What age are people giving their children their first phone?

[LemonChiffon]

Dd has been asking for a phone for her 10th birthday, which is coming up. I have no idea when people start giving their children phones and whether 10 is reasonable or not! So please let me know when you gave your child a phone!

Btw it would be an old phone of mine, with some v cheap SIM only contract.

Thanks!

I’m planning on holding out until the Y6 / y7 transition - she is in year 5 now and I’m already getting incredulity from others that she doesn’t have her own iPad and email address with access to SM. We, nope not for a while yet if I can help it!

plus I think it’s easier for her to shrug and say ‘I have a super strict mum who won’t let me’ at this age rather than deal with SM and all it entails…

in answer to ‘how can a 13 year old not have a phone); They have chrome books at home for homework, and that has Google classroom etc on. They have homework diaries.
And if they need to call because they have unexpected activities like choir after school, they ask the school office.
They get the bus to school, and manage in the ways all of us managed before phones were a thing if the bus is late etc.
They are very well integrated socially, loads of friends and hobbies and an active social life with the huge advantage that they haven’t been involved in any of the WhatsApp/TikTok/ Insta / safeguarding dramas that many of their peers have since Y5.
Works for them and for us.

There dad bought them phones end of year 6 and 4 so he could face time them, he lives in a different country . If it wasn't for that I'd have waited until the year 4 was end of year 6

My friend has an agreement with other parents in her Y6 daughter's primary school that they are all holding out until Year 7. That way they don't feel left out. Only a couple of them have phones.

Can't see why they would need one before Y7.

@bodie1890 same at our DC’s primary! They are even now (Y8) not the only ones without phones. Lots of other parents have said to me they wish they hadn’t got their DC’s phones yet.
But I recognise of course that different schools and social groups have different norms and that our phoneless kids would be social pariahs in some schools 😂

It depends on their "life events", so once they start walking home from school or getting the bus etc, and it would be unsafe if there was no way for them to contact you in an emergency. Also once they're staying over at friend's houses on a regular basis - it can be a good comfort imho if they know that they can message you to come and pick them up early if they were feeling homesick etc.
I got my first phone quite early (I was between year 3 and 4 at primary school) as I moved into my grandparent's house as my parents were both working full time over the summer. I therefore had my phone to be able to message my mum or speak to my dad on the phone etc

Just to add it wasn't a smartphone - it was just a basic one for calling and texting.

My 9 year old had one for his birthday but this was mainly due to his tablet being on its last legs and he must prefers to watch YouTube on a phone so he had one but no SIM. He can have a SIM once he turns 10

Dd had one towards the end of y6. It would have been y7 but COVID made it harder to stay in touch with her friends.
D's is now y6. He will probably get one for his birthday. He's not allowed to take it to school so it will be useful at weekends when he's out and about with his mates. At the moment he has to run home and tell us if plans change, like they go to the park, or to someone else's house.

Yr6 because that’s when they started walking home alone from school. We took the phones at night so they would read books and still do even though they are teens now.

Mine got phones towards the end of Year 6, ready for high school and so they could swap numbers with friends who were going to different schools. Most of their friends did the same, although some with separated parents and shared custody arrangements tended to have them a bit sooner.
That was nearly a decade ago though; I bet the average is younger now!

DS had a cheapy PAYG when he started walking home from school towards the end of year 5 and an iPod touch that only worked over wifi and had very strict parental controls on it at home around the start of year 6.

Smartphone was summer between primary and secondary school. He needs it for his bus pass which is on an app and it’s useful to check Find My Phone to know when he’s due home. Still got strict controls on it that I can amend and monitor from my phone. Seems to be the norm here.

Age 10 to give them some time to get used to it pre high school.

In iteland . It tends to be 6th class so 12 ish .
I honestly could fathom giving my hyper 9 year old a phone.. he's years away from being mature enough for one

Both of mine got a cheap text/call phone once they started seniors as they walked to school by themselves. Once they could prove they were careful with not losing or dropping them, they got upgraded to nicer phones. Took them until 14yrs to do this so am very glad we bought cheap to begin with!

No one under the age of 18 should have a phone which is capable of doing more than making/receiving calls and texts.
Will stop virtually all sexual exploitation of children.(And I hope everyone on here is in favour of that).

Same here, although they had an iPod touch at home with iMessage to contact grandparents : cousins from age 9/10.

When they started secondary school so were using public transport to get to school. I'm not sure what age I would have given them a phone if they had been walking distance from school as they walked alone to and from primary without one. Probably the same age as they started wanting to travel to see friends in neighbouring towns.

Mine got theirs on their 11th birthday, so Y6. Many of their friends already had phones.

We had very strong rules about how they could be used and the times they were allowed.

My eldest was 10 in June and got a second hand phone in time for year 6 and we upgraded his phone for his 11th birthday once he proved he could look after a phone. My second son is 10 next year and we will be doing the same.

Age 9 and age 10 here.

Homework is all online and I can't afford two second hand iPads but can't afford two second hand old iPhones.

They WhatsApp family on them and play games on them. Occasionally I will put £10 credit on (giffgaff) but it's just normal connected to the internet at home.

Near the end of year 6 so she gets used to the phone. DC1 is year 7 so it's not an era ago.

Mine got their phone whe they started Secondary school.

@DesertOrchi year 7 DD has been asked by school to get homework app ready for ICT lesson today. They also have to use a QR code to register for after school club. You'll need a smart phone for that.

Really? I find this interesting, my daughter has just started secondary school and has just been added to Teams in order for the teachers of various subjects to communicate things about homework etc.

Would your child just use a tablet at home for this instead?