I think a lot of folks here have no kids or young kids. I was once a high school teacher....you would not believe what I have seen, situations involving phones and social media. It is brutal out there. I've also raised two kids to adulthood who managed to endure my involvement/supervision and remain relatively functional and unmolested digital natives. I have two younger kids who both have iPods. I have the charger...so I get to interact with the devices almost daily to check up.

And....I have seen an incidence of a 12-year-old "flashing" via my nieces Instagram account at a slumber party...she was taking cam girl style requests with two phones and my niece's iPod. My older son had happened to tag me in a beer picture late at night and the alert woke me up. I saw the other pic and you can better believe I called my sister-in-law at 2AM. It was a HUGE to do....so many kids in trouble...not my niece mind you, she had been crying and threatening to tell because she knew better...but this in a very nice and affluent part of this area.

All I am trying to say is that the whole 'tween ages with phones/devices and social media is and extremely crucial time in a kid's life and sets the stage for how they behave in high school and beyond....they need sensitive supervision and scaffolding to do the right thing if they have such powerful tools at their disposal.

My oldest son and daughter both lost their phones to a corded land line in the kitchen for a time for not being responsible with them. And my younger kids will also know a time when I am embarrassingly involved in their mobile and social media lives so we can establish boundaries for good and safe behavior together.