Phone options for 10 year old

balletshoes

Spendless wrote: »

Do you not have an old disused payg lying around, that can be given to him for now, with a review when you see how much he uses it or not?

agreed - OP you really don't need to tie yourself into a contract at all for your son. Buy a cheap phone, bung a payg sim in it, and stick some credit on it. See how he goes with it.

nettienoo70

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5189263.htm


there you go £15 quid

jm2926

Giffgaff do free calls and texts to other giffgaff mobiles, so he would always be able to contact you even if he had no credit. Worth checking if your network does the same

slightlyconfused1

Both my boys (age 9 and 10) have the tesco 7.50 mobiles. Before they got their own they would borrow one of ours but that didn't end well. The rule here is no going out unless the phone is charged and they have it with them
I always know where they are going but it means if they change plans they can phone and ask permission to go on somewhere else.

Another good thing about the phone is that they can, and always do, call if they are going to be late. I have also had a call or two telling me that they have fallen or hurt themselves.

I don't like payg phones as I don't trust the boys or me to remember to top it up. It's more than once that their friends have had to call their mum's from here as they have no credit.

I don't think £15 (in my case) is a lot to pay for peace of mind and it does allow them to play out the way we used to.

Caroline_a

A thought, which might be slightly old fashioned. My eldest girls didn't have mobiles at 10 because they weren't around then. They did however have watches. They were always told to be back at a certain time and if they weren't, they were grounded. No arguments, just a few days when they weren't allowed out.

The late times were such a rarity I can't actually remember

paulineb_2

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I suppose also more advice would be not allowing him access to internet - and OP doesn't need to spend £7.50 a month on a phone that he will hopefully be using less then a few times a week to send a text / odd phone call.

However payg phones can run out of credit. I think a very basic contract phone would be a good idea.

Indie_Kid

Another option:

Before getting my first contract phone, I'd top up £10 a month which would "buy" a certain amount of minutes and texts. Cheaper than pay as you go and no worrying about bills. Can't post link as I'm on my tablet.

themull1

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I suppose also more advice would be not allowing him access to internet - and OP doesn't need to spend £7.50 a month on a phone that he will hopefully be using less then a few times a week to send a text / odd phone call.

My daughter got this Tesco offer when she was 11, its great cos its capped, and she likes ringing me and telling me where she is all the time, so thats good. The phone was free. She went to a friends house the summer before last, and i didn't know where she was, police were called etc, it was the longest two hours of my life. £7.50 is nothing for peace of mind.

dandelionclock30

Get him a basic cheap phone and put £10.00 on for him and say its for emergencies only not for chatting to friends etc.
I've got an old nokia and put £5 per year on as I'm not paying the Landline and an expensive mobile as well.
I personally dont agree with getting kids expensive mobile phones and expensive contracts.

FatVonD

A PAYG on the same network as your own phone would mean free calls to you so wouldn't matter if it wasn't always topped up, we have that with Virgin, it also means it doesn't cost me anything to call him!