Mobile phone at aged 9?

Abbafan1972

I wanted to ask how you all felt about a 9 year old child having a mobile phone.

My daughter is 10 and one of her classmates who is 10 in July had a mobile phone last Christmas, not a smartphone, but a (mid range) Nokia. I heard her complaining that she wanted a new one as that one is rubbish!

I am very friendly with the parents and I haven't said anything as to why she has a mobile at that age, because it's none of my business and up to them if they want to buy her a phone.

Me personally I think at that age, she is way too young to have a mobile and I can't even think what use it would have. My kids, aged 8 & 10 don't go out on their own, they have a lot of their school friends on Facebook, so would use the chat facility to talk to them, rather than pay for phone credit etc.

Fine, when they are older and start going out with friends, they would need a means to keep in touch, so I know they're safe.

What do you all think?

suki1001

The children I knew who had a phone at 8 or 9 were wondering around the village where they live, so handy if that child decided to go to a friends, the parent could just check, or the child could text the mum and say "I'm going to so an so's."

My daughter turned 11 earlier this year, I got her one for christmas, just a cheap one. This was because I have started to let her meet her friends by herself. However, she hardly uses it and forgets to charge it, so I'm not sure whether it was worth it, but as she gets older I think she'll find it increasingly useful.

When they're turning independent and going out on their own, I think it's very useful they have one.

Sambucus_Nigra

Abbafan1972 wrote: »

Me personally I think at that age, she is way too young to have a mobile and I can't even think what use it would have. My kids, aged 8 & 10 don't go out on their own, they have a lot of their school friends on Facebook, so would use the chat facility to talk to them, rather than pay for phone credit etc.

Erm - there is a 13 year age limit on facebook for a reason!

No phone, no facebook at 9.

Surfbabe

Neither of mine had mobile phones until they were at secondary school - completely unnecessary before then - and Facebook has an age limit of 13!, so no way should they be on there anyway.

I work in a primary school office and I had 4 mobile phones handed in from pupils aged 8 - 11 yesterday as they had 'forgotten' to leave them at home.

Abbafan1972

Yeah, I hear you about the Facebook thing. I didn't take the decision lightly.

They enjoy playing some of the games on there and anything they do on Facebook is closely monitored, friend requests and messages come straight onto my email, so it's closely vetted. They only place they can go on it is at home anyway, as the only other house they go to is Nan and Grandad's and they don't have the internet or a computer!

Lady_Tara

Abbafan1972 wrote: »

Me personally I think at that age, she is way too young to have a mobile and I can't even think what use it would have. My kids, aged 8 & 10 don't go out on their own, they have a lot of their school friends on Facebook, so would use the chat facility to talk to them, rather than pay for phone credit etc.

Fine, when they are older and start going out with friends, they would need a means to keep in touch, so I know they're safe.

What do you all think?

My son had a phone from age 8 (this was 6 years ago!), as he was responsible for locking up the house and walking to school from that age, as I left for work 20 minutes before him, so it was very useful if he needed to ask me anything.

He has always been extremely sensible, and I've never had any problem with him running up large bills as he knew it was just to ring me and "check in" that everything was fine.

I'm pleased now that I gave him responsibility from that age, as he takes care of his (my old) phone, whereas the number of peers that come home from school having lost or had stolen their brand new blackberry's or iphones is astounding! And these kids just shrug their shoulders as mum & dad will buy a new one, no problem, its only £500!

Hope that helps

mazza111

I think it depends totally on the child.

With my DD we waited until she was at high school.

With my DS he was younger. We lived in a small town, he used to go to his father's straight after school on a Friday, his father was a prat and wouldn't answer the phone on a Sunday night, so I didn't know when to collect him or anything. Basically, it was just a control thing. So I bypassed him with a little text message to DS phone to say I'd be picking him up at 6 etc. If he wanted to come home earlier he could call me.

As for FB. Please, please please keep very tight controls on it. You can get messages from people who aren't your friends on it.

ellay864

Lady_Tara wrote: »

My son had a phone from age 8 (this was 6 years ago!), as he was responsible for locking up the house and walking to school from that age, as I left for work 20 minutes before him, so it was very useful if he needed to ask me anything.

He has always been extremely sensible, and I've never had any problem with him running up large bills as he knew it was just to ring me and "check in" that everything was fine.

I'm pleased now that I gave him responsibility from that age, as he takes care of his (my old) phone, whereas the number of peers that come home from school having lost or had stolen their brand new blackberry's or iphones is astounding! And these kids just shrug their shoulders as mum & dad will buy a new one, no problem, its only £500!

Hope that helps [/QUOTE

Am I the only person slightly shocked at the idea of leaving an 8yr old to lock up? You say 6 years ago like times have changed a lot since then but my sons are 20 & 17 and there's no way they would have been left to do that ( and they were also bright sensible kids)

19lottie82

My BF’s DD had just turned 10 when we met and had a mobile phone. This was 2 years ago and now she has an entry level blackberry. Asked for an iphone 4s for her birthday, but obviously this was met with a definite “no”, for about a million + 1 reasons!

I can understand why the OP may think it’s a bit over the top for young kids to have mobiles, but as others have pointed out, it makes sense, safety wise, if it means that you can keep track of them if they are old enough to be out playing with friends, as you can get hold of them whenever you like, and vice versa…..

pulliptears

As said, depends entirely on the child and the circumstances. A 9 year old who perhaps spends time with a carer after school or walks home from school alone would certainly benefit from a cheap mobile in emergencies.

Added to this, kids don't automatically mature a year in a puff of smoke on their birthdays, 9 year olds can be exceptionally mature or immature so unfortunately without knowing the child or the circumstances I don't believe it's a call any of us can make on a messageboard.

rachhh

I got my first one age 9, a good old nokia. To be honest the most I used it for was to listen to the ringtones! My parents liked me to have it because I'd play out around my estate and on the fields quite a lot, so it was a bit of a reassurance for them.
I'd say a basic mobile phone poses a lot less of a 'threat' than facebook or, I presume as you get emails so you know what children do on facebook, unsupervised internet use. Parental controls and filters have a lot more holes in them that most parents think!