Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
JacquesHammer · 30/01/2020 12:06

Okay so what would your standard 7 year old kid need a fully functioning mobile phone for?

When we separated, one of the things she asked was how she could contact the other parent if she needs to. We decided we wanted to enable her to do so.

To keep in contact? They shouldn't be unsupervised anyway She didn't need supervised contact with the people who had her number (parents, grandparents)
To use social media? No they're too young Absolutely - she has just got Instagram now she has turned 13.
To text friends? About what? They're 7. They can talk to each other when they're together Not needed

A 7 year old just doesn't require a mobile phone

In your opinion Smile Mine is different. Anecdotally, DD is far more mature with her phone than the children who got it later on, she's great at self-regulating her time on there etc, hasn't downloaded anything she shouldn't etc.

SurfnTerfFantasticmissfoxy · 30/01/2020 12:07

I don't believe it either - my 8 year old certainly doesn't and neither do any of his peers. His older brother got a Nokia (that called and texted only) when he was 10 so he could let me know when he got off the bus. He got a smartphone when he turned 11 and isn't allowed it at school or after 8.00pm. Lots of kids in the 11 year olds class aren't allowed any technology at all during the week. Not sure if our school is out of the ordinary but there's no way in fuck I'd be giving a 7 year old a smartphone.

TeeniefaeTroon · 30/01/2020 12:09

My 7 year old has my daughters old iPhone but there's no SIM card in it. It's just for playing games on a n the house. I think only one of his classmates have one.

ConfusedButAngry · 30/01/2020 12:10

If you asked my DD6 she would tell you she had a phone.

What she would fail to follow up with is that it's my old phone. And it has zero internet/phone on it.

And if we're on a long journey I will charge it and let her play on the few apps that are on there. Or take photos with it.

So to me - no - she does not have a phone. But she thinks she does.

She can actually have a phone that's her when she starts secondary school.

Cuppaand2biscuits · 30/01/2020 12:11

My 9 year old has had one for more than a year so probably was 7, nearly 8.
Used for taking photos, sends photos to family, texts with family and friends. And some games.

BellatrixLestat · 30/01/2020 12:11

YANBU!!

My friend's daughter is 6 and has an iPod that can call people (on FaceTime over WiFi for example) and she can text but only to adults, her mum and auntie etc. This isn't so bad but personally I wouldn't.

I'd consider getting mine one when they start high school.

TwoZeroTwoZero · 30/01/2020 12:15

My dc at 7&8 have a tablet but they only use it once a week for a couple of hours. They don't need a phone at this age.

Shannith · 30/01/2020 12:19

@tomblihoo me and my DDs father have joint custody so she has a phone so can contact the other parent when with one or other of us.

Actually she has two (quick, call SS). One at my house and one at her dad's.

Works well and I can count on my hand the number of times we've used it. Normally FaceTime on my iPad or phone.

Most of her friends have SIM free phones. So they have a phone without actually having a phone.

Hopefully means when she has a fully functioning one it won't be such a massive novelty.

Also, why wouldn't I admit it? Be weird to keep it a secret? Are the phone police going to come knocking?

It's a phone, not a stick of dynamite.

HuloBeraal · 30/01/2020 12:20

No. My just turned 8 year old doesn’t. None of his friends do. I have no intention of getting him one. When he’s travelling independently to school (we are in London so maybe around 13) he can have one with just a SIM and no internet.
We are very low tech/almost no screen family and we are happy with that choice.
On the other hand how other people bring up their children is generally of no consequence to me (unless their choices actively impact my children) so if someone’s 7 year old has a phone that’s fine for them.

Yika · 30/01/2020 12:20

My DC doesn't have one nor does she want one (aged 9) but one of her friends has had one since 7 and so do several other classmates.

BlackInk · 30/01/2020 12:24

As seems to be the norm here, my DS will get one before he starts secondary school (during the summer hols). We're only planning on a bog standard calls/texts only one though.

I know of a couple of 7 year olds who have phones, but with tight restrictions (only able to call/text parents for example). These are kids who have more freedom to go out and play alone than my DD of the same age has.

FishCanFly · 30/01/2020 12:26

mine did not have own mobiles at 7, but there always was a spare one at home that would be taken to trips and sleepovers.

doritosdip · 30/01/2020 12:27

Does it say how many kids have their parents old phones?

My kids had access to my old phone for watching YouTube and FaceTiming their Dad. It's cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying a tablet

The Xmas threads always have questions about which tablets to buy 2/3 year olds and I regularly see pushchair aged kids (under 3s) watching tablets in the buggy or in restaurants. I suspect that tablet ownership in under 7s is very high

GinNotGym19 · 30/01/2020 12:28

Yes but only because me & her dad broke up so she can call and text him

doritosdip · 30/01/2020 12:29

I think that since you can call someone over Wifi these days, that the functioning could mean access to an app like WhatsApp or FaceTime which doesn't need a sim?

Wixi · 30/01/2020 12:30

My DD (now 10), has my old mobile phone(s), but no sim card, she just uses them as a camera or to watch YouTube. She is not getting a sim card until secondary school.

Concestor · 30/01/2020 12:31

No and I don't know any that do. They all get them in the final year of primary school ready for going to secondary round here.

Harib0 · 30/01/2020 12:38

My eldest 2 both has phones when they were 10 and they started to walk to school with friends.
My 9 year old has an old phone but no SIM card in it

BrieAndChilli · 30/01/2020 12:38

mine are 9,11 and 13 and the 2 older ones had the phones in the middle of year 6 in readiness for year 7. the 9 year old does have one of our old phones but no sim in it and just to play a few games to stop him using ours! he doesnt take it out though and also has a tablet.
But an actual phone - no.

Damntheman · 30/01/2020 12:40

He doesn't have one no, but I am considering getting a brick that does only SMS and phone calls for him for when he starts walking home from school on his own soon. We don't have a landline and I'd like him to have a way of contacting me if he needs to.

wasthataburp · 30/01/2020 12:41

My 7 year old nephew has one and they literally pay a £10 per month contract so it can have internet phone text etc. I think it's absolutely ridiculous if I'm honest.

StompingHoof · 30/01/2020 12:41

My 10 year old has just recently got one, it did have WhatsApp on it so she could speak to relatives at the weekend (it's an old Windows Phone) but they have recently stopped supporting it so that doesn't work anymore. She uses the camera if we are going out somewhere, but apart from that she has little use for it, she doesn't even know the number!

However when is out on her bike or away from home, she has a phone watch, a Camille one. I can track her on it quite easily, send a screening message to it so it will phone me back silently and I can hear who she is talking to, it will take random photos if I send the request, it will also text me if she has left a designated area (she is only allowed a distance of approximately 1 mile from home, so if she leaves this zone then it will alert me). We opted for this instead of a phone when out as this way is directly attached to her at all times and less of a risk of it falling out of a pocket or screen being smashed. No social media on either of them as there is no need.

TooGood2BeTrue · 30/01/2020 12:43

Several of my daughter's (9) friends have them. I think it's ridiculous. One of these friends then started to text me randomly at 11 pm! What's she doing awake and with a smartphone at that time of day?!

VideographybyLouBloom · 30/01/2020 12:45

I have an 8yo and a 6yo and neither have a phone. Over my dead body in fact. Both are allowed a couple of hours on the ipad a week.

The youngest I'd allow a phone would be first year secondary and then it's to be left downstairs overnight.

drspouse · 30/01/2020 12:47

No way, I'm not sure what DS who is 8 would be able to do on it.
He might text my mum or dad or his cousins but he wouldn't be able to spell well enough.
He'd call random numbers including 999.
He'd spend way too long on games and sneak it into bed.
He has a Google Mini and asks it to tell cat jokes and it only knows one. That's bad enough.

Swipe left for the next trending thread