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Original poster

Which phone does your Year 7 child have?

39 replies

lumpofcomfort · 15/02/2022 17:39

Looking to get DC a new phone for her birthday. She had a pretty cheap smartphone as her first phone - we got it Sim-free and pay £7 a month through Smarty. It's worked well for her but I was chatting with her and her best friend yesterday and they insisted that every year 7 child apart from them has an iPhone. Now they could be talking rubbish of course but they were very sure that all the phones they see are iPhones.

It's a run-of-the-mill comprehensive in a relatively affluent but not super wealthy town. Her Dad and I are both teachers so we are comfortable enough but don' have so much that we can consider splurging hundreds on an iPhone. I looked into contracts in case I was missing something but even the cheapest ones I could see were £1000 over two years. DH and I are pretty unbothered about phones and have cheap smartphones on PAYG so perhaps we are out of touch.

Is it common for secondary pupils to have iPhones and am I condemning my child to social humiliation by buying her a cheap phone? Are there cheaper options to get them that I'm not aware of?

OP posts:
Hellocatshome · 15/02/2022 17:44

Both mine year 7 and year 10 have Samsung phones. The year 7s is an S8 I think and the year 10s an S9. I buy them second hand from CEX unlocked and then shop around for a cheap sim only deal.

cactuschris · 15/02/2022 17:49

DD has an iphone and I would say the majority of her friends do as well - and that is new friends at an indie secondary and also her old group of friend from state primary. Her contract is only £8 a month though (she has naff all data and has to use it wisely/ stick to wifi which tbh I'm pleased about as she's less tempted to have her phone out watching videos on the bus).

We bought hers new unlocked, but I think her friends have a combination of new phones, parents' old phones when they upgrade, or refurbished old models.

ShowOfHands · 15/02/2022 17:53

Year 10 DD has the same phone she's had since y7. It's a bog standard Android thing. Maybe Huawei or Samsung. It was cheap whatever it is.

She says nobody gives a shit which phone she has and she couldn't tell you what anybody else uses. She's at a good local comp.

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AlexaShutUp · 15/02/2022 17:54

DD (Year 12) has had an iPhone since year 7. She currently has an iPhone 11 but I think her first one was a 4! In other words, not the latest model! Most but not all of her friends had iPhones in Year 7 as well. I remember that there was an issue with a few not having access to imessages where they all could all join a group chat, while some of the others weren't allowed WhatsApp as an alternative.

We have never bothered with contracts, always buy the phones second hand from Cex or Game etc, then cheap sim only contract.

AlexaShutUp · 15/02/2022 17:55

Meant to add, this was a state comprehensive.

MerryMarigold · 15/02/2022 17:58

Mine had his older brother's cast off Samsung J3 in Y7. When it broke w got him an Oppo (15.00 contract).

Ds1 (Y11) insisted everyone had iphones in Y8. He sold all his Lego which he'd been accumulating for 9 years. He made enough with birthdays and Xmas to get an iphone on eBay. It kept breaking so we have got him a Samsung S20 now for his birthday. None of us have iphones so I'm not going to be paying for him to have one, especially when they don't seem to last very long.

tiredanddangerous · 15/02/2022 17:59

Mine has my old iPhone 8. Her friends all have iPhones.

Talipesmum · 15/02/2022 18:03

Yes iPhone - but an old one of ours that wasn’t a fancy model at the time. They have all sorts and don’t seem to be that fussed. Plenty have non-iPhones too. Most have parents older phones.

MissDollyMix · 15/02/2022 18:05

I bought mine a reconditioned iPhone 6s. It’s the oldest model you can buy that’s still being maintained by Apple. I’m sure there are other models available but I’m an iPhone user and wanted him to have something that I could work! Also it means I can use my phone to have full control of his phone usage. I made a mistake getting him a small memory. I think the smallest memory on an iPhone 6s filled up in 6 months so I’m going to have to upgrade him to his dad’s old iPhone 7 (when DH remembers where he put it!) TBH DS has been more careful with the phone than I was expecting and he does use it A LOT for school related stuff so I do think it’s worth getting a semi-decent phone.

MaizeAmaze · 15/02/2022 18:06

Mine has DHs old Samsung.
I'd say lots do have iPhone, but they are usually one that has been upgraded by a parent, not brand new, latest model. Although there are some like that.

Original poster
lumpofcomfort · 15/02/2022 18:07

Ah interesting. To be fair, she doesn't seem to mind but I wondered if it would become more of a thing.as she gets older. I had considered getting a second hand one but I don't know if a second hand iPhone or a new cheaper phone is likely to last longer.

Sadly for DC she won't be getting any decent hand-me-downs from DH or I as we have boring phones!

OP posts:
MaizeAmaze · 15/02/2022 18:07

I would get whatever operating system the adults use. So if you are both Apple, I'd get an iPhone. If both Android, I'd get something that runs android.

AlexaShutUp · 15/02/2022 18:09

@lumpofcomfort

Ah interesting. To be fair, she doesn't seem to mind but I wondered if it would become more of a thing.as she gets older. I had considered getting a second hand one but I don't know if a second hand iPhone or a new cheaper phone is likely to last longer.

Sadly for DC she won't be getting any decent hand-me-downs from DH or I as we have boring phones!

DH and I get dd's hand me downs in this house!Grin
Original poster
lumpofcomfort · 15/02/2022 18:10

I suppose that could be a benefit Alexa!

OP posts:
NorthernWanker · 15/02/2022 18:14

Secondary teacher here and most kids do have an iPhone and we're not in an affluent area. They are not necessarily the newest ones though and a lot are damaged.

lucysmam · 15/02/2022 18:16

Mine has an Huawei p-smart. It was dd1's before dd2's. And 2nd hand, from CEX, when dd1 had it.

It works & does what she wants.

Y10 dd1 has my old S9, and will get my current s20 when I upgrade. Hopefully the S9 will still be working well enough for dd2 to have it then.

Neither are fussed about iPhone & tbh I don't like them so never considered them.

They both have the £8 gif-gaff package but do piggyback on my data for Spotify when we're out.

nutellingyou · 15/02/2022 18:17

I'm upgrading this summer so he'll have my IPhone SE (new version). Then I'll put him on Smarty for £5.99 a month.

Newnormal99 · 15/02/2022 18:24

My oldest has my old iphone6 when she started y7. She dropped in and smashed screen (not her fault - her dad bought her a stupid case that didn't have bumper protection). She then had a 6s on contract. In y9 I bought her an 11 for Xmas.

Her younger sister in y6 currently has the 6s but it is losing battery fairly quick even though I had it replaced. She will probably get something like an 8 although she's angling for an X.

I would be careful with an old one as batteries may need replacing. Contracts can be cheap - look on somewhere like afforavlw mobiles. The 6s I got was £20 a month on contract with about 4gb of data.

timtam23 · 15/02/2022 18:25

DC2 has an Android phone, Motorola at the cheaper end of the range, with a PAYG sim card. The rest of us all have Android phones so it made sense for him to have one too. All the phones are bought brand new but are pretty basic (DH has DC1's cast-off phone!) Neither of the children have ever passed much comment about getting an iPhone although I think most of their friends do have iPhones (usually parents' old ones)

NichyNoo · 15/02/2022 18:38

My year 7 DS has a Motorola - it’s massive, has amazing battery life and is very robust. Think it cost around £100. Lots of his friends have iPhones but luckily they’re still young so not got to the bullying/peer pressure over phone models yet.

SE13Mummy · 15/02/2022 18:39

DC2 was given an iPhone SE (2016) for their 11th birthday a couple of months before starting Y7 in 2020. I paid about £30 on ebay and they were delighted to be able to use imessage which they'd not been able to on their very basic, not-very-smart phone. It was replaced this Christmas with an iPhone 8, also secondhand. It seems as though most of my DCs' friends have an iPhone - often a hand-me-down from a parent - that's in a London comprehensive. Neither DH or I have iPhones so our DC don't get them from us.

Tulips21 · 15/02/2022 18:40

our kids have all had our old contract Iphones.
Eldest Dc is 18 now and just got her own contract with her first new phone...

rainbowandglitter · 15/02/2022 18:41

My year 7 has an iPhone SE.

Tulips21 · 15/02/2022 18:41

just to add Dc currently has am old Iphone 8

Retrievemysanity · 15/02/2022 18:42

DD who is year 6 got an iPhone for Christmas just because me and DH have iPhones and so does her older sister so it made sense for us all to have the same.