When are children old enough to get a mobile phone?

linash

My daughter who is turning 9 soon really wants a mobile phone for her birthday.

I'm really interested in other mums opinion. When do you think a child is old enough to get a mobile phone?

littlebug

As I keep telling my 9 year old she'll be old enough for a mobile phone when she needs one and I can't think of any possible reason for her needing one until she's in secondary school.
A small number of her class have them already so the pressure is on.

Lola92

I am aiming to give my daughter a phone when she finishes primary school. I might get the likes of a firefly phone just for emergency use before this though. I personally think kids getting a phone at 8/9 is crazy, what need have they for it really?

Daffodil.d

linash wrote: »

My daughter who is turning 9 soon really wants a mobile phone for her birthday.

I'm really interested in other mums opinion. When do you think a child is old enough to get a mobile phone?

My two are only 2 and 4 but i think 9 is old enough. It's a security thing as well as a form of communication. There is one on the market at the moment that I read about a while ago called the firefly. It's designed for young kids and is purely there for contact. I don't know if you can even text on it. I think it was brought out by an Irish company. Also I think some of the service providers do it in their range of phones. Anyway best of luck whatever you decide.

gbee

Concerns over damaging radiation for very young people is prompting the EU to consider legislation banning mobile phones to children under 12 years of age.

For personal safety purposes there are devices on the market already.

Plenty on this on the big bad google ~ I'd side with the EU on this and go with 12 years of age.

hairyprincess

My ten year old daughter is the only one in her class (4th) without a phone. And it's not just Nokia's they have, they all have Blackberrys. The pressure is on, but she's not overly into it, it's more the novelty of it. I don't want her to have one until secondary school, but I may give in next year for her Confirmation.
To be honest I wouldn't waste the money on a Firefly. They are no good to the kids because they want the phones for playing games. The Firefly makes and receives calls only.

Lola92

hairyprincess wrote: »

My ten year old daughter is the only one in her class (4th) without a phone. And it's not just Nokia's they have, they all have Blackberrys. The pressure is on, but she's not overly into it, it's more the novelty of it. I don't want her to have one until secondary school, but I may give in next year for her Confirmation.
To be honest I wouldn't waste the money on a Firefly. They are no good to the kids because they want the phones for playing games. The Firefly makes and receives calls only.

If the kid wants to play games then give them a DS! The whole point of kids that age having a phone, or so I thought, was so that they could get in contact with parents/ a minder or family?

Aside from the risks of radiation etc. as mentioned above a huge worry I would have is security - anyone could make contact with your child without your knowledge, bullying through texts, prank calls, 90% of phones these days have internet too. I know I wouldn't want my 8year old carrying around a phone that is capable of accessing god knows what unsupervised whether it be by accident or otherwise.

Fittle

hairyprincess wrote: »

My ten year old daughter is the only one in her class (4th) without a phone. And it's not just Nokia's they have, they all have Blackberrys.

I would love to know what school your daughter is in where there are 10yr olds with Blackberrys! My lad is 10 and in 4th class and he is one of the few who has a mobile. I got it for him last year and I had to get permission from his teacher for him to have it in his schoolbag - it was 19.99 and is the most basic phone on the market. He walks for about 10 minutes to meet the childminder, and I like to ring him during the walk to make sure he gets to her safely etc, as there are a few roads he has to cross.

He doesn't use it at all other than for those ten minutes monday to friday.

I think when they start going places without adult supervision (down to meet a friend or similar) they should have a phone.

hairyprincess

Fittle wrote: »

I would love to know what school your daughter is in where there are 10yr olds with Blackberrys! My lad is 10 and in 4th class and he is one of the few who has a mobile. I got it for him last year and I had to get permission from his teacher for him to have it in his schoolbag - it was 19.99 and is the most basic phone on the market. He walks for about 10 minutes to meet the childminder, and I like to ring him during the walk to make sure he gets to her safely etc, as there are a few roads he has to cross.

He doesn't use it at all other than for those ten minutes monday to friday.

I think when they start going places without adult supervision (down to meet a friend or similar) they should have a phone.

My friends child is in 2nd class and he is the only child without a mobile! And I thought my child had it hard!!

LordSutch

I agree with Lola92 (post#3) about the Firefly mobile phone, I too think its a great idea, and I guess nine is the perfect age for one of these!

The Firefly, aimed at children 8-12 years of age, boasts of many safety features. There are 2 hotkeys that call either parent at the press of
the button (the so called the “mum key” or “dad key”), and parents can program phone numbers into the password protected phone book.
Another useful safety feature is the emergency buttton, which dials 999 after being held down for 3 seconds. Parents also have the option to
block all incoming phone calls that are not in the approved phonebook. Lidl (Ireland) have them on special from time to time . . .

KKkitty

I think 11 is time enough but unfortunately kids can't and won't wait that long and even though the Firefly is handy that the parent is in full control with contacts and who can ring their child since it has no games and keypad to text a child could be bullied for having a childish looking handset. As a previous poster said even a cheap handset would be more than enough for your child.

Fittle

Maybe it's a boy vs girl thing?

My lad is in an all boys school and there are only 3 of them with a phone in his class (4th) and similar in the other 4th class. The 6th class boys all have them however.

I know my lad and his friends aren't that interested in them for keeping in contact with each other. The phone he has is very basic, with no games etc. I guess if they were all bought touchscreens with game apps, that might be a different story.

My niece who is 11, has had a phone since she was 9 and texts and rings all her friends regularly.

cbyrd

My 9 year old got a phone for her birthday.. it depends on what you need it for, do you need to be able to contact her for anything? I found it easier to be able to call her in for dinner rather than drag the baby out looking for her when she was playing outside. She also walks home from school and its extra security and peace of mind. she gets €5 a month credit and when it runs out she sends me a call me text if she needs to. I wouldn't buy a phone for a child who doesn't need it just because her friends had one.

linash

Thanks for all your input.

We've decided to hold out for another year as she doesn't really need one. It would only be to talk to her friends, and she can use the landline for that

planetX

My son has a firefly and it's been good, but there are a lot of annoying things about it. You have to dismantle the phone to get to the sim card, it's not possible to top up from a shop, and inputting phone numbers isn't easy. Now the buttons are broken so that's the end of that.
I need to get him a new phone, but I'd prefer he didn't have text - wondered if any of the standard phones can disable texting?

ash23

My daughter is 9 and in 3rd class and none of them have a phone. And it's an all girls school so it's definitely not a boy/girl thing.
She hasn't even asked for one in a long time as I said no so many times.
I probably will get her one when she starts being able to go places without me.
At the moment I drop her to the minders, collect her and bring her wherever she needs to go. She goes out to play in the estate without me but that's it. They aren't allowed to have phones in the school anyway so it'd be no use to her at the moment.

Another couple of years and she'll be looking to go to the shops etc on her own and I'll consider getting one then.

cynder

My daughter is 12 and has had a mobile for years from around the age of 8/9. She never used it really up until she was 11/12. Even now she only uses it occasionally, when she is at a freinds house or is in town away in an adventure centre for a week or at her aunts house. She rarley uses it to phone friends and most of them have mobiles.

I have a soon to be 7 year old and his been looking for a phone for the past year, he wont be getting one until he is at least 10, due to my daughters lack of use of her one at 8/9.

hoodwinked

i think personally 12 is an appropriate age for a mobile, by then all their friends will be im'ing (instant messaging), tweeting, imessaging (on iphone), or bbm'ing (blackberry messaging) anyway,

but i figure having a phone at any age like anything once you teach your child to use it responsibly and make them aware as part of the deal of getting this phone means you want the right to check their phone/messages until 15/16 at least when the situation will be reviewed...etc is the way forward with this no matter what age the child is.

that is why i think the firefly is only useful for younger children, and i cannot imagine a tech savvy child wanting one tbh, these days children know more about downloading apps/using programs then their parents and i do feel its now up to the parents to educate themselves on it and try to keep up rather then stop them from learning about it all together.

its just a new educational side to life.