Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To help DS out replacing his broken iphone?

107 replies

MrsArchchancellorRidcully · 14/01/2022 21:11

Ds is 10. He got cross tonight and slammed his phone down and completely broke it.

Yes absolutely his fault and I won't be replacing it. He is devastated.

He has £100 saved from Xmas and birthday money and a replacement iphone is £120 from music magpie. He needs a phone for safety as he walks to and from school.

I'm ok with putting £20 towards it as he's upset at having to use /waste his Xmas money. DH is adamant we shouldn't put any money to it at all. I get it was his stupid fault but I'd like to get a phone to him asap for safety. We don't have a spare old one going begging. Without my £20 it'll be a couple of weeks to replace it.

What do mumsnetters think?

OP posts:
HalzTangz · 15/01/2022 00:26

@Santaisstilleatingmincepies

The facilities it is capable of is what I meant. Access to Internet /tick tock /fb /etc. Ages can be faked to access.
And all of those can be accessed from a cheap £25 phone that Argos sell. That said, at 10 you as a parent shouldn't be allowing him on any of those. They have age restrictions for a reason
Geppili · 15/01/2022 00:34

Why does he need an iphone for safety?

HalzTangz · 15/01/2022 00:43

I have never heard of any school that allows phones during lessons, quite the opposite, every school in my area has a no phone rule

honeyytoast · 15/01/2022 00:54

Is it definitely not just a screen replacement that is needed?

honeyytoast · 15/01/2022 00:55

Sorry just seen comment about repair. My iPhone screen (not just smashed but screen not working) was only £30 to replace from a small local phone repair type store

grapewine · 15/01/2022 01:10

It's probably repairable as he did slam it down in anger. He was in the middle of a ps5 game and I made him turn it off for bed.

Poor lamb, eh? I just can't...

Your husband is right.

RedHelenB · 15/01/2022 06:55

For safety, aged 10 he wouldn't have an iPhone at all. Just the cheapest non smart phone

Tillyvonpantsalo · 15/01/2022 07:05

He could do chores to earn £20.
Im not sure any 10 year old needs a phone to be honest.

I work in a school and I'd say the negatives of a phone seem tk outweigh the benefits. All the kids have whattsapp etc and the amount of mental health harm caused by inappropriate messaging, images etc seems to outweigh the benefits of having a phone for safety from strangers etc.

He has shown he doesn't have the maturity to own something expensive so you all need to think carefully before any replacement is bought.

Tillyvonpantsalo · 15/01/2022 07:12

I am not sure I believe he 'needs' his phone in school to research stuff. This could be a major safeguarding issue with kids searching inappropriate content and taking images. I would challenge any school where this is allowed and suspect he's feeding you a pile of bull if he's told you this.

As he broke the phone slamming it down when asked to stop using it, I also feel that perhaps the only phone he should have is a brick as it's not acceptable for him to do this. Repair would be a good option also more environmentally sound than just repacking something as he chose to break it in anger.

Foolsrule · 15/01/2022 07:53

He doesn’t need a phone, he doesn’t need an expensive phone and if you still buy him an iPhone, for God’s sake, get a proper case and screen protector!

DemonTypist · 15/01/2022 08:05

There seems to be a lot of weird competitive virtue signalling parenting on here.

Give him the £20. He will always remember you did that to help him.

Having to spend his £100 Christmas money is lesson enough

bcc89 · 15/01/2022 08:10

Can't get over some of these replies.

Your son deliberately broke his phone. This is unacceptable behaviour. Tell him he will have to save up for a new one himself and in the meantime, no, he can't play out as you won't be able to keep a track on his safety.

For god sakes, he's a child and he has behaved like a brat.

Punish him, not reward him. He is 10! He needs to learn that you do not smash your belongings in anger and then have mummy give you £20. Hmm

Sunshineandrainbow · 15/01/2022 08:12

Can the screen not be replaced rather than whole phone?

MoiraNotRuby · 15/01/2022 08:17

If he broke it due to anger connected to something like bullying or bereavement I would probably give him the chance to earn £20 doing chores.

But as he broke it whilst gaming I wouldn't help him. My DS games and he knows if he breaks things its his own problem, every so often he will need a new headset or whatever.

VelvetChairGirl · 15/01/2022 08:36

@Doggydarling

How does an iPhone keep a 10 year old safe? I really don't understand this mentality. Why do you need to track him, he's 10 so he goes straight home I assume, if he can't be trusted to do that he shouldn't be walking home. If you really believe he 'needs' a phone get him a cheap replacement but to be honest I think its an ideal opportunity to get rid of it completely, he's far too young.
I dont understand the tracker idea its a bit like CCTV it watches the attack it doesnt stop it, all a tracker means is its easier to find the body or more likely the dumped phone/bag after they have disappeared.

its a false sense of security there to help solve crimes rather then prevent them.

if your that bothered you take your kid to school and pick them up after, I do and my sons 11.

HarrysChild · 15/01/2022 08:40

i would stay away from Music Magpie. I just got a £400 second hand iphone from them at christmas for my 21yr old daughter and it was scratched badly (described as good condition) but worse it was described as unlocked but when it arrived it was locked to EE and couldn’t be unlocked without paying balance off on previous contract. They came across as dodgy to me OP.

Starseeking · 15/01/2022 08:41

@PinkSyCo

And whilst he's perfectly safe going to school, he has to cross 2 roads and I'd prefer to know he's over safe.

This makes absolutely no sense. Either he’s street smart or he’s not. A phone won’t help him cross a road safely, quite the opposite if anything. Also if he’s smashing up his phone in temper because it’s time to switch the PlayStation off I would be taking that off him too!

I agree with this. The update makes the circumstances of this phone breaking sound even worse!

ZenNudist · 15/01/2022 08:48

My 11yo has a rubbish phone for walking to school. I don't let him take his other phone which is an old but decent Samsung s7 of mine. I think it puts them at risk of mugging.

I would not give the £20. You are making a rod for your own back.

I think a better punishment is buy a cheaper phone to take to school out of his Christmas money. Breaking stuff in anger is a habit he needs educating out of now. He's 10 FGS.

VelvetChairGirl · 15/01/2022 08:50

wow PS5 and an iphone man its another world on here.

I only got my 11 year old a oppo smartphone rather then a brick because he wanted a tablet and its got better specs for less, he hasnt even taken it to school yet, it doesnt even have a sim card in it, knowing him he'll want it to stay home because he'll be frightened of breaking it and want to have what he calls a retro phone for school i.e a old style brick.

ZenNudist · 15/01/2022 08:53

If the school requires kids to have a phone I'd be kicking off to the head. Very lazy teaching. There's no way this is true .

HotelCaliforniaOnRepeat · 15/01/2022 08:56

If it is solely for the purpose of tracking get a Tile (or similar) attach to his jacket /bag /wallet and track that.

mafted · 15/01/2022 09:05

I'm in two minds.
Initially I thought if he broke it in a rage then he should definitely replace it.
However it seems you see the phone as an essential for safety and school work in which case I think you should help to replace it as presumably him not having the phone is not an option.

Closebrackets · 15/01/2022 09:08

He can save up to repair it, or get him a Nokia. Chucking the phone down enough to smash it because you asked him to do something reasonable shouldn't be seen as acceptable.

elelel · 15/01/2022 09:42

I always laugh at people who have these tracking apps for 'safety' when their kids are walking to and from school, as if any adult who wanted to do them harm wouldn't know that most phones are traceable. If someone is stealing your kid they are dumping the phone.

There is not a chance, as I said upthread, that behaviour like that would attract anything more than a punishment from me. If you give him money to replace the phone, you are cementing the idea that his behaviour is ok and raising the kind of man that people post about on here every day of the week. Do better. Please.

CoffeeWithCheese · 15/01/2022 09:43

I think you can probably get a screen replacement much cheaper - then toughened glass screen protectors go on BEFORE he gets it back in his hands. My kids do not ever get given technology without screen protectors on - and they've saved so many screen cracks and drops on my own tech over the years.

If it does need replacing - I don't think you're looking at a good deal there. I got old iPhone SEs from eBay for something like £40 for my kids (like you we like having everything on apple and it's all set up to need my approval for apps etc) which run the current version of iOS etc. Bought them from a refurb tech seller rather than risking a private sale and finding them locked to networks or iCloud locked etc and they've been good solid little phones for them.

MN is funny about kids and tech though - mine have them because I try to normalise using tech and not make it a big thing, and to teach them to use it sensibly rather than arriving at secondary with a phone and going a bit barmy with it all. Plus their best mates moved to the other end of the country and they keep in touch with them on it.

Swipe left for the next trending thread