Mobile phone for child

How young is too young for a mobile phone?

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

Capt'n Midnight

jacksie66 wrote: »

17

And I've moved the thread from lifehacking.



Depends , old mobiles can be used for games over WiFi so kids can play without paying

You can get mobiles that can only call preset numbers

how mature is the child ?

Big Bag of Chips

It all depends. How old is your child? Will they regularly be places without you, where they might need to contact you? Waiting at bus stops, for instance. Trying to get places and home again without you bringing them?

Primary school age generally don't need phones. By secondary they tend to become more useful.

Capt'n Midnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

And I've moved the thread from lifehacking.



Depends , old mobiles can be used for games over WiFi so kids can play without paying

You can get mobiles that can only call preset numbers

how mature is the child ?

10, uses a tablet, but is itching for a phone.

igCorcaigh

[Deleted User] wrote: »

10, uses a tablet, but is itching for a phone.

I'm assuming you're savy with parental controls?

_Brian

It’s tough.
Our youngest is 10, but she’s not getting a phone until end of 6th class.
That’s when her older sister got hers and she’s been told that’s when she will get one.

She uses her tablet a bit but mostly has her nose stuck in books, never leaves home without two books in her bag.

I’ve installed one of the kid friendly messenger apps on her tablet so she can message her friend who lives in Dublin, her sister and both parents. She loves that.

mordeith

Personally I'd be loathe to give em a phone. Our eldest is 11. Plays on the laptop and Wii but can't see why he'd need to be texting anyone. Mind you he hasn't asked either so that's handy!

Qrt

I'd suggest one of the new Nokia ones, but the old style ones. I think it's still called the 3310. I had a phone when I was 8 (19 now) but all it did was take some grainy pictures, make calls, SMSs and a few father ted clips for 49c a piece. Getting them a smartphone would be a grave mistake IMO. My family in England gave their 9/10 year old a smartphone and he just watches YouTube videos near on constantly. With a simple (or feature) phone, you have all of the positive aspects of a phone without the negatives.

Moonbeam

I alway aid when they started secondary school or when they get public transport on their own.
I got my 9 year old a Nokia phone,it was £12 on Amazon and she can use it to ring me.
I think they have enough with tabets,tv,laptops etc

whitesheep

I really think it depends in the child.
Phones should never be left in the bedroom overnight. Watch what apps they are using. Make sure they are age appropriate. There are websites that tell you what's ok and what's not.
And set time limits.

GalwayGrrrrrl

Qrt wrote: »

I'd suggest one of the new Nokia ones, but the old style ones. I think it's still called the 3310. I had a phone when I was 8 (19 now) but all it did was take some grainy pictures, make calls, SMSs and a few father ted clips for 49c a piece. Getting them a smartphone would be a grave mistake IMO. My family in England gave their 9/10 year old a smartphone and he just watches YouTube videos near on constantly. With a simple (or feature) phone, you have all of the positive aspects of a phone without the negatives.

I got my 10 year old this model of Nokia phone. He had started walking half way home from school so I wanted to be able to contact him to meet up to collect. It’s perfect, cheap if it gets lost/broken, texts and calls but no internet. His brother got a smartphone at age 12 just before secondary (confirmation present).

Shelli2

My 11 year old now has a smart phone. He was the last in his class to get one. Very restricted though, I have have his passwords to everything.
He had restricted child phone from the age of 4, it had a preset button for Mammy and one for Daddy, as seperated parents it gave him the freedom to contact the absent parent at any time.

BailMeOut

our rule was when they started secondary school and that seemed quite normal with all their school friends and no devices upstairs EVER (including for myself and my wife).

AlanG

Shelli2 wrote: »

My 11 year old now has a smart phone. He was the last in his class to get one. .

I would say that's a very unusual class - I know a lot of parents with kids that age in different schools and most agree that the end 6th class is time for a smart phone - some allow phones with no sim and several use the old nokia type for kids who go to local clubs and school by themselves but smart phones with SIMs are very rare.

Sycamore Tree

We have 2 teenage children and gave them phones at 13 and 12 respectively. I wish we had held out longer to be honest. Never bought a game console and no regrets on that.

Shelli2

AlanG wrote: »

I would say that's a very unusual class - I know a lot of parents with kids that age in different schools and most agree that the end 6th class is time for a smart phone - some allow phones with no sim and several use the old nokia type for kids who go to local clubs and school by themselves but smart phones with SIMs are very rare.

Yes, I agree, it was very unusual. (There are only 7 kids in his class, it's an unusual school on many fronts). He is in 6th class now.

In fairness to him, he didn't ask for a phone, he had his little one. I happened to be looking out the window as he walked home with some class mates, and they were sitting on our front wall chatting, two of them showing off new phones, having upgraded to iphones from other phones!



I spoke with my son about it, that's when I discovered he was the only one without.

We agreed that he could have a basic smart phone, if I had all the passwords, no social media and he had to save up for the phone himself.

It took him two months of chores and he bought himself a little Huawei.