Millennial mom makes a plea to fellow parents after regretting giving her young daughter a phone

Parents these days tend to rely heavily on technology to keep track of their children and ensure their safety. For some folks, this includes giving their kids mobile phones at a young age. However, one of the biggest challenges they face is deciding what age is appropriate for children to own phones and what restrictions should be put in place to keep them safe. A millennial mom named Kailey Wood–who goes by @the_geriatricmillennial on TikTok–weighed in on this matter by sharing how she regretted giving her daughters phones at the age of 10. She posted a video sharing why she did so and urged fellow parents to give their children phones only by the age of 14 or 15.

She started by saying that she took away the phone of her 11-year-old daughter after she had it for over a year. Wood then confessed that she regrets giving phones to her daughters who are 11 and 13 years old. The mother explained, "Got my kids phones when they were 10 and it was really for my peace of mind. It was to allow them a little more independence to roam the neighborhoods and go to their friend's houses, but I wanted to know where they were all the time so I could track them and they could call me whenever they needed."

She added that initially, it was a struggle to give them phones, but she did it because she felt relaxed knowing where they were at all times. However, things began to go out of hand and Wood had to deactivate her 11-year-old daughter's phone. The mom spoke about apps to keep track of her kids and shared that she realized the problem with young kids having phones was not so much about social media. "You can block the social media. That stuff's all easy. What it is, is hormonal girls being jealous," she explained. 

She then spoke about the real issue. Wood shared, "Let's take my daughter, for instance. She's out with one of her friends and one of her friends posts on Snapchat, but another person sees that she's with her and they start getting jealous, so they text my daughter, 'Why are you with her?' My daughter feels bad and makes up a lie because she doesn't want to hurt that person's feelings. There's so much that goes into it and there's always jealousy between teenage girls. There's always gonna be that layer."

Wood clarified that her daughter was not in trouble, but she had come to a place where she felt this had gone too far as it impacted the child negatively. The mom then pleaded with parents who were struggling with a similar issue. "We can't keep them from having phones forever. What do we do? They're a part of the teenage experience now, but at what expense?" she asked. "We as parents need to band together and agree that we're not going to allow it until 14, 15, 16," she concluded.

People in the comments resonated with Wood. @barbaralynn0110 commented, "My daughter is 11. I reluctantly got her the phone last summer. I totally regret it. The texting drama is nuts. I have all social media blocked. She can't add or delete apps without my approval on my phone." @propertyofslytherinmen wrote, "This reasoning doesn't make sense because there's always going to be drama with or without phones. I'd try and give her advice on how to navigate friendships." @dearkatebrandstrategy shared, "We got an Apple Watch for the middle kid with its own phone number. $5/month and the absolute best decision vs our oldest with a phone."

@watsonwarriors2020 said, "My ten-year-old has a phone with only approved contacts. Me, his dad, aunts, etc, and a few friends who I know the parents of... been drama-free for us!" @kristenbrito2 wrote, "My son is 13, his iPhone is hooked up to mine, I can set screen time so he can only have certain numbers to text and call, he has to get permission to get an app, and no Google/safari." Kailey replied, "I have all those limits except for the text thing that's a good idea!"

You can follow Kailey Wood (@the_geriatricmillenial) on TikTok for more content on her life and family.