13 year old dd just dropped her iPhone 6 (birthday present - 3 weeks old) because her brother threw a football at her causing her to drop it. Replace or not?

[hmc]

I hesitate because she didn't have a protective cover on it when she dropped it because apparently the case had broken at the side. She tells me this now when she knows it is important to always have a protective case. Why not tell me yesterday when we were in town and I would have purchased another case immediately. So I am thinking she has joint culpability and am tempted to replace with very basic iPhone.....

But, but, but - it was a birthday present, her brother threw a football at her and she is in floods of tears.....

Sorry about the blows (to your pocket & trust).
I'd take it for an assessment on repair.
If it needs replacement, I'd be looking at a basic Android phone (£40) or a refurb'd iPhone4.
13yo DD is paying instalments for DH's old iPhone4. She smashed it 3 times (all screen damage only, steadily held together with more &more tape) before she finally learnt the lesson of buying & keeping cover on it at all times. Her lesson has passed on nicely to DS who keeps cover on his Android phone at all times, too (DS is very emotional child who smashed his last phone on purpose).

DD says that many maybe most kids at her school have smartphones with smashed screens... and that some kids at school smash their iPhones for fun.

Phones cost £700! Goodness me. Just had to google that as didnt believe it! Very depressing since an entire secondary school education in Malawi costs only £800 and its sooo hard to find sponsors each year. Not helpful I know Im sorry Im just startled. I would therefore vote for not replacing it.

Well looks like she's getting it replaced

Oops, sorry Tendon, my mistake. I did mean clutching, maybe it was autocorrect.

Yes, we get it, some of you are shocked that a 13 year old has an iPhone 6. Maybe not in your world but I know many that have iPhone 5's so it's not that much of a stretch to imagine that some have 6's. It may be worth £700 but that it not what has been paid, it's come as an upgrade, it that really so hard to comprehend? Is there really any need for the tiresomely competitive "shock" posts? They're just so tedious to read.

For me it's about what you want them to learn from this.
My dds (1 is 16 and 1 is 13) have just bought themselves new smartphones. Fine, their money. They also know how much they cost and if they get lost or broken then they either do without, or start saving again. It makes them think twice about when to have them in their hand and when it's not such a good idea.
Mind, dd1 paid £30 for hers and dd2 paid £10 for hers so it's not quite the same scenario as carrying about something that costs £700 to replace, but they know from the start that is what the situation is.
Strikes me the brother is being unfairly punished - he was playing with a ball in the garden. Not his fault the sister was daft enough to be standing with such a valuable, yet easily breakable item in her hand.

What has education in Malawi got to do with anything?

The sister was "daft" to be standing holding her phone in her hand?

brillo

I think the reference to the cost of a whole secondary education in Malawi being £800 and the phone costing £700 was to make a perfectly valid "how the other half lives" comment.

Which I suspect you probably know

Not all threads stick rigidly to the OP.

Loads of kids have iPhones.
Wise up guys
Mugging doesn't happen where hmc lives.

Aww, has the roasting stopped? I was secretly enjoying the illicit thrill of being thoroughly disapproved of

My ds is getting an iphone 5 in the next couple of weeks, got a massively cheapy deal on upgrade as everyone wants iPhone 6 now. He's 12 . I will be able to keep track of him on his little forays into independence (he has ASD). Also he's had an iTouch for two years that he's been SO careful with so I think he's proved he can be trusted and anyway as his parent it's MY decision what her can and can't have.

I'm also aghast at a 13 yr old having the latest iPhone but then again my dd is still at nursery so what do I know about young teens today

Even more aghast at a 7 yr old having one

Anyway, aren't iphones renowned for their fragility? Smartphones are better (or do I mean android phones, a one that isn't Apple anyway).

Smartphones more sturdy, possibly far cheaper too.

OP when I were a lass we had tin cans and bit of string and it did us no harm, you are a terrible parent.

I have an otterbox case for my iphone because I am the world's clumsiest person. It is fantastic.

My 10 yo has a less robust case but then again he is no way near as clumsy and never charges his phone let alone takes it anywhere

You gave her a very expensive iPhone on the condition that she looked after it and it had a protective cover on at all times. She was using it without that cover and it got broken, so she wasn't really being responsible enough. It's very hard at 13, when you don't work for money and have to pay bills, to really understand the expense of an iPhone, and the importance of looking after it.

I would replace it with a £10 a month basic smartphone. That is what my 14 year old DD has. She has a Nokia Lumia with about 5000 texts, not a huge amount of minutes because she doesn't need them, and limited data, so that she can learn to track how much data she uses and not go over. She always uses wifi when possible to save data.

She would love an iPhone, but I don't want to spend that much money for it to go to school and possibly get lost, broken or stolen. If she loses her cheap one, it will be a pain, but not such an expensive loss.

No iPhone for a 13 year old can be considered "basic".

FGS. Lol at all the handwringing.

Of course you should repair the phone if you can afford to do so. It was an accident and it would be a real waste to basically throw the phone away.

When I get my next upgrade I am going to get an iPhone6 and I will give my iphone5 to DS1 WHO WILL BE 11 AT THE TIME. So shoot me now.

I hate it when people have to justify giving their DCs anything other than secondhand wooden toys or an apple and an orange for Xmas because otherwise they'll be spoiled.

I bet no one tells Victoria Beckham that she can't buy stuff for her kids.

I got a new iPhone when dd was 18 months old, but kept my old phone with a few apps on for her.

SHE HAD HER OWN IPHONE AT 1 YEAR OLD!!!

I think the reason a lot of posters are [shocked] at a child getting such an expensive phone, is because we are raising the next generation to be entitled, spoilt, materialistic and incapable of handling actual conversation.

Personally, if I had my way, all smartphones would be banned for under 18's. There is not one shred of evidence to show that they are a positive influence to a child. You only have to watch kids coming out of school now. Walking side by side with their friends, and not one of them is actually talking to their mate. All with their heads down looking at their phones.

It's very depressing. Why encourage it by trying to outdo each other and give your child something that is for an adult?? A phone should be for contacting your mum if you get stuck in an emergency. Call me old fashioned.

bah - kids use phones in lessons to help wiht learning
Blazer you need to get with it grandma

laughing at the reference to a basic PAYG phone being a brick.

i have one such - it is tiny, tough and the battery lasts 2 weeks. It cost me £3 on a special offer, would have been a tenner otherwise. No, it doesn't have mobile internet. No-one really needs that for leisure (some do for business) and no child needs it at all.

those of you who buy these big, expensive, fragile, power-hungry i-bricks are the ones being taken for a ride. And giving them to children...well, expect breakages.

Thanks Suburbs :) and im with you blazing, to me its madness. im also not very impressed with iphone if they break after one drop, nokias are clearly built of more solid stuff!

I sit outside the school every day waiting for my tardy kids and it is simply not true that "not one of them is actually talking to their mate. All with their heads down looking at their phones." It's just not the case in reality. They are all chatting, laughing etc. Blazing you shouldn't believe everything you read

My 12yo has an iphone (on a £10 Tesco contract - her dad bout it second hand for her for Christmas). My 15yo will be upgrading to an iphone 5 this week because she is due an upgrade on her Tesco £10 a month contract.

How interesting that this makes me responsible for all the world's ills

I know that you have sorted it out with the insurance now but I would have been talking with both children about how much £700 affected the family budget.
For instance I would have discussed with them both in front of me that's £700 might be saved by leaving one of them behind for a family holiday. Money means nothing to children, no matter what age they are but something like this might make them understand how much value it has.