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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Dd7 and a mobile phone

91 replies

Fullofthought · 22/11/2018 20:24

DD is very nearly 7. She's asking for a mobile phone as she has lots of friends who have them. She would also be able to use it to have contacted with her farther if he gets off his arse and writes to her it would progress to calls. Do you think that getting her a very cheap phone with a camera on it would be unreasonable and just not top it up often so it's more for the camera and him to contact her. I can get a very basic phone with camera for 10.79 including a £10 top up.

OP posts:

TeenTimesTwo · 26/11/2018 07:59

At DD's primary a lot of children had phones by year 5. I now because they were brining them to school and I saw them being handed in to the school office every morning.
Sensible if walking alone you might say?
Yes, apart from the fact 50% of them had younger siblings so they were being taken and picked up by a parent.
And a number of the others lived literally in the same road as the school.

A 6/7 yo does not need a mobile phone.

Amazonian27 · 26/11/2018 08:04

Slippery slope YABU and making a rod for your own back. You will regret it. Ours didn’t have mobile phones until the end of year 5 start of year and that was more than soon enough.
Do you not have a landline dad could use. Or can dad not be given your number then at least you can oversea it and have some control especially if he is so flaky/unreliable?

Bigonesmallone3 · 26/11/2018 13:45

My son is 9 and Iv said no.. Iv said il consider it when he starts big school

InTheNorth · 26/11/2018 13:48

My 2 were allowed phones when they went to secondary school. This, to me, was a reasonable compromise. I still didn't really think they 'needed' a phone, but the pressure and usefulness at that point became too much

Amazonian27 · 26/11/2018 13:49

This is all getting out of control when DS was in reception one of his school friends had what I wrongly assumed was a mobile and I said to his mum that looks really good and sounds just like a real mobile. She snootily said that’s because it is it teaches him about maths and technology. I thought no way was DS getting one for a whole host of reasons. Stool to this until the start of year 6 when he was playing out more and walking to and from school.

itisitis · 26/11/2018 13:53

My 10yo has a phone which until very recently was used for just snapchat and an instagram group set up specifically with her dance friends in it. But now she has stated to take it to school as my local council decided to break up a perfectly flowing road and replace it with traffic lights which means I've twice been late to collect her from school. She's a very sensitive girl, and automatically assumed that me being late meant that I had been in some terrible accident. So now she has a phone which the school allows them to turn on at home time. During the day the teacher has them in a cupboard, so I'm assuming many of her friends take them too...I wasn't aware of that.

I have a 6yo who is now fuming that big sister has a phone which she is taking to school. 6yo demanded Santa brought her one for Christmas. Absolutely no way is she getting a phone. When late to school, her teacher held her back in the classroom and she was non the wiser that I was late. I am with her all the time when not at work/school, so she doesn't need one. I don't think realistically any child under 8 does.

itisitis · 26/11/2018 13:57

Oh and OP, TikTok is a no-no for her age! My eldest had it when it was musically and I had some strange guy messaging her over the chat facility, asking where she lived! It was promptly deleted. I now see what some of her friends post on there, pouting away and strutting their stuff in their bedrooms. They're 9/10, some younger. I put my daughter on it thinking it was a fun thing like you, but I soon learnt otherwise. I won't let my daughter go on it now until she's old enough to realise the dangers.

Wixi · 26/11/2018 14:07

6 year olds have no need of a mobile phone. My 9 year old has an old mobile phone of mine but no sim card and uses it for watching youtube and taking photos. A working mobile phone with sim is unnecessary.

Original poster

Fullofthought · 29/11/2018 22:27

It would not have a sim in it if she got one. May have to see what She's like with her behaviour between now and her Jan birthday :)

OP posts:

Jellycatspyjamas · 29/11/2018 22:41

There’s no way my 7 year old will be getting a phone any time soon, she doesn’t need one and is already struggling to manage screen time. I can’t think what she would need a phone for at that age.

00100001 · 30/11/2018 12:34

"It would not have a sim in it if she got one. May have to see what She's like with her behaviour between now and her Jan birthday"

I still have no idea why you are buying phone and not a small tablet...

00100001 · 30/11/2018 12:36

This thread is AIBU in a nutshell.

OP posts on AIBU - ignores every question and piece of advice and carries on doing exactly what they planned in the first place.

00100001 · 30/11/2018 12:36

also - you might find that the phone won't work without a sim card.

Knittink · 30/11/2018 12:40

May have to see what She's like with her behaviour between now and her Jan birthday

But that has nothing to do with whether it's a good idea for her to have a mobile phone or not . Why did you ask AIBU if you weren't going to take any notice of the answers?

RedSkyLastNight · 30/11/2018 12:49

It would not have a sim in it if she got one.

So why not just get her a tablet?

halcyondays · 30/11/2018 12:59

If her friends that have them are 8-10, there's your answer. Pretty much everyone around here has one by about 10, but nobody at 6 or 7.

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