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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask if YOUR 7 year old has a mobile phone?

242 replies

Wellhellooothere · 30/01/2020 11:01

So a report out today reckons that HALF of 7 years olds have a mobile phone - nearly 50% of 5-10 year olds with phones, most by 7 years old.

IS that true?? I can't think of a single 7 year old with a mobile, and I work in a school... the age seems to be Year 6 going onto Year 7 where we are.

So tell me, am I wrong, does your 7 year old have their own proper mobile phone? I don't mean access to a tablet or one of those vtech toy things, I mean a real phone as this report says??

YABU - yes they have a phone
YANBU - no way, too young

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/mobile-phones-children-kids-a9308266.html

OP posts:
Nigglesmiggle · 30/01/2020 11:31

Mine would say he has a phone but it is an old handset with no sim.
He can take photos and play games.
It’s not connected to the internet unless I’m with him.

Shannith · 30/01/2020 11:31

Er mine had one. Can only call/FaceTime family numbers and text her best friend.

She's not off running a you tube channel! She's only allowed it supervised and it's never been an issue. Takes the mystery away from it.

Mind you she's had an iPad since she was 4 so I'll probably be taken out and shot.

MyDcAreMarvel · 30/01/2020 11:32

Yes but with no sim and uses in lieu of a tablet as child not £50 on eBay iPhone 5, and easier to use than a tablet.

MyDcAreMarvel · 30/01/2020 11:33

Also loves to face time my 4 year old and five year old have one too.

Tombliwho · 30/01/2020 11:33

I'm surprised anyone would even admit to giving their 7 year old a phone. Why would they need one? My 7 year old is never alone so he wouldn't need it to be in contact. He is either at school, at home or at his grandparents..
He doesn't have any social media (obviously) so no need for it there..
I can't think why a young child would need it?

Original poster
Wellhellooothere · 30/01/2020 11:40

My kids love to Face time their grandparents, who live overseas, but they do it on the family iPad.

OP posts:
Nigglesmiggle · 30/01/2020 11:40

Tombliwho-as I said-mainly for the camera and games. You wouldn’t be judgy about giving a 7 year old a camera and probably wouldn’t be at giving them a ds or something.
An old handset is both cheaper and easier to use than both of the above!

Original poster
Wellhellooothere · 30/01/2020 11:42

@Nigglesmiggle IS the phone a connected working one? For me the difference is a DS or a camera don't have the same access to the internet and social media...

OP posts:
Nigglesmiggle · 30/01/2020 11:43

No-my 7 year olds isn’t. I don’t see the point of a sim for anyone who’s not out of the house on their own-even FaceTime etc. can be done on WiFi if necessary

Tombliwho · 30/01/2020 11:45

@Nigglesmiggle right. So what I said still stands. 7 year olds have no need for a phone. If it's not functioning as a phone and you're using it as a tablet then your child doesn't have a phone in the context of this question. Its clear what the question is about and it isn't "does your 7 year old have a phone with no internet access that they use a tablet?" 🙄

opticaldelusion · 30/01/2020 11:45

Ha ha. No. He'll get one when he goes out independently, maybe Y6. And then it will be an old skool county lines Nokia, not a smart phone. If he wants to look at porn, he'll have to use his friends' phones.

JacquesHammer · 30/01/2020 11:46

I'm surprised anyone would even admit to giving their 7 year old a phone

I don't understand this? It is possible to embrace tech early and at the same time do it safely!

Starlink · 30/01/2020 11:46

Yes my grandson who is 6 plus ipad.

Inforthelonghaul · 30/01/2020 11:47

DD has an old one with no sim. It’s just to take photos, listen to audible and music and play games. No social media of any kind, she has friends with phones though and some of them have tik tok and make videos which I would not be keen on.

DD will get an actual phone when she starts secondary school but won’t be allowed FB, Instagram or Snapchat until her 13th birthday. It worked well with her older siblings so I see no reason to do things differently.

ImportantWater · 30/01/2020 11:47

The seven year olds I know who have phones tend to be from families where the mum and dad are split up. They use them to talk to their other parent (and other things of course once they have them, but I think that was the idea in them having a phone).
My oldest didn't have a phone until they were 12 but they did have an X box from the age of 11 and could communicate with friends on that. The youngest age 9 has no phone, has access to the Xbox but can't communicate through it. They have both had Kindles for quite a long time but were only allowed to play games you couldn't communicate with others.

Tombliwho · 30/01/2020 11:50

I don't understand this? It is possible to embrace tech early and at the same time do it safely!
Okay so what would your standard 7 year old kid need a fully functioning mobile phone for?
To keep in contact? They shouldn't be unsupervised anyway.
To use social media? No they're too young.
To text friends? About what? They're 7. They can talk to each other when they're together.

It makes sense if it's a simless phone they can use for photos or whatever, that's basically a tablet.
A 7 year old just doesn't require a mobile phone.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 30/01/2020 11:50

My DD is in Yr4 and I have seen some of her classmates on their phones in the school playground. Incidentally my DDs would say they have iPads.. they are Amazon fires!

DH and I discussed getting a cheap dumb phone and a path sim for them if they go to the park in case of accidents... But the park has no phone coverage. Joys of rural living.

Fsid00 · 30/01/2020 11:52

My 7 year old uses my old phone to play games but it has no SIM card in it.

So she thinks she has a phone, but she doesn't really Grin

OrlandoInTheWilderness · 30/01/2020 11:57

YANBU

Frothybothie · 30/01/2020 11:59

Well there goes the planet....

combatbarbie · 30/01/2020 11:59

On the app so can't vote..... But my 7yr old does have a phone.... In short it isn't a case of bought one for birthday etc. Its my husbands old one and it has a payg sim card which I will put £5 on if she's going for a sleepover as she can get anxious and feels more secure if she can message or call before bed but other than that she only uses it for taking pics, playing games (including her homework ones) and to call her sister who is in boarding school. It is also linked to the family app so it restricts certain apps to a time limit, she can't download without my PIN code and it locks at 7.30pm and she doesn't have access to it until after school.

She never charges it though and I've stopped doing it for her. It was a novelty yes but that's worn off.

HillAreas · 30/01/2020 12:00

My DSD got the lasted iPhone aged 7.

Several screens, dodgy snapchats and tears because she incapable of using the charger (she rams it in and snaps it - don’t know how many we have been through) later and I’m not even less convinced than ever that it was a good idea.

Don’t know what she’s go to look forward to as a teen as she gets everything NOW.

Aurorie11 · 30/01/2020 12:00

My 9yr old doesn't have one, they don't go anywhere without a parent where they would need one (i.e.school, sports activity). 11yr old got theirs towards the end of yr6.
I was surprised the average age was 7 as that suggests 4-5 yr old ones have them to equal out those having them older

Trooperslaneagain · 30/01/2020 12:01

Are you fucking joking me?

dd is in P2 and won’t have a chance of even being in the sights of getting one until high school. Longer we can get away with it the better.

steppemum · 30/01/2020 12:03

no.
here it is mostly year 6 when they get phones. maybe 5% of class had one earlier.

BUT many have ipads at home and many use their mum's phones, so I wonder if the question was worded in such a way that any child who regularly has access to a phone answered yes?

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