To help DS out replacing his broken iphone?

[MrsArchchancellorRidcully]

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?

I'm sorry, he's in what year 5 or 6 equivalent tops? I'm not sure if you're in the UK but kids this age aren't allowed to get their phones out in class and it certainly wouldn't be expected of them. If the school can't provide the teaching resources required in class then there is a serious issue that needs raising with the governors and local authority or equivalent.

If they need to research at home then they can do that on the family laptop, with an adult in the room.

My then yr 6 child had a tablet device and ended up receiving pornography on it. They were sneaking it into her room at night and bypassing parental controls. I reported it to the police but because the perpetrators were overseas they couldn't do much more. With my younger children they now only get short, supervised time on a family device.

It sounds like your main concerns are safety crossing the road and whilst playing in the park. A phone won't help them cross the road more carefully, if anything it can be a distraction. He can tell you where he is without needing mode than a basic handset. The more desirable the phone the more likely it is to get stolen, especially from a group of young children playing. I know £120 is a cheap 2nd hand iPhone but teaching him you can only be safe with a branded phone is not a good lesson, look at what he needs to learn to be safe and focus on that. Like others say the phone might only indicate AFTER an incident has happened so isn't really a prevention tool.

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.

That's not how most people use the trackers though. Most people have them as an extra safety feature, not the primary one.

My DD has a phone that she uses for emergencies going to and from school (eg the bus didn't turn up, problem on the walk home, got home and she's forgotten her key etc) and I have installed a tracking app on it but its not so I can track her to and from school on a daily basis.

The tracking app is so that if she lost/had the phone stolen I could see where it was last online to try and find it and/or if I was trying to find her and she wasn't answering then I could see where she was. I don't use the tracking app as a first resort, or just to randomly check that when she says she is going to the park she is at the park, it is there as a back up just in case. I'd rather have it installed and not use it than need it to find a lost phone and not have it installed.

@melj1213

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.

That's not how most people use the trackers though. Most people have them as an extra safety feature, not the primary one.

My DD has a phone that she uses for emergencies going to and from school (eg the bus didn't turn up, problem on the walk home, got home and she's forgotten her key etc) and I have installed a tracking app on it but its not so I can track her to and from school on a daily basis.

The tracking app is so that if she lost/had the phone stolen I could see where it was last online to try and find it and/or if I was trying to find her and she wasn't answering then I could see where she was. I don't use the tracking app as a first resort, or just to randomly check that when she says she is going to the park she is at the park, it is there as a back up just in case. I'd rather have it installed and not use it than need it to find a lost phone and not have it installed.

Right. So the idea that OPDD needs it is defunct? I agree. That was actually my whole point.

Backmarket has a pink 6S for £75, guaranteed for 12 months. He can use the balance of his money to buy a case to disguise his pink phone and reduce the risk of him smashing it:

www.backmarket.co.uk/second-hand-iphone-6s-32-gb-rose-gold-unlocked/14666.html#l=12

He'll still have change for a couple of ice creams, you won't be out of pocket and will have taught your son a useful lesson!

Is it not cheaper to repair his one. X

If he needs a phone for safety reasons when walking to and from school, a Nokia that has a battery that lasts more than a week is around £12.
He does not need an iPhone and he has shown you that he is not mature enough to have one after his outburst tonight.
I’d use his Christmas money for the Nokia and tell him he can have an iPhone when he can buy it himself.

I think we all fuck up sometimes and kids are no different.

I dont think everything has to be a life lesson for young people.
I would help out. Dh would have already sorted it out!!
However I know that I'm in a minority!