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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:
Pickitup · 14/01/2018 09:06

Dc3 is in year 3. Her friend in same year has a iphone 7 as parents gave her that when they upgraded. Dc3 is most disgruntled that she isnt allowed a phone.
I have told her when she does get a phone, (end of year 6) it wont be the latest phone. I will have a budget & wont be going over it.
I have a v old phone & have different priorities and spend any spare money on other things.
Dc1 isnt bothered about brands etc & as long as she has a phone she's happy!

All comes down to choice I'd say.

ThunderR0ad78 · 14/01/2018 09:11

My Yr 6 daughter has an iPhone 6 - my old phone therefore free. Unlimited calls / text contract for 15 per month. If it's lost or broken she will be without a phone until I or hubby upgrade again! Simples!

Woodman03 · 14/01/2018 09:15

Rathersheepish we bought our 8 year old an iPad I don't see a great deal of difference between that and an iphone.
The best thing about it, it has saved so many arguments as he was constantly trying to borrow his brothers or my tablets.

midnightmooch · 14/01/2018 09:20

It's the need to upgrade that confuses me. DD said if she won £2k she'd like to upgrade her phone. I asked her why, what functionality was she missing in her current phone that she was pining after in a new phone.
She didn't know, there seem to be an unthinking need to upgrade, the mobile phone companies are pushing the need to upgrade, where no need exists and that is the thing I object to and wish my kids to understand.

flippityfloppity · 14/01/2018 09:30

My teenager has had a decent iPhone since he was 10 - he has never once broken a phone or gone over his allowance, so I've got no problem with it.

GhostsToMonsoon · 14/01/2018 09:32

Smartphones aren't just chunks of glass and chips. Their manufacture and the expectation that people will upgrade every couple of years has massive environmental and human rights impacts (for example many of the necessary metals are sourced from areas of conflict).

LightastheBreeze · 14/01/2018 09:46

Is an upgrade only something you get with a contract and aren't contracts more expensive, I always have bought my iPhone outright unlocked and then just got pay and go and when the phone wears out kept it as spare, traded in or passed to DS when he was younger, then bought a new one. DH and DS do the same.

Because they are quite expensive to buy I wouldn't want to change it without getting full value for money, I see Apple are doing a cheaper battery change now so I will get a new battery this year and then hopefully my 6s will be good for a couple of years more.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 14/01/2018 09:52

My 11 year old saved odd job money and birthday party money to purchase his iPhone5 himself.
He worked hard picking up litter, sorting recycling and taking bins in and out.

Toomanycats99 · 14/01/2018 10:02

@LightastheBreeze

Contracts do seem to have got very expensive for the newer models. I switched to a sim only contract on my 6 and am planning to buy interest free through Apple care for the new one rather than recontract.

midnightmooch · 14/01/2018 10:07

You are still paying for a new phone with a contract - you just pay more over 2 years - it's basically a lone. Your old phone was never free, you've paid for it and it is not worthless, it can still be sold on eBay or a second hand mobile phone seller.
Would people upgrade their phones every 2 years if they had to pay the phone costs upfront often between £600- £800?

LightastheBreeze · 14/01/2018 10:17

I paid over £600 for my iPhone 2 years ago and intend to hopefully keep it for at least another 2 years which is probably when the iOS won't be updated on it anymore, I will get a new battery in it when Apple roll out the cheaper batteries. The iPhone 7 and 8 doesn't appear to do anything much more than mine does and I also like the rose gold colour of mine which they don't do now.
I don't use my phone enough to keep wanting to fork out for a new one, DS is the same with his 5c, I think he hopes it will last forever

If you do want to get a new iPhone often though, the Apple care plan is a good way of doing it

JacquesHammer · 14/01/2018 10:17

Would people upgrade their phones every 2 years if they had to pay the phone costs upfront often between £600- £800?

Some people do, some people don't. I've never been that interested in tech so don't. Other people I know are and upgrade every time. Horses for courses

midnightmooch · 14/01/2018 10:22

People I know used to update their phones when the technology was progressing quickly, but there is little to be gained by it now - I don't know anyone who bothers anymore - if dh who is tech mad. They get a new phone when their phone breaks.

SoupDragon · 14/01/2018 10:23

Would people upgrade their phones every 2 years if they had to pay the phone costs upfront often between £600- £800?

I do.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 14/01/2018 10:40

I appreciate that I pay more over two years for my phone because the phone is still effectively owned by my mobile company. However I get two benefits from that I do get to have a decent phone that I would not be able to think about if I had to pay out right. I deliberately never get the top of the range model so instead of the IPhone 4 I had the 3g then I had the 4 when the 5 came out, and so and so on.

The second benefit is when I do pay the full contract ie at the end of the two years I pass the phone on to my step dad, who then passes his old phone to my mum.

Two years ago when I upgraded we my mum had my old IPhone 4, I have my step dad my 5c and I had a brand new 6. I just upgraded before Christmas I slipped my 6 in with my stepdads Christmas present, he was so grateful. I didn't need it any more. I imagine the children that have such phones are the sane as my step dad grateful to get a old model that's been used for 2 years but is still in perfect working order

midnightmooch · 14/01/2018 10:54

SoupDragon Why do you upgrade?

IncyWincyGrownUp · 14/01/2018 10:55

Ghosts if you’re bothered about the morality and ecological issues with phones then don’t buy them, other people will do what works for them.

I upgrade as and when needed. I’m about to upgrade one of my children’s phone as the support for it is about to cease. It’s a five year old phone and is on its third owner in my family. Quite frankly I’m fine with relegating that hunk of glass and chips to the recycle pile, procuring a newer model that will last a few years, and getting on with my day.

niknac1 · 14/01/2018 11:10

Light Asa breeze re 6S battery it’s worth putting your phone serial number into the Apple checker as some 6S phones are eligible for a free battery change as there were a problem with some batteries and Apple are doing it for free for some phones.

niknac1 · 14/01/2018 11:11

My message was for LightastheBreeze

ToesInWater · 14/01/2018 12:02

As others have said, lots of people pass phones down through the family. We did for years. Last Christmas DD (13) got a brand new iPhone 6 on contract as she really wanted one and tbh it was much easier to pay an extra $20 a month to give her a "wow" present than any other option. I couldn't care less if people judge my parenting based on what I choose to give my kids for Christmas. It is tough though when kids want things you just can't provide.

Snowysky20009 · 14/01/2018 12:28

VileyRose

Our ds2's school sets some homework that we can only access on the iPad or iPhones. I thought it was something we were doing wrong, but it turns out others in his year had the same problem. It's something to do with how the individual teacher does it to begin with (this comes from ds1 (18) he's our tech guy). So a lot of the kids have gone from android to iPhones for this reason, as parents were fed up of giving up their phones for it to be done lol

VileyRose · 14/01/2018 13:32

I wouldn't be happy about that! Mine still get handwritten homework...but we are very rural, so kind of stone age!

SoupDragon · 14/01/2018 13:49

SoupDragon Why do you upgrade?

This is going to blow your mind... because I want to! I Know! Shocking isn’t it?

cptartapp · 14/01/2018 13:54

DS1 has an iPhone 6 we bought from eBay. He paid half himself and knows if he loses it its back to a Tesco basic. He really and truly didn't want or need anything else for bday/xmas so got the phone. Old enough to make his own decisions at 15 and cope with the consequences.

Isetan · 14/01/2018 14:08

DD will be 11 when she gets my iPhone with a sim only contract. If she breaks or loses it, she'll have to wait until my next upgrade. We live five minutes away from school and most of her after school activities, so even when she inherits my iPhone 5, it will still be mostly redundant.

Some of her classmates had phones since they were eight, she nagged then but she's smart enough to know that nagging has the opposite effect on me.