When did you give your child their first phone?

[DrunkBetch]

My DS is going in to year 5 this September and has started asking for a phone. I know some of his classmates have them as I've seen them. I'm just not sure if he's a little young. So my question is when did your kids get their first mobiles?

DD has been given my old ones since she was about 7
Has her own new one now because she uses it to chat to friends and play games and talk to her Twat father

Christmas after their first term at secondary school. So 11/12

Yr5 when they start walking to and from school themselves.

Christmas year 6

Toward the end of year 5, 10yo. Was a bit bribery for something else we really wanted to achieve with him but mainly because he goes to a SEN school and all his friends have them for arranging online gaming meet ups as they all live far away from each other. His social communication has come on leaps and bounds.

I'm saying 11th birthday (y6). DS1 is nearly there. DS2 is later in the school year and I could potentially bring it forwards to Christmas y6 depending on circumstances, but saying 11th birthday gives a clear date for avoiding premature badgering.

There have been a few phones around y5 this year.

DS has some SENs and he'll probably do better with a well managed smart phone that he can use as an organisational tool. I'd rather go down the route of encouraging sensible boundaries and what to do if something is wrong rather than avoidence.

Xmas of Y6.
But no social media, no WhatsApp or Snapchat.
They had to be very careful who they gave their number to and ask people not to share their number with others without clearing it with themselves first.
There was so much drama in y5 around phones. Parents were constantly being called into school for inappropriate behaviour and bullying.

Our rule on socials was that they needed to present a case for having it that didn't include the phrase 'everyone else'. They weren't actually bother and only asked for WhatsApp during lockdown so they could send pictures and files to friends.

@SupermanWithTheGreyHair

Yes. Mobiles had to be handed in at the office on arrival at secondary school, and collected after school. If a mobile was found on their possession during the day, it was confiscated, and the parent had to collect it. So if a parent worked, they had to take time off to do so. Or not.

@UserStillAtLarge

My kids had a 10 min walk to school. And a land-line / internet indoors. There was no need for a mobile. But the old payg was available for whoever might have wanted to take it at other times when out.

DD is 8 and has my old one. No SIM just uses it for FaceTime, discord and games. I gave it her as her friends kept texting and FaceTiming my phone. She won't have a phone properly until first year of senior school I guess.

Ds is getting one soon and he is 10. He goes to school by himself so I want him to have one. Id also like him to be able to message his friend and arrange to play without going through me. He has asd so think this will be easier for him to do via text.

Yes. Mobiles had to be handed in at the office on arrival at secondary school, and collected after school. If a mobile was found on their possession during the day, it was confiscated, and the parent had to collect it. So if a parent worked, they had to take time off to do so. Or not.

How many children were at the school? That would be up to 1500 phones at my child’s secondary school. 😬 What a nightmare for staff.

My child’s primary school did this but only year 5 and 6 were allowed phones so not very many.

The school is aware that not everyone can afford a smartphone but unfortuntately modern life develops differently.
"Modern life" isn't an uncontrollable being that does what it wants. The school have made a concious decision to make smart phones neccesary. They could choose not to do that. It's perfectly possible to educate children without the use of smartphones.