To why parents would fork out for an expensive phone for under 16s?

[malificent7]

Dd informs me that some of her classmates in year 5 have iphones or Samsungs.
Im a bit judgy as they are so expensive both if you buy a handset outright plus on a contract they are still expensive as a monthly payment.

I didnt want dd to have a phone at all but due to incessant nagging i relented and got her a cheap handset from Tescos. She hasnt had any credit on it for months and uses it as a tablet.

Aibu to think that giving a child an expensive phone is a bit daft. Kids loose and break things plus it sets an unreasonable standard.

I know i was daft myself to have guven in and get her a phone but everyone else in her class seems to have one!

Not all Samsung's are created equal. Some of them are very cheap and nasty, not all of them are the latest, powerful Galaxy S models.

I’ve got A Galaxy A3 and it is more than adequate for anything I want to do with it. Would be fine for a teen I should think.

DS has an iphone but it's an ancient one! Just because they have a brand it doesn't mean it's brand new.

@malificent7
I am with you on this one. Don't know why they also want them upgrading every year!

My nanna has an iPhone 6 as she has DH’s old one from contract upgrade.

DS is making buttons as he’s on a promise to have mine when my contract renews as he enters year 7. He’s made me buy it a cover and glass protector and watches me like a hawk so it’s in great nick when he takes it over.

Our phones trickle down the DCs. So DS, 14, gets my old one on upgrade. Then DD gets DS’s old one. We get lots of use out of iPhones in our house. If we have any spare we take them to Game or CEX and sell them.

DS’s contract is £10 a month as it’s tagged on to mine.

My DD has a friend whose parents are very anti-technology and are living in the dark ages. They have a distrust of technology based on ignorance. They are very very late tech adopters. The DD does miss out and is out of step with her peers.

DD had an iPhone in Y6. It was a hand me down.

plus it sets an unreasonable standard.

For who?

DS1 is 11 and got my old iPhone for his birthday. He is chuffed to bits with it. A Y8 kid told me he got an iPhone 7 for Christmas which made me 😲

Mine got my phone when I updated mine. So they had iPhone 5 when I had a six. And I just got them a sim only contract.

Tbh most secondary aged kids I know have iPhones or Samsungs. It’s quite unusual for them not to.

Most of them will not be bought new. Some of my friends kids have these phones but theyre all their parents old ones that have been handed dwn when their parents have upgraded.
My year 6 has a samsung - a samsung s2 thats about 5 years old and a bit battered. My year 5 has my old samsung A3, its shit but she loves it.

As for people that buy them new, i expect its down to pressure from their kids, like any other expensive gadget.

My dd is year 9 we got her an iPhone for her birthday.
It is £16 a month, seems reasonable to me.

Mine get my old phones - work upgrade me every year and let me keep the old one so it makes sense for DC to have them

Ds14, has an iPhone 6s, his brother 18, gave it to him when he had a new phone iPhone. I would have not bought him a new one, as I would not have trusted him.

However he is really looking after it, and has surprised me.

I really don't understand these parents who are determined to hold their children back from modern day life, due to their own preconceived perceptions. Why judge?! I judge you more for not understanding or realising that times change for each generation.

I agree. Where I use to work. Some of the year 3 students had iPhones. Like... whhhhhhhhhhhhhy ?

Well it won’t be me forking out the money when the iPhone breaks.

I was staggered when children in year 5 got the latest, highest spec, brand new iPhones. But by Year 7 virtually every child had an iPhone and (I'm told) nearly all of them were their parents' hand-me-downs. If you look on-line you can see how little you need to pay for an old model, even if you buy it new.
But if you can't afford it, you don't buy it, and young up to your children how much more flexible androids are, and how all the cool geeky kids have them!

Because they all have them is the answer, and touch wood my older teens have never lost or broken a phone as they look after them.

My year 7 ds has a £10 payg mobile from tesco for emergencies. He sometimes rings me if he needs picking up at a different time etc, he's just got our numbers on it. He's got a kindle fire for games, BBC iPlayer, YouTube etc. I have the same, although I have more contacts on my phone.

For you to judge, dd(8) got an iphone 8 for christmas

Tell me this is a joke. A brand new one ?!!!! Oh my word. Some people don’t just know what to do with their money.

And it's my dh and I that get hand me ups in this household.

I’m a secondary teacher and few things make me cringe than seeing a child with a beautiful, shiny new iPhone - mainly because the reaction when it breaks - and they almost always do in the hands of a 13-16 year old (dropped onto concrete/left on the bus/put in the washing machine/dropped into the toilet/got soaked on a rollercoaster etc) lasts for weeks!
I did have an incredible amount of respect though, for the parents of a child who had to keep his phone unbroken for 2 years in order to get the new model when his contract was renewed. They trusted him, and then he had to responsible for his actions!

Loads, loads of adults drop and smash their phones, y’know!

Let's be honest phones are a huge part of kids lives and unfortunately if thet haven't got an ok one other kids will judge.

DS had an iPhone, he decided to get another brand, I can't remember what but he prefers the actual phone on a technical level. His mate had one and builds Gaming PC set ups which they are now doing together. Apple is worshipped by hardcore Apple fans but there are perfectly ok alternatives.

Because (shock horror!) they can actually afford it?

Plenty of teenagers with MacBooks and other expensive gadgets, loads of clothes/makeup/etc, cars at 18, trust fund at 18 etc too....