To think we can start keeping kids safer brick by brick?

[Howmuchbookingfee]

What if every parent whose child is starting Year 7 in September and getting a phone for the first time get them a brick phone which is just for safety and peace of mind for us and them? No Insta, no TikTok, no Snapchat etc until they are older and more mature? They can unwind mentally at the end of the school day and at weekends and holidays. Schools could support by introducing 'No smartphones' for that and subsequent year groups. I think it would be something parents can do while we wait for politicans and profiteers to act?

My kids had to have a fully functioning smart phone in yr 7 to travel 45 minutes across London to school with several possible routes (useful if one is disrupted but also complex).

@parietal apple has that as far as I can tell.

@parietal we just manage it through content restriction on iPhone, it works pretty well. The only downside is when he has to use it at school for searching and DH and I are both in work meetings and can’t approve a new website in time which is apparently totally embarrassing, but it’s only happened once or twice.

Not sure what' brick phone' you even mean? Are they still made?

I can understand why parents would want to do this, especially after horrific tragedies like Brianna Ghey and Molly Russell, but I think it's a blind alley, personally. There's no way we can cram the toothpaste back into the tube. The internet is fully integrated into everyday life now, kids will find a way. Better to focus on teaching healthy habits and awareness of the dangers, encouraging open communication with parents and teachers, arming kids with the skills and confidence to navigate it all as safely as possible. If you want to campaign for something, concentrate on badgering the government and the social media companies to fulfil their obligations and do their part to make the internet safer; the law is far, far behind the level of technological development and as usual, the race to make money has taken precedence over the welfare of the public.

My in laws have basic phones with no smart capabilities. (And matching tin foil hats.)

I assume they mean like this https://www.tescomobile.com/shop/pay-as-you-go/110-4g?queryID=dcdae0cb32fabe20d0e18995002f61a7&objectID=42871&indexName=prod_default_products_price_payg_asc

They haven't been bricks for a long time though, my first Nokia 5110 wasn't that big.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/17/cellphone-smartphone-bans-schools
there was an article in the guardian about this, a school in the US had imposed this as a rule, and found many benefits, especially around behaviour in class, sociability, and attention, things like that. The snag was they provided the students with phones (I think they were provided) that weren't brick phones called Light Phones- phones that could call, text and have a few other funstions but no internet capability. They cost $299 !
Apparently France banned phones in school in 2018.
I think it has to come from schools, parents can't make this happen alone.

I'd bloody love it everyone agreed to this. The longer we can keep younger people away from phones/screens, the better.

Same

I work in a primary school and it’s not uncommon for children in Year 2 to have smartphones. I have seen issues arise countless times over nasty messages, inappropriate content being viewed and some serious safeguarding concerns over internet safety. Often the parents have no idea what their child has being doing on their devices.

Parents really need to wake up to the dangers of technology, the internet and the impact it can have on their children when they are not emotionally mature or responsible enough to use it safely. At the moment a lot of parents are naive about what very young children can get up to online. But unfortunately, lots of these phones are bought to keep the children occupied as it seems the parents can’t be arsed, and then they are left to use them with little or no supervision.

My child got a smartphone in year 7 but apart from playing games does nothing else and has zero interest in social media

Not all teenagers are the same

Well @Kalevala that phone you linked to has internet capabilities so not exactly a brick of old!

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8361832/nokia-1011-mobile-telephone-1992-1994-mobile-telephone

This then?

I don't understand why you need location tracking, surely you know where your kid is? And if they were kidnapped, the kidnapper would turn it off? Genuine question

While the social media element would be good to eliminate many of the functions are useful. My daughter uses the bus tracker app as we are rural and the bus unreliable so it helps her time leaving the house when the weather is bad, for example.

I work in a nursery and if you get a phone or tablet near a child pretty much even the babies have a good idea how they work as they try to swipe etc. I think it’s much too late to stop phones.

When they are riding around with friends?

Mine would meet friends in town or go out on bikes, same as I did.

If only op.

But don't you know where they're going or who they're with? Or they're old enough to be out? I don't understand why seeing their location is important? Obviously I say this, as this is such a new thing and has never been needed in the past

It's a good idea as it's not just about social media and bullying but children are wasting hours on their phones watching nonsense in TikTok. Some kids are spending 6 hrs after school. This is affecting their focus on other things including studying.
Parents aren't being responsible and many are addicted to their phones themselves.

Not everyone he was with, I knew the names of and had met some close friends. In town could be anywhere in town. Cycling they'd cycle up through the lanes, might be sitting in a field.

Parents should parent their children how they see fit and not live in a nanny state. Some people on here have ridiculous rules for smartphone use in my eyes. But I’m sure they think being so strict is correct for their child. And that’s fine. Each to their own. Ensure your child is well rounded and well brought up. A nice child is unlikely to turn into a crazed bully because they have a smartphone on their hands. Well. Mine definitely hasn’t.

Amazing idea and close to my heart but probably hard to implement. Govt and schools need more action on controlling phone use in schools and stricter policies. Parents too!

Yes, it is quite new, my parents didn't know where I was from about 10. They could phone around to see if I was with a friend. It is nice to know though.