What age is acceptable for a kid to get a mobile phone?



I have 2 daughters, they both got phones for their last year in primary school, to get used to owning one for high school.

The oldest was given my old iPhone 7 and I upgraded.
We bought the youngest a refurbished iPhone 8.

The iPhone 7 is still going strong a few years down the track
 
Oldest got his at secondary school - 11. Issue is that the youngest then sees his brother with a phone and thinks he should have one.

Same with trackies, trainers, x box etc. 2nd child syndrome...
 
SAFC 2012 said:
Prepare not to get a conversation out of them as soon as they do get one like.
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Mine both have iPads where they watch shit YouTube videos of kids playing Minecraft or opening presents. It’s already started :lol:

Only on a weekend mind.

Tbf I was no different as a kid. When I wasn’t in the house I’d be playing video games in my room.

The worst thing is my missus complains about their screen time :lol:
 
DufraisFTM said:
Just got my 10-year old daughter her first for Xmas. She’s going into secondary school in September so will be starting to do things independently in the lead up. Therefore we, obviously, want her to be contactable.

I see absolutely no reason for children any younger needing one. She is one of the last in her class to get one but we were perfectly comfortable with that. Some of her friends have been on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat for a couple of years now which I find absolutely bizarre.
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Idiot parents signing them up for social Media sites though - handy tool to keep an eye on them/in contact with otherwise
 
mcq10 said:
Seriously don’t get social media anyway.

My missus is addicted to Instagram
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No way I'd sign the kids up mind, I use it but do it less and less.

Your kids the same age as mine, if there's a need for the phone ie travelling home by themselves, out with their mates etc then it's not an issue to me and a great tool - whack parental controls on it and they can't do much with it anyway
 
mcq10 said:
Mine both have iPads where they watch shit YouTube videos of kids playing Minecraft or opening presents. It’s already started :lol:

Only on a weekend mind.

Tbf I was no different as a kid. When I wasn’t in the house I’d be playing video games in my room.

The worst thing is my missus complains about their screen time :lol:
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I’ll never get the crack with them watching kids opening presents like.

Madness really
 
My son was around 11 or 12 . He's 18 now.
Kent_Mackem said:
I'd say the worse problem is those parents who can't be bothered to set up any sort of boundaries once a child gets a phone. There is a lad in my son's Y7 class whose parents don't check when he has switched off (or put away) his phone each night. Result: he's awake and playing / messaging on it until the early hours. He looks pasty, massive bags under his red eyes and he is distracted in class and shouts out. Classic signs of not getting enough sleep. It's a form of neglect.
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My son still leaves his phone on the landing on charge
Just something we did when he was younger and he's kept it up
That's two nights a week
No doubt he hammers it at his mams
Big Sharp Teeth said:
Once they get some independence it’s useful for help identifying where there are. Allows a bit more confidence in giving them some freedom.

My daughter barely touched hers for messaging and suchlike for the first year or so, but it was useful to have. Seems like most of her friends didn’t use them that much to start with. Then they started using them to support friend groups.

The whole “I’m a good parent so don’t give in to letting my child have a phone” thing just seems a bit paranoid and anal.
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I can't imagine a kid with a first phone skipping the friend interaction and looking at it for the weather and bus times etc .
 
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Got one for mine (year 4) daughter for Christmas. The girls in her footy team have a group WhatsApp so she was the odd one out not having a phone. Once the light nights come back she’ll be out playing so would rather have a phone. Will be limited how much she uses it in the house.
 

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