Children, mobile phones and parental differences.

ailuro2

We use e-mail and a camera to send people pictures.

It's free and everyone we know has e-mail!

We only recently got a second phone for the family, mainly for when we're away so we can keep in touch if one of us is out shopping for example.

DD has one of those contraptions that alert you when to go home for dinner - the things that you wear on your arm....looks like a little clock.:o

It makes my jaw drop that kids in her class have their own I-phone.:eek:

peachyprice

bestpud wrote: »

What make and model is that, if you don't mind me asking? I thought you had to pay quite a bit to be able to send picture messages.

!

It's the Vodafone 533 Candy, although it's gone up now to £30, when I got it in May/June it was £25 Inc £5 top up.

HTH

adea

I let my 7 year old daughter use my old mobile BUT that's only when she will be at a friends house and i need to get hold of her for dinner or if there was a problem.
As soon as she comes home, i take the phone and put it away in the drawer.
She has only had it on 2 occassions.
Other than that i wouldn't let her have it for every day use.

bestpud

ailuro2 wrote: »

We use e-mail and a camera to send people pictures.

It's free and everyone we know has e-mail!

DD has one of those contraptions that alert you when to go home for dinner - the things that you wear on your arm....looks like a little clock.:o

It makes my jaw drop that kids in her class have their own I-phone.:eek:

Email would be my preference for dd, but her dad doesn't have internet access where he lives (it's out in the sticks and they have problems with the phone line). He is looking into going online through a mobile but the coverage looks very weak for all the mobile networks.

The timer is a good idea! I like the sound of that!

If I had enough money for an i-phone I'd have it myself - neither dd would get a look in! :rotfl:

It's too much responsibility for littlies imo - they should be enjoying free-play time, not worrying about losing or breaking their phone!

RAS

bestpud wrote: »

He is looking into going online through a mobile but the coverage looks very weak for all the mobile networks.

If the coverage is weak, then getting DD a mobile to contact dad is not necessarily going to work as she will just get failed calls.

Lunar_Eclipse

miserly_mum wrote: »

I'd let her have it but not put any credit in it.

My boys are 12 and 9 and they each have an old phone of mine and OH's that I ring them on if they have to come in for dinner etc. This has worked well for us for the last couple of years as it saves a lot of stress having to ring round the neighbours houses or going to look for them when they are out playing.

Isn't that what watches are for ("be in by six")? Joking aside, that's what we do with our children as mine did with me.

Totally agree with the OP. In fact I don't think they're necessary before about 16. My 9 year old has a good friend with one too, who also happens to be the only girl with pierced ears (another pet hate of mine). We'll only be able to hold out until she moves on to secondary school, since otherwise we will be really mean parents! She'll be paying for it though, even then.

Mobile phones are very useful communication tools that are also great for emergencies, but sadly they have become part of the whole must have consumerism movement.

bestpud

RAS wrote: »

If the coverage is weak, then getting DD a mobile to contact dad is not necessarily going to work as she will just get failed calls.

He can use his phone if in certain rooms, as that is how he contacts her now (but via my phone).

But, yes, there are times when he doesn't have a signal - not often though tbh.

His sister has a much better signal on the same network, so we are thinking the phone must make a difference too...

She would just send a text message if she couldn't get through anyway - she's used to him not answering straight away. He usually texts her to say good night though, so it would be nice for her to receive that herself.

I was just talking to my ex about it today and we were discussing the possibility of getting a friends and family bolt on between us, so we would not need to worry about her having credit, and we could add our 17 year old as well so she would always be able to call one of us for 'free'.

Hmm, it's a dilemma!

Zazen999

I agree, esp as their little brains are still developing........goodness knows what damage they are doing to themselves. I used to be able to sense my phone just about to ring so I stopped using it and try to keep useage to a minimum now.

divadee

my daughter who is 11 has only just got one a couple of weeks ago ready for when she starts secondary school.

BUT it is an outside of the house phone only when she is going out with friends etc.. she doesnt have it in the home, we take it off her, she only has it when walking on own with friends etc...

aliasojo

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

We'll only be able to hold out until she moves on to secondary school, since otherwise we will be really mean parents!

That matches my feelings too. I still wont be delighted but I will compromise with her once she leaves primary school. At 9 she is still very much under my care, isn't allowed to wander about aimlessly and is under a fairly tight reign so I see no need for a phone.

Once at secondary, I'll be relaxing the reigns more to allow her to gradually learn to become more responsible and independent so I can see a phone would be useful at that time.

She's got 2 years to go............:rotfl:

Edit: I should add that even then it wont be a 24 hour 'toy'. She'll have it if she needs it and it wont be in her bedroom at all hours or in her school bag either. :rolleyes: