to think there should be a phone half-way between a nokia brick and a smartphone, which has email & whatsapp but no web access!

[ZafiraCyclist]

My son starts secondary school in September and we had agreed to get him an old Nokia style phone which has calls and texts only.
However his friends seem to have already started setting up email and whatsapp groups and he feels like he's missing out!
I don't want to get him a smartphone because he would spend his whole time on it.
Is there such a midway phone?

We're very lucky,no phones allowed at dds school.People hand them in if they need them for phoning home etc or shove them in the bottom of their bags turned off

Whatsapp is web based..
My 13 year old DD is also very good at regulating her usage. Phone is linked to the Ipad and she knows her data allowance and when she is allowed to us it.Phone is downstairs overnight.
It would seem very unfair to your DS to not allow him to be similar to his peers

possibly apocryphal, but I understood that you can ask siri to get to a site even with safari disabled?

Any 11yr old with any kind of peer group will find a browser whether it's on 'his' phone or elsewhere.

what is the 'threat' you are trying to defend against - can you focus on that rather than the technology?