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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

195 replies

malificent7 · 13/01/2018 10:18

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!

OP posts:
DontDIY · 13/01/2018 19:02

DS13 has the iPhone SE. He’s had a phone since he turned 10, which was earlier than I planned, but I got him one as his school was decanted and he was walking to the allocated bus on his own, etc.

The first phone he had was a Nokia lumia with sturdy case and it lasted him 22 months until someone else knocked it off a bed. He had to wait til his 12th birthday to get the SE, and I pay about £27 a month for it. But that’s him had it over a year. He was desperate for one, he uses it every single day, for keeping in touch with me, his dad, his pals, listening to music, etc.

At less than £1 a day, I don’t grudge him a little luxury. I know he knows the value of it.

dentydown · 13/01/2018 19:05

Unfortunately the school set homework that can only be done on iPhones and iPads. Android and windows is buggy and frustrates everyone. Currently they use my contract iPhone to do their homework on, but I’m looking to get them some second hand iPhones.

LightastheBreeze · 13/01/2018 19:07

When DS (25) was at secondary school he always wanted the latest phone and did have whatever was popular then but nowadays he has just got an iPhone 5c which he seems to have had forever and is not interested in the latest phone as his still works. He doesn’t like the newer phones as he says they are too big. If I mention getting a new phone, I have a 6s, he says but mother yours is fine why do you need a new one.

StickThatInYourPipe · 13/01/2018 20:08

BigBaboonBum

I hope you don’t mind me asking but what provider gave you 30gb of data? I’m coming to end of contract and that would be really useful! I always go over my 10gb!!!

StickThatInYourPipe · 13/01/2018 20:16

Please ignore, reread and you said 30mg

Apologies

IncyWincyGrownUp · 13/01/2018 22:02

Stick Three used to be best for data, although that may have changed. Worth looking into though.

Angelicinnocent · 13/01/2018 22:30

@stick - giff gaff do unlimited data contracts at £20 per month.

multivac · 13/01/2018 22:45

DS has the cheapest smartphone I could find. It’s £8/month and works just fine

You might want to shop around; our two kids have an iPhone 6s each, paid for (and chosen) by themselves, and we pay less than that per month for more data than they can get through. Still, I'm sure you win on some ethical level.

VileyRose · 13/01/2018 22:50

My kids have NEVER had Apple only homework? Lol in fact they never use a phone for homework since they don't actually have them.

Kids on Snapchat. Please look at these apps....

RhodaBorrocks · 13/01/2018 22:51

I upgraded my phone this week. DS was very pleased to get an S6. He's year 6 and mostly uses it to programme his robot. No sim in it yet - he'll get a very cheap PAYG one soon.

SheStoopsToConker · 13/01/2018 22:57

A 7yo with an iPhone X??? Guess it is true about some people having more money than sense...

notgivingin789 · 13/01/2018 23:24

She You know right 🤣 ? When I read that, I thought it was best to keep my mouth shut.

IncyWincyGrownUp · 14/01/2018 00:16

Why does it bother you?

It’s just a chunk of glass and chips. It’s not some sort of magic indicator of age and experience. It’s a tool, if a somewhat more expensive one than say a kindle fire or a hand-me-down phone.

Some families have enough disposable cash that they can afford this sort of stuff. It’s not unusual, it’s just not often talked about.

Some families wouldn’t pay thousands on holidays, others won’t countenence a haven break or anything short of 14 days AI in the sun.

Some families dress head to toe in branded clobber, others are happy enough buying what needs buying in Tesco and Primark.

None of it matters. You wouldn’t judge a holiday or a pair of jeans, but you judge a phone. That says much much more about you than it does the person buying the phone.

EdithViolet · 14/01/2018 08:12

Two of my sons are anti Apple on principle actually. Only one person in our house has an apple product actually. Their school has never insisted on apple only homework and they use a computer not a phone anyway as its linked to the printer and a bigger screen and a lot easier to use for homework. I don't have any apple products as far as I am aware.

BillywilliamV · 14/01/2018 08:16

We have lots of Apple products, we like them!

Shadow666 · 14/01/2018 08:20

The thing is, kids do use phones a lot and certainly get their money’s worth, I think. My friend got her daughter a lego set that cost around 100 pounds. I was Shock at the cost. A phone that gets used every day, not so much.

Lokisglowstickofdestiny · 14/01/2018 08:23

It's up to parents how they spend their money. My daughter has had iPhones since she was 12 - new phones not hand me downs. She is 17 now and has a 7 plus. She has never damaged (apart from minor scratches on the back) or lost her phones.

JacquesHammer · 14/01/2018 08:34

My daughter had an old hand-me down iPhone 3 at aged 7. She then had a hand me down 5 which lasted four years (and still looks/works well enough to be sold). She now has a second hand iPhone 6 at 11.

We are tech savvy. She's perfectly safe and enjoys her phone. No negatives.

MaisyPops · 14/01/2018 08:36

A lot of people seem to pass their old phones down the family which makes sense.

I am still a bit Hmm when I see Year 9 students turn up a week after the new iphone is out with it.
I'm also amazed how many students who have top spec phones (not hand me down from parents) also seem to be the ones with cracked screens and also seem to think it's funny when it's cracked because 'It is sooo funny!!'
And if they see things that aren't to their taste it's a sign if poverty (as in 'that's pov though isn't it. I wouldn't dare')

I do think some kids aren't taught the value of money and it is generally the ones who have what they want given to them all the time.

Woodman03 · 14/01/2018 08:39

Santa bought our 14 year old an iPhone 8 and our 8 year old an iPad this year. Our 16 year old doesn't want an iPhone he's happy with his Huawei, but is talking about wanting a car for when he learns to drive, do I go brand new or 2nd hand OP??

prettywhiteguitar · 14/01/2018 08:52

I don't understand why, when social media is regularly cited as a huge problem and stress on children and teens, parents seem so keen to hand phones over to dc ? Aren't you worried about the effects of having a phone from the age of 9 ?

RatherSheepish · 14/01/2018 08:54

@Woodman03 I think there's a difference between giving a teenager an iPhone 8 and giving a 6 or 7yo one, surely?

Ledkr · 14/01/2018 08:56

My dd has had an I phone since she was 13 but thst and any upgrades are always her Christmas present.

JacquesHammer · 14/01/2018 09:04

Aren't you worried about the effects of having a phone from the age of 9 ?

No. DD has a phone but no social media. She can't download anything to her phone without a notification coming to me to approve. In-app purchases are password protected, she doesn't know the password.

IMO learning to use tech sensibly and without making a big deal of it is really important.

Toomanycats99 · 14/01/2018 09:05

We have iPhones and they last! Myself and husband have a 6. Dd(10) has a 4s that used to be my husbands. My sister has a 5 that used to be mine. The youngest (6) has an old 4 that she plays games or listens to music on for long car journeys or on the train which used to be my sisters.

I will upgrade to an 8 later in the year and the phones will trickle down. The 4 which is getting a bit outdated for games will probably go to my Mum as it works perfectly well for calls and texts which is what she wants.

An iPhone really does not need to be pricy. People probably look in horror when they hear the 6 y/0 say she has an iphone but in reality the cost was £30 missed trade in value which is less that lots of toys!