Help! What's the Best Phone/Deal for a 10 year old?

Amanda_MP

Thanks for some great advice and positive messages, I think the Tesco deal looks really good and I'll look into it.

Just for info as some people seem interested in why we've chosen to get our 10 year old a mobile. We getting it earlier than planned as she now has a long bus journey to school and lots of after school activities. We'd like to know we can contact her and realise that we'll also be trusting her and want to do that within boundaries.

Thanks again!

rolo1_2

Tesco Deal - Good Choice. Nice option to Cap tariff.

Phone for 10 year old? - parents choice. My daughter is 12 and has a phone mainly for safety reasons. Sensible kids (with sensible parents) tend to use mobile-phones responsibly.

jb66

Carrying a £150 blackberry isn't safe, could get mugged

chrispafc

No phone is safe for a 10 year old - they're brains are still developing! What is wrong with you?

robbies_gal

i just wouldnt get an expensive one you might want to contact her but anyone watching her using it on the bus can see wot sort of phone it is and vulnerable people are usually the ones to get mugged

albionrovers

chrispafc wrote: »

No phone is safe for a 10 year old - they're brains are still developing! What is wrong with you?

I do despair sometimes, I really do. :mad:

chrispafc

albionrovers wrote: »

I do despair sometimes, I really do. :mad:

I merely express what everyone is too scared to say. It's like being on a bus and someone has their feet up on the seat..people fire warning looks but the offender does not heed. In the end, people sigh and wish they had the guts to speak out against what is not acceptable.

To the poster of the thread - I would honestly restrict how frequently your child uses the mobile at home (I would hope that the school has banned the use of them). If they do not need the phone - don't let them have it. I do honestly think that radio waves from mobiles can affect brain development in younger people. A £10 basic phone would suit your child.

ShrewdDude_2

We've been through the kiddie phone maze for the last few years. Our eldest has just turned 16 and is on her 6th phone(!) We gave her the first one at 10. We were very cautious about giving her a phone so young, but the benefits seemed to outweigh the negatives. From personal experience (and quite a lot of knowledge of the phone market) the "top tips" I'd offer basically echo what others have said. Specifically -

1) Giff Gaff or Tesco Capped seem to be the best value/safest options at the moment. Both have the potential to teach your child self discipline on useage and there won't be any surprises on cost. After 3 years on PAYG our eldest was trusted with an uncapped contract and gave us very few shocks. That Tesco 2 year £7.50/month Chat 335 deal is an absolute cracker at the moment - I even posted it at HUKD a week or so ago!). If you choose the PAYG route then Tesco have a little advertised "value" tariff at 8p/min for voice and 4p/text which is hard to beat.

2) Most children (even the careful ones) will trash a phone quicker than you can believe! I'd be very careful to choose a robust or very cheap phone and expect to have to replace it sooner than you'd hope. They typically fail because they are dropped or because the charging connector/lead gets broken from being jiggled around too much. Definitiely get a cheap case for the phone (preferably a silicone/other "skin" which will give some protection from dropping) and encourage your child not to use the handset whilst it's charging. Sadly you can't provide much protection from the inevitable drop into water or being lost, so stick to cheap handsets early on and include replacement handsets in your budgeting! An expensive handset could also be a magnet for unwelcome attention. These days even a basic handset will make voice calls, send texts, play music, take photos, play a few games and have customisable ringtones. Enough for a 10yo?

3) Whilst we were happy with our eldest having voice/texts at 10, we would NOT be happy with them having internet at this age. We could write a book of horror stories about children & the internet and have first hand experience of our daughter being approached through social networking sites (or music sites with a social networking areas) by dangerous strangers pretending to be children. Anyone who tells you that the internet is "completely safe" is simply naive. The internet is like a big city - parts of it are safe, and other parts simply aren't. You wouldn't allow your child complete freedom to wonder a big city on their own so why give them the means to do that on the internet with a mobile?) Note that I am definitely not anti-net. I just think it's one of those things that takes a long time to learn about and you need some guidance/protection to start off with.

Hope that is of some help. Good luck!