Kids, Mobiles & Social Networks

Hoseman

Thanks everyone, lots to think about/consider and tyllwyd, you make some very good points.

onlyroz

I don't see the need for a primary aged child to have a phone - I'll probably get mine one when they're at secondary school. I can see the sense in them "inheriting" an old smart phone when the parents upgrade but it seems a bit silly to spend a fortune buying them a new one.

Indie_Kid

onlyroz wrote: »

I don't see the need for a primary aged child to have a phone - I'll probably get mine one when they're at secondary school. I can see the sense in them "inheriting" an old smart phone when the parents upgrade but it seems a bit silly to spend a fortune buying them a new one.

Agreed completely. I have a friend who has a 9 year old. When he was about 7 or 8, he asked for a mobile "because all my friends have one" and she told him no. She didn't see why a child of that age would need a mobile.

I got my first mobile (when all you could do was call and text on them) the Christmas after starting secondary school.

System

I think i got my first phone (3210!) when i started secondary school, it had soace for 10 text messages :rotfl: and i didnt use it that much.

We had dial up internet on the family pc that was in the hallway so my rents coud keep an eye on what i was doing (though i still managed things i shouldn't have done ), and obviously being dial up internet time was limited to about an hour a night. I didnt use actual social media until around the time i did my a levels. :eek: I joined facebook when you actually had to have a uni email address to join!

It's a different world for kids nowadays and good luck to any parents dealing with it cos god knows what i'd have been like if i'd grown up in this generation

System

I got my first mobile phone when I was in my 30s :rotfl:

OP, how about you have a computer in the family room or living room, and ban screens from the bedroom and other places in the house? That way if anyone wants to use the internet they can (within reason) but they won't be able to hog it all night, or do anything too secretive, as it will be within view of everybody else.

lulu_92

I got my first mobile phone when I was 10. It was a 3210 and I had it so I could ring my dad to come and pick me up from netball competitions. Took it to school one day when I had an away match, handed it to my teacher along with a note from my mum and he put it in his desk drawer for the day. Problem was, he announced to the class where he was putting the phone whilst holding it up in the air! Needless to say it was not there after school!

Two of my cousins are 12 and 10. The eldest has a second hand mobile from his mum as he now walks to school by himself. They both have iPod Touches which they have had for about four years now. They are linked to their mum's account, and she does not give them the password! (seriously, that's how kids spend so much on apps. My other cousin had his dad's Apple ID password and spent loads. he got told off but ended up doing it again as they didn't change the password!)

My auntie has to approve any app they want to download and if she doesn't want them to download it she will tell them why and they understand. Their arrangement works because she trusts her kids and they wouldn't dream of breaching that.

roobee13

I think I was about 14 when I got my first mobile, and I only had about 5 people's phone numbers!

I started senior school in 1995 though before mobiles and the internet were the norm. Agree with a lot of posters, I fail to see why most primary aged kids would need a mobile? I have the pleasure of sharing the bus each morning with loads of 13-15 year olds on their way to school and they've all got the latest phones.

It's a completely different ball game these days, good luck to all you parents, its an absolute minefield!

onlyroz

You're all making me feel really old. I got my first mobile when I started university. It was an analogue thing that weighed a ton with a battery life of about 3 hours.

I also remember being lent my dad's phone when I went camping aged about 17, and we had to walk to the top of a huge hill to get a signal.

Madmel

My kids had a mobile phone whilst still at primary school because they were doing a summer music course 30 miles away for a week. It was the cheapest PAYG phone with no camera and the first £10 top-up lasted 6 months! DH still uses that handset as he works on a site where camera phones are banned. Kids never took the phone to school and it was only used when they were away for a time.

Both now have a 16 mile journey to secondary school by bus each way and have smartphones. To be honest, their handsets cost less than I would spend on PAYG top-ups and the cost of the contract comes out of their monthly allowance. Both agreed to my rules about internet, social media etc and know that if they break the rules, the phone goes and there is a selection of "brick" handsets they can use. It helps massively that there is no mobile signal at home or in the local area, so they have to go through the wifi.

As tyllwyd says, it's a question of trust. My girls are pretty sensible and understand my reasons for the *rules*. They ask if there is an app they want and don't have a problem with me checking what they are up to.

Gloomendoom

onlyroz wrote: »

You're all making me feel really old

Probably not as old as I am feeling. When I was at school there were no mobiles and only two landlines in the street we lived in. We had one of them.