Mobile Phones - At what Age?

[hermanmunster]

giffgaff looks like just the thing for the text heavy non speaking daughter....

[pheasantchick]

My eldest DS got his after taking the 11+ as a reward for the effort he put in. For the first ear, we just put £10 PAYG. Now in senior school, he has a £10 per month (30 day cancellation) tariff which gives him unlimited text and 100 minutes calls.. We also have a 'Spare Phone' in the house, which younger DS (aged 10) sometimes has an emergency phone. Its not his phone as such, but he carries it in certain situations. eg. visit to the Paralympics when we feel it would be useful for him to have a phone on him.

[Fran17]

We got very basic phones for ours at the end of year six. My year nine DS still has the same phone. £10 credit lasts him about three months. My DH asked him if he would like a new one and he said there is no point as he hardly ever uses it.

[Tagore]

Thank you all for your responses. The message is clear. Only buy dc's a mobile phone if they really need it i.e. if they walk home from school etc. The phone needs to be basic and definitely no internet access.

Have decided to get one for the 13th birthday!
T

[Paramjeet]

Our experience with regard to phone and dc: we decided that year 7 would be the right time since dc would travel by bus. In case of emergencies etc.

By coincidence we were given 2 smartphones instead of the one, which dc now has. On his first day at school I requested he be discreet with the phone since others may not have had similar type phones. How wrong I was; not only did every child have a phone but the vast majority were equal or better than my child's. And this is an inner city state school before anyone says INDIE.

[FluffyD]

My DS's school lets them walk home alone from year 5 so he got one from then onwards.

[Waiting_For_Godot]

We have just bought phones for both boys for the first time. One is Year 7 and nearly 12 and the other Year 9 and nearly fourteen. We decided to buy the phones outright but they have to buy their pay as you go sims. Currently they have a £15 monthly deal from 3 which gives them unlimited Internet data and plenty of texts and chat minutes.

I didn't want to buy them phones an it I've caved. They have also been told that their Christmas and birthday presents will be small and under £30.

[Paramjeet]

There are lots of apps that mean free texts and messages and phone calls over wifi; my dc has loaded same onto my phone.

Knowing my child is safe is of paramount importance

[Daogroupie]

It would be impossible for my dd's to lead their current busy lives at secondary school without a mobile phone. They have after school clubs and away matches that get cancelled or finish earlier than they should. I get delayed, they forget things. We need to know where everyone is so we can meet up. The mobile phone has been a godsend to our family from that point of view but it also has a massive downside. There appears to be a lot of children who get home and have absolutely nothing to do so spend their time sending stupid texts and chain emails. My busy children politely respond to this drivel and then get caught up in it. Elder dd who was supposed to be upstairs doing her homework while we were preparing tea managed to send 100 texts in a couple of hours. She says she was simply giving single word responses to continual silly questions asked by a girl who is not even one of her friends. Me and younger dd were furious. We outed her publically in the phone shop and she stopped overnight! Mobile phones would be the greatest things in the world if they were just used for practical communication. instead Many of the girls in my dd's classes clutch onto them like they are part of breathing and send literally thousands of texts a month. We had a group going to see a sports event and they were all texting each other and taking pictures and actually sat with their backs to the event. Also some of the stuff that is sent round is just horrible. Much of it comes from the "I just want to be friends with my children" gang who just let their children do what they like. "Her phone is just so important to her, she organised her whole party on Facebook and I don't even know how many children are coming" laughed one mother to me. Shortly after this she had to rehire her eleven plus tutor because her dd was doing so bad in English and Maths because she was so busy with her phone. Even though she won an academic place at the school which less than one third of the places she is not in any of the top sets because she does not have time for her homework, too busy with Blackberry Messaging and Facebook. My dd's need phones but do not need all the dross that comes with it from their peer group at school. If your dc can walk to school and does not get involved in clubs no requirement for a phone. The more they are involved in the more necessary it becomes but do try and keep the friend networking under control. DG

[pheasantchick]

Dao-good post.