With watchOS 7, Apple introduced Family Setup (now Apple Watch For Your Kids), which allowed adults to communicate better, monitor their health and fitness, and protect the privacy of their children or older family members without an iPhone. At the time, Apple promoted it as a way for kids to “…connect with family and friends through phone calls and messages, stay motivated with personalized activity goals, and express their creativity through personalized Memoji.” Along with this feature, Apple also added Schooltime, which helps prevent the child from checking their notifications during school hours, and which can easily be activated by the parent’s phone.
While it could be argued that Apple created a solution to a problem that phone-free kids didn’t have, the company is also pitching it as a less addictive solution to the phone, since the watch’s capabilities are more limited. With watchOS 26, you can enable Schooltime both for your child or independently on your child’s iPhone, although in this case they are the ones who control the feature. Apple says the Schooltime feature also lets kids turn it off in an emergency or if they need to check a message. In these cases, parents receive a message each time school is briefly interrupted, and once the child lowers their wrist, it is reactivated. That said, here’s how to set up an Apple Watch for a child and activate Schooltime.
Set up an Apple Watch with Schooltime
To start using Schooltime on an Apple Watch, you’ll need to make sure you have an Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE 1, or Apple Watch Ultra or later with at least watchOS 7. For parents, they need to have an iPhone 6s or later with at least iOS 14 for the initial setup of the watch. Apple says that while a cellular watch is required, there’s no need to set up a cellular plan for a family member.
To pair this watch, simply turn it on and bring it closer to the parent’s iPhone. Follow the on-screen instructions and select Set up for a family member. Once the process is finalized, you need to go to the Apple Watch app on the parent’s iPhone, tap My Watch, then Family Watches. From there, tap Schooltime, enable this feature, and select Edit Schedule.
After choosing the schedule with school days and times – you can even set multiple times during the day – you’re all set. The child can briefly override the school time by pressing and holding the digital crown, but the school time will continue to be displayed until the scheduled time ends. Parents can access the Apple Watch app on their iPhone to view Schooltime reports for school time unlock days, times, and duration. Children can also manually activate school time on the control center if they join a school-study group outside of the scheduled time.
Understanding the difference between Do Not Disturb and School Time
Although both features work similarly, in that they remove notifications and other distractions from the Apple Watch screen, they have different purposes and lock levels. After all, Do Not Disturb is all about turning off calls, alerts, and notifications so you don’t get interrupted while having a meeting, eating dinner, or sleeping. School Time, on the other hand, is designed for children and classroom environments, as it is not only about turning off alerts, but also preventing children from using their Apple Watch entirely during learning time.
With Do Not Disturb, you can still allow specific people and apps to vibrate your watch, whether receiving a message or a call. Additionally, you can scroll through notifications, apps, and other controls on your watch at any time. Schooltime displays a locked yellow dial that only displays the current time and date. Even though a child may interrupt school time momentarily, the parent is always notified when this happens.
That said, if you want to have a way to communicate with your child, but you don’t think they’re ready for a smartphone, an Apple Watch can be a great device to start with. Your child will only be able to access basic functions, and you will know how they are doing, where they are, and can quickly contact them to let them know you are picking them up from school, etc. For yourself, a better way to focus is to learn how to set different focus modes.
