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children and phones.

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  • 03-10-2014 4:19pm
    #1
    deanylkl
    Registered Users Posts: 14 ✭


    What is generally the right age for a child to have a phone.


Comments

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    #2
    vinnie13
    Registered Users Posts: 494 ✭✭vinnie13


    13 seems to be the norm,lucky these days there are apps that allow parents see what the kid is doing on phone so takes the worry out


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    #3
    Orion
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,807 ✭✭✭✭Orion


    All of my childrens' class have phones - 11-12 years old. Most of them had phones last year too.


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    #4
    IntotheWest100
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24 ✭IntotheWest100


    My eldest has a phone he is 13 but very seldom uses it or even charges it. We bought it for him when he was away at Gaelteacht over the summer period. Depends on the kids personality as to whether they would be on it constantly or not. I dread my next lad getting one as I struggle to keep him away from computers as it is (I only allow them on electronic devices for certain period throughout the day). A lot of the children in his class in primary school had once once they went into 5th class but we decided to wait until he was going into secondary school. :-)


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    #5
    ianryan1000
    Registered Users Posts: 12 ✭ianryan1000


    Phones are really a good device in order to monitor your children when they are out. As any other technology, it depends on the usage.
    It is parents´ duty to teach their children to use it appropiately. I guess that none of us would give a gun to his 12 years old. In some sense a phone could be very dangerous, hence you have the possibility to limit its functions.


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    #6
    Moonbeam
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,952 Mod ✭✭✭✭Moonbeam


    When ever they start to do things and go places on their own whether it is 11 or 15.


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    #7
    Hollister11
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,482 ✭✭✭Hollister11


    Might be slightly OT but I hate the way parents don't like their kids having technology when their young and 10 year olds having iphone is disgracefully

    I have been getting expensive electronics since I was 5. I self taught myself how to use computers ect

    Give your kids computers, phone games and don't wait until their teenagers and they get left behind.

    Based on being raised hacking technology in my life I'm doing a computer science degree which will lead to A decent paid jon after a few years experience.


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    #8
    Moonbeam
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,952 Mod ✭✭✭✭Moonbeam


    That is a different discussion.
    Not everyone can afford expensive technology for their kids,I didn't buy my 1st computer until I was 15 and never had issues getting good IT jobs:)
    I can not fully understand your post.


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    #9
    IntotheWest100
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24 ✭IntotheWest100


    Hollister11 wrote: »
    Might be slightly OT but I hate the way parents don't like their kids having technology when their young and 10 year olds having iphone is disgracefully

    I have been getting expensive electronics since I was 5. I self taught myself how to use computers ect

    Give your kids computers, phone games and don't wait until their teenagers and they get left behind.

    Based on being raised hacking technology in my life I'm doing a computer science degree which will lead to A decent paid jon after a few years experience.

    I disagree with you on this comment. I have a physics degree and teach kids computer programming. The zoombie/ pale faced generation they are called and rightly so. Even with only allowing my children on technology for certain periods throughout the day my eldest is very good at computer programming (he is 13), and is also in a well known university which does special programs for so called 'gifted kids'. Anyhow I think that any prolonged exposure to anything and at any age is bad. We are designed to be out and about doing things and kids need to use their imaginations as much as possible, years of research shows this is achieved not by using computers, television, mobile phones, games consoles etc. But by good old fashioned outside with a slight bit of freedom.


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    #10
    SparkySpitfire
    Registered Users Posts: 1,331 ✭✭✭SparkySpitfire


    IntotheWest100 wrote: »
    Anyhow I think that any prolonged exposure to anything and at any age is bad. We are designed to be out and about doing things and kids need to use their imaginations as much as possible, years of research shows this is achieved not by using computers, television, mobile phones, games consoles etc. But by good old fashioned outside with a slight bit of freedom.

    Technology usage and going outside aren't mutually exclusive. I don't think the poster said anything about only being immersed in technology and never using their imaginations and enjoying social play.


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    #11
    eviltwin
    Registered Users Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    My daughter got her first phone at 14, bought and paid for by herself. I wasn't really pushed at the time but in hindsight am very glad she got it. She was at that stage where she was becoming independent and I just liked the security of knowing she had a way of contacting us if she needed to.

    Just make sure they don't waste their credit on crap and that they keep it charged and switched on at all times. Part of the deal we have is that if her phone is left off I dock the amount of credit I buy her.


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    #12
    Gertrude2
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭Gertrude2


    Normally kids start to get phones from about age 10. From my observation, most 12 year-olds have a phone but the phone is not their main means of communication - they use their iPods for that. You need to watch out for that.


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    #13
    huskerdu
    Registered Users Posts: 1,931 ✭✭✭huskerdu


    Hollister11 wrote: »
    Might be slightly OT but I hate the way parents don't like their kids having technology when their young and 10 year olds having iphone is disgracefully

    I have been getting expensive electronics since I was 5. I self taught myself how to use computers ect

    Give your kids computers, phone games and don't wait until their teenagers and they get left behind.

    Based on being raised hacking technology in my life I'm doing a computer science degree which will lead to A decent paid jon after a few years experience.

    Owning a phone and understanding technology are totally different. You were interested in technology and pursued it, (so did I, BTW). That would have happened even if your parents could not afford expensive gadgets. IT is not fair to say that parents should spend €500 on an iPhone for a child, given the financial pressure parents are under just to get school books and uniforms.

    Back to the OP - loads of my kids friends got phones for their communion, Every single one of those phones sat in a drawer unused for years.

    My daughter got a phone going to secondary school. Most, but not all of her friends have one, It is handy for contacting her now she is dependent on public transport to get to from school, and goes to her after school activities on her own.


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    #14
    Shadylou
    Registered Users Posts: 252 ✭✭Shadylou


    My 10 year old daughter asked for a phone for Xmas this year, myself and my ex spoke about it and we are in agreement that she is just too young. A lot of her friends have phones but she doesn't go anywhere that would require her to have a phone for instance if she goes to play at a friends house I would have the friends mothers number and she would have mine in case of emergency. I would be against her having a phone until she is in secondary school and a bit more independent.


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    #15
    hsilgnede
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭hsilgnede


    Someone mentioned above apps to monitor what the kids are doing on the phones. I'd be more interested in blocking inappropriate content. Obviously topical given what was on RTE last night, documentary about kids accessing porn intentionally/accidentally. Can anyon recommend anything? I read up on "netnanny" for IOS and it didn't seem a great product.

    I have a 12 year old, about to be 13. I've got an upgrade to a new iPhone and I'd like to give him my old one with a pre-pay sim in it but I'd also like to have some control over what he can access.

    I have little doubt that he's going to be exposed to this stuff in a few years when he's older but if I can delay it for another 2 years at least that would be great.

    Many thanks


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    #16
    dogcat
    Registered Users Posts: 829 ✭✭✭dogcat


    My two cents are basically that (although I am not a parent!), age should play a little key factor in deciding a child should get a phone. I think it should be based on whether they need that phone (for contacting the parent, or other people), and if they are not going to break it, and waste it. After that it doesn't matter whether they're 6 or 16 to me.


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