Mobile Phones - When is it too young to have one?

I got my first phone when I was 9, it was Christmas of 4th class. It certainly didn't do me any harm. I was never bullied because of it, never targetted by paedophiles, I was brought up to know better than to be giving my mobile number out to strangers. At the time hardly anyone my age had a mobile so I only had 4 numbers on my phone- my mum's, my dad's and two friends'.

I did a lot of extra-curricular activities so it was really handy for me to let my parents know if I was running late, or vice versa. It was also a great way to keep in touch with people I met at Irish college/various Summer camps. It really helped for organising things like going to the cinema with friends when i was in 5th/6th class (by which time everyone had the much-coveted Nokia 3310)

Honestly I would have found it pretty cringy if my parents had bought me one of those Firefly phones at that age, the basic Nokia was good enough for me. I can't see much reason for a 6 year old to have a phone, unless they do a lot of activities. I can see it being more good than harm though, for emergencies.

People are getting a bit hysterical about this, it's not crazy or irresponsible for parents to buy mobiles for younger kids. If my parents had refused to buy me a phone until I was 15 I could easily have saved and bought one for myself on the sly when I was 12 or so and hidden it from them. It saved a lot of hassle that my parents were more sensible than a lot of people on this thread.

I got my first one for my Confiramtion! Seemed a good time to have one. I wouldn't have a problem with somebody in 5th Class getting on either. Its wouldn't be realistic to make a child wait untill they were 15 or 16 before getting one, you are only making them a target for bullying.

Alot of people are going on about monitoring their childs phone use... I'd be against this, put some trust in your children. They are better able to cope than you think. I probarly joined bebo at the same time I got a phone, and what I do on the internet, or my phone usage has never been monitored. I was brought up better than to do anything stupid on either.

As about Fireflys, i think any child over the age of 10 would be insulted to have one a cheap €40 one would do the job grand!

14/15 is about right, my son (7) asked for one because his mate had one (6)..

Saying this i was shocked when said mate knocked on my door asking to come in and play with my son.
I replied "If you ask your parent and they say its ok then fine".
He took out a mobile and started to call them! I asked what he was doing,
Kid "Calling my mum to ask if its ok to play"
Me " You live 8 houses away?"
Kid "It's easier to call home now"

Perefect for breeding the lazy adult from childhood imho

I think any age from 10 onwards is fine for having a mobile phone. I got one when I was 11 because I was going to Irish college.

Can't believe people here are actually saying that a child shouldn't have a phone until they are 15 or 16. You think they will be a target for bullies or paedophiles for having one? The opposite is entirely more likely.

There's a lot of people here saying that they grew up without mobile phones and so should their kids, but that was a different time. Things have changed.

Got my own first phone back when I was 12, a motorola E770 which was pretty decent at the time.

Before then my dad had given me his old phones to use starting with an ancient yellow brick of a phone that I got back when I was very young. As far as I can remember it was an old 088 analog phone with one of those massive credit card sized sim cards. Never had any need to use it though.

Then a few years later when I was eight or so my dad gave me his old Nokia 3310 which I used up until I was in secondary school. Only ever used it when I was going to be late coming home from school and stuff like that.

After four years of secondary school i've managed to get through way too many different phones
A Motorola E770v -> Motorola V3xx -> iPhone 2G (Only kept it for three days before selling it) -> Nokia N95 8GB -> Nokia N97 (1 week) -> HTC Desire

I'd have hated to have been given a Firefly or some other crippled phone, just because you're young doesn't mean you can't handle a proper phone. So i'd say anyone from ten years old and above can handle a phone.

Dravokivich wrote: »

No... I just don't see the point in them having 1. IMO it's just a luxury piece of technology. It's not a toy for kids. They really have no need for'em.

Completely disagree, my little sister is 12 and just got her first phone which I think is the perfect age. It's handy knowing if she somehow got lost she could just ring home. I think people need to start to move with the times

Biggins wrote: »

I think the general consensus is that around 12 to 14/15 is average age we broadly agree on.
...But giving a normal mobile phone to a 6 years old - even if it is more the exception than the norm' - for myself, I think is just more daftness than anything else.

I'm genuinely open to be wrong though!

Well as I said in my earlier post the first phone that I got (Not really "my" phone as such) I got when I was about 4. I knew how to use it perfectly well but I didn't have any real need for it. I just kept it because I loved messing around with it. I remember even disassembling it to have a look around when I was around six or so. Used to love doing stuff like that as a child. It really depends on the person in question. It was only around the time I was ten or so that I found some use for a phone.

Have 4 kids myself aged 8,11,13 and 16.

Initially I wasn't gonna give the eldest a mobile till he was 16 but he went to Secondary school at 13 which was 30km away. Made sense to give him a mobile then for contacting reasons and in hindsight he would've stuck out like a social misfit without a phone if he'd not had one till 16.

Same happened with my 2nd lad who also only got one this year when he went to the same secondary school.

My 11 year thinks it's daft that her buddies in school have fancy top of the market phones. Needless to say the last 2 kids won't be getting one till they too start Sec school:)

we'llallhavetea wrote: »

wtf? my daughter is 6, she goes to pony camp 2 days a week for the summer so she's away from me for the day.

i haven't bought her a phone, but i have been thinking about one of those fireflies and i'll tell you why.

when she's at pony camp i worry that she might get a bit jittery and want to come home, but not want to say it to the adults down there. i would not be giving it to her as a gift, it wouldn't be something to play with, it would be put in her bag and if she wanted me she could ring me.
she wouldn't have anyone elses numbers either. and she would only have it while she was away from me.

i don't see anything wrong with it tbh. i wouldn't make a big song and dance over her having a firefly, in fact i'd barely mention the fact that its a phone, i'd just tell her its more of a walkie talkie between the two of us.

That's very understandable in fairness. I would only have a problem with 7 yr olds wandering around the front of their houses with expensive phones as that is unnecessary but what you describe is totally different and acceptable:)