Would/have you given your 10yo a phone?

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

DC about to turn 10 would love a phone. I know at least a couple of his classmates have them. Concerns I have would be that he has had some low level bullying going on due to some SN and SEN he has and I worry this would then become bullying by phone. (School and others settings are aware and proactive btw- but I just know how kids can be) he has one year left of primary school and will be unlikely to attend the same secondary school as any of his classmates so I thought a phone would be a good way to keep in touch with the couple of friends he has. But also wonder if better to just wait until secondary school for phone as none of the bullying kids will be there so a fresh start?

He is starting to get a bit more freedom now and goes to the park to play, it would be good for my peace of mind if he could contact me (and me him) if he needs to.

Still very unsure about a phone. Maybe wait another year.

What would you do?

We are about to, we have sorted out a very low cost capped contract linked to ours and have an old phone for him. It will be tightly monitored though for a good while.

Thanks coffee, what rules will you have for the phone?

Will your child be allowed it at school? Im thinking no to that, allowed for after school and to the park etc but hand over at 7pm.

I will be getting. PAYG old phone for DD when she turns 10 this year. She does a sport which requires l5 of pick8 g up and dropping off so I would like her t have some means of contact for in case I am late, pick up times change etc.

And does your child support phone have apps and internet connectivity?

Maybe a calls only phone rather than a smart phone with access to social media. Mine got phones when they started secondary school.

Mine got theirs around 10 - well they got them before they started in P7, so for the eldest it was for her 10th birthday and for the next one it was the Christmas after they turned 10. I wanted them to be well used to them, not be a novelty just before they started "big school".

They were starting to go out a lot more then - swimming, cinema, shops etc and they were being left at home the odd time.
No phones at school for primary and for the first few months after they got them no internet/apps etc. After I was happy enough with how they were using them etc they got internet, apps etc. Phones out of room an hour before bed. The 11 year old uses hers for music mainly - she's constantly got music on the go.

Thank you all! So it seems like this is a usual age/stage to get a phone and those restrictions are what I was thinking.

Mine had basic payg from that age as they took the city bus to school. For safety nothing else is needed

No phones until secondary school :)

My 10yr old has a phone to contact me when walking home from school/park/friends houses. It's useful for them to get properly used to using one before secondary.

Dd has internet access but isn't allowed facebook, insta or snapchat, she does use messenger to keep in touch with her friends, she loves to facetime them and play roblox etc on her phone. I cant even imagine her without one now, it makes life easier all round. She's not allowed on her phone after 7pm or at the table (obvs). She knows that I can look at/access her phone at anytime. She knows to tell me if anything bothers her or worries her, and she's clued up about internet safety because I've drummed it in to her over a period of time. I'd prefer that she grows up understanding the risks rather than being put 'in at the deep end' in a few years time. She's not allowed to download apps without checking with me first (she wanted Tic Toc and Musicly but I've said no to them for now).

DD1 (11) has had a phone for just over a year. She has an iPhone SE that I got second hand and a £5p/m giffgaff sim. She's allowed WhatsApp as we have lots of extended family chats and she has Roblox and Funimate on private accounts. She watches YouTube on my account so I can see what she's watching and she doesn't have a YouTube channel although she wants one. No Facebook/instagram/snapchat and I'm not happy about her having those for a while yet.

Dd1 got one for her 10th birthday last year. She takes it to school on the days I work so she can let me know she is safely at the place she waits for me to collect her and her sister ( we have recently stopped after school club). I'm very tempted to give dd2 a phone for her upcoming 9th birthday as she's starting to go out to the park etc with friends, but think out of fairness to her sister I will wait until she is 10 as well.

Most of the kids in ds's Y6 have them, a lot did already in Y5. Ds got one for Christmas as we had had a couple of incidents of being unable to meet him and couldn't get in touch to let him know.

We haven't installed anything beyond a couple of games, no SM and not Whatsapp yet, although I'll probably install that before Y7. DH and I have parental controls on our mobiles so we can track where he is, lock his phone (and tablet) remotely, things like that. He is 10 btw, has ASD so not quite as sophisticated as his classmates.

My 10 year old dd has one (she's autistic)

She has no form of social media and it's heavily monitored.

She doesn't bother with it much...