Mobil phones and 10 year olds

[TheRunawayWife]

DS2 is 10 and in year 6 he has been asking for a phone for the last 2 years, we did not think he needed one, we did not get DS1 (now 14) a phone until he was going to high school.

But as DS2 will be going to high school in September we gave in and brought him a phone. Also as I was ill the other week and slept all day and DP forgot to pick DS2 up from school resulting in the school phoning me 40 minuets after home time to ask was anyone coming for DS2

He can make calls on it
He can receive calls on it
He can send a text
He can receive a text
It had 2 games on it
It cost £20

He is happy with it, however one of the children in his class (who is not a very nice child and a bit of a bully) has been making fun of DS2 and his phone (he takes it to school, leaves it in the office)

The kid was saying "oh my parents paid £140 for my phone" "it can do blah blah blah"

AIBU it thinking either the kid is telling lies or his parents are morons to spend £140 on a phone for a child???
A 10 year old can lose/break a phone in no time also both my children know if anyone ever mugs them for their phone hand it over, not worth fighting for a £20 phone.

Would anyone here spend £140 on a phone for a 10 year old? Am I just out of touch?

Awaits rotten fruit being thrown

Child may have meant it was £140 new.

I have a nearly 10 year old and his mates tend to have their parent's old phones. My ds has one that was £300 at the time that I bought it but probably £30 if I cashed it in.

No he only got it for Christmas same as DS2.

3 of dd's friends were given Iphone 4's for Christmas.

they are 12.

nuff said.

I think these parents exist.

They are (IMO) idiots.

And their children are spoiled brats.

I agree totally with what you did, when my DD goes upto the high school she will have a basic phone, but I have to admit I know lots of kids who do have £150 phones and quite a few have been bought for them brand new.

Total madness!

We bought a moderately expensive phone for 10 YO DD1 for Christmas, knowing full well all the things you've said could happen to it.

But we got it using tesco vouchers which were £10 for £5 of vouchers, so it effectively didn't cost us anything.

How would the friend know it was worth £140? Sounds like he's just being mouthy.

I bet they're morons rather than he's lying.
It's funny what's important to some people.

Some parents maybe do - but the problem here is the fact that this child is making fun of others for not having the same as him, not whether or not his parents are rich enough or indulgent enough to buy him such a thing.

Persnally, I wouldn't, because of the risk of theft. But maybe nobody is going to nick stuff from this particular little darling?

DD has a couple of friends with iPhones. DH would give a testicle for one but we can't afford it. She is 9, he is 53.

What a ghastly little show-off he is. With no manners as well - no one with any manners gobs off about how much their stuff costs!

It's quite possible that the parents do have more money than sense, or that the Brat in question had a tantrum in the shop and said he "wanted that one, no not that cheap one, that one wah wah wah" and his parents gave in to shut him up.

I can't comment directly - but I have never spent that much on a phone for myself, let alone for a child, so I won't be doing it whenever DS is old enough - but as he's only 3, by the time he needs one it probably WILL cost that much!

Well I am glad I am not just out of touch
the boy in question is not a nice child, he has been bullying DS2s friend for the past year, and sadly the boys in the class tend to look up to him a bit (mainly cause he hits them otherwise)thankfully DS2 does not look up to him and has stuck by his friend (proud mummy)

The boys mother acts more like his PA then parent, and he is indulged, but I have noticed there is a lot of bragging about how much blah blah blah, example this boy had a birthday party and within an hour of the party ending photos were on face book with something along the lines of "and it only cost £25 a child"

DD2 got her first one at 9 as my car was off the road for a few weeks and I couldn't get her to school as DS was picked up at 8.30 and her school was 2 miles away and she had to cross 3 main rds she used it to phone me to say she'd arrived and it was then put in drawer it cost about £30.But some kids at her school had phones from about the age of 6 and they cost ridiculous amounts of money even by todays standards.

Well until they can pay for their own phones my children will not have a phone costing more the £30, and I only let them have pay as you go, Oh I am a bad mommy

I wouldnt pay 140 for my 17 year old mind my unless it was a birthday/christmas present and that's what he asked for.

My 9yo used her dad's old phone for a couple of months last year so we could see how she got along with it ie was she going to be sensible or use all her credit in a couple of days.

Also she was just starting to get the bus to school and back herself so I felt a bit easier knowing she could contact me.

TBH she was very good so we got her a new one for Christmas and it cost 10pounds, but she was over the moon

Parents can spend what they want on their own children.

I don't subscribe to the top trumps of 'Well we only got our DC an orange and piece of coal for Christmas, and they were really happy with that', but we don't go over the top either.

DD1 also has a girl in her class who sounds similar to this lad, loves boasting about how much her parents buy her, her Daddys on the council, she gets £100 pocket money a week (which DD1 believed until I nearly PML at it), makes fun of DD1 for not having a tan or getting her nails done (neither of which the girl has either).

Lots of the other DC seem to suck up to the girl, who from where I'm standing has such a low self esteem that she's trying to make the other children feel crap about themselves so she can feel better.

DD1 knows better than to listen to anything she says now, and just tells her to stop boasting.

We spent a fair amount of money on our children for Christmas, I did not feel the need to list every item and its price on Face book,

DS2 is happy with his phone, he can call me if needed and I him and that is all that matters, what does a 10 year old do with an all singing all dancing phone anyway

The problem is not necessarily that the parents have bought their DS a ridiculously expensive phone, but that he is bragging about it. Sounds like he is just that sort of child - if it wasn't the phone it would be his football boots, or his jacket, or something else.

I wouldn't want an under 16 to have unfettered Internet access - which is effectively what you get with phones these days. I don't like picture messaging for similar reasons.

Basic phones (ds has one, cost a tenner) are plenty.

Having said that, friend's dd has an Internet phone BUT it doesn't get used outside of the living room, so it's not that different from using a PC in family sapce. Her mum is very switched on however.

sapce = space.

Some fools would I suppose ...it could have been an ex parental phone after an upgrade...£140 is not that much for a phone without a contract attached (apparently)...

I've no objection to parents buying what the hell they want for their kids but materialism is a horrible thing to see, especially in a child.

DS is 11 and has borrowed an old phone a couple of times when it has been useful for us to be able to contact him. He will get a phone when he goes to secondary school, and will either have the old one permanently, or a very cheap phone for all the reasons you have stated.

I personally wouldn't spend £140 on a phone for me let alone my DC. If parents want to spend that on their children then their choice, but unpleasant for a child to brag about it or make fun of another.