is not so doable in 2015.