At what age can a child reasonably be given a mobile phone?

Indie_Kid

Ruby - what on earth are you on about? I can honestly that has never happened to me - I have never sent any rude messages to anyone. And I'm sure the same could be said about most children.

My parents don't go through my phone because they trust me. Ok, they've done it if they don't have their phone and need to call someone. I've done that too with them. (or been asked to call/text someone as they're driving)

Ruby_Moon

lynnexxxo wrote: »

I honestly can't see what the problem i with kids having mobiles . Sure we never had then when we were kids, we never had nintendo ds's, wii, playstations, videos, dvds, computers (unless you count an acorn electron), mp3 players and a whole host of other things. You can bet if they were available we would have all wanted them.

My five year old has my old mobile. He thinks he's cool listen to songs i've bluetoothed onto it and taking photos. Whats the harm?

Whats the harm?
In a fewmonths when your son has figured out how to text and work the phone how much harm do you think he might get to replying to texts that have come through on your phone when hes in his bedroom and you are not around?
Is he going to be old enough not to believe a message that says, "Ill meet you after school and show you/give you/buy you xyz......but by the way, I have forgotten which is your school".
You know that this is how !!!!!s work, its called grooming, and they can target youngsters through mobile phones. To say it won't happen to your child is just naive.

Indie_Kid

Most kids that age won't use it for that thing. Parents on this thread have said "I brought it for dd/ds so I could contact them in case of emergency".

mummy_Jay

So maybe what is need is for the mobile phone companies to consider a range of 'safety' phones for kids, where the phone can be locked so it can only recieve and send to a set number of phone numbers by the parent. We have parental locks on the PC so why not on their phones.

This would allow mum and dad not to worry when they are out but also who they are recieving from. A phone like this would also be pointless to steel.

As a first step into getting use to the responsiblity of phones I think this would be ideal. It's just a small step up from the walkie talkie solution just covers a greater distance.

I just had to bouncy the idea.

I also don't think anyone should really take there phone up into there bedrooms at night, not if they want a good nights sleep.

Apricot

I had my first phone before I started high school age 11. I know that my mum felt better knowing that when I was getting a bus to school (in the dark) and a bus home from school (in the dark) that she could get in contact with me and I could contact her if there was a problem.

My mobile was a contract phone and one month I ran up a bill of over £100. At the time I had a saturday job earning £20 per week and my mum made me give her half of my wages every week until it was paid off. She crossed the weeks of on a calender. It taught me a lesson - I can honestly say that 10 years late I have never gone over my tariff with my contact phone since!

Ruby_Moon

sh1305 wrote: »

Most kids that age won't use it for that thing. Parents on this thread have said "I brought it for dd/ds so I could contact them in case of emergency".

Yes, thats right and of course all children do exactly what they are told all the time.
"I have bought you this mobile for emergencies only and you must never ever use it to text anyone or reply to any texts you may get".
"Ok Mum"
Kid to mates at school = "My Mum is so stupid, she thinks I'm asleep at 2am whereas I've been texting this guy I met on Bebo".
:rolleyes:

Ruby_Moon

mummy_Jay wrote: »

So maybe what is need is for the mobile phone companies to consider a range of 'safety' phones for kids, where the phone can be locked so it can only recieve and send to a set number of phone numbers by the parent. We have parental locks on the PC so why not on their phones.

This would allow mum and dad not to worry when they are out but also who they are recieving from. A phone like this would also be pointless to steel.

As a first step into getting use to the responsiblity of phones I think this would be ideal. It's just a small step up from the walkie talkie solution just covers a greater distance.

I just had to bouncy the idea.

I also don't think anyone should really take there phone up into there bedrooms at night, not if they want a good nights sleep.

I think this would be a fantastic idea.

Apricot

Hate to say it but kids will do what they want to do - regardless of what safety nets parents try to put in place. There is a way around everything - parent says child can't have phone, child gets given money by grandparents perhaps, goes to asda buys phone for £9 - parents none the wiser. I would be more worried about my child having a phone I knew nothing about than a phone I could check from time to time.

DigForVictory

Dear me.
First of all, thank you for all the different opinions! It really helped me figure out what was important to the family & then what tech to go for (LittleDig will get an ASDA cheapie in his schoolbag next year & a fellow Scout will teach both of us how to use it!) The Scout mum does school training against Grooming so I cover that base too.
If he wants to buy a nicer phone for his birthday, OK, but I sort the SIM card so he's PAYG initially. I also mind the charger...
We may go for a family deal in the future, once all three are in school!
Many thanks for everyone's input - it made for a lively tea with the grandparents but the loudest voices were the lads...