Daughter has bought her 7 year old a phone

[Alisonjayne8]

It's a phone that's capable of social media with all the bells and whistles.

I am fuming about it but what can I do. I watched a documentary about Snapchat and tik tok and what gets shown to new users, it scares the life out of me.

YANBU OP. My oldest DD is 7, and some children in her class have smartphones. It’s totally needless, and actually a danger IMO. Has your daughter given a reason for buying her DD a phone?

Awful parenting, but I don’t think you can do anything about it.

Do you actually know what apps she will have access to? A few games and maybe messaging a small number of friends may be all she is allowed to do?

You have no idea what limits she'll put in place. I think you're being very judgemental. This isn't your dc so you don't get to decide how they are parented.

Not up to you, it’s up to your daughter what her child has access to.

bad parenting.

Your daughter is a fool.

And who has access to the child.

Because the default is: everyone.

YANBU. It's moronic to give a child that young a smartphone.

I said YABU because it’s not your child. You’re allowed to have an opinion or pov but your daughter is the child’s mother and it’s up to her to decide on the risks and benefits. Do you really know she hasn’t researched and locked down the phone? Do you know her reasons for getting the phone. I wouldn’t think it was ideal to do this but you’re being very judgy for no reason unless a drip feed is incoming

I don’t think many 7 year olds know what to do with social media. She’s not made a great choice. Your only job though is to keep an eye out.

Mine have had smartphones since they were 8, not had any bad experiences

@Dramatic
Why?

Horrendous !!! So so toxic. I would be sharing all the research. Lazy parenting / what is the justification for why she needs it ?

Just because she has a phone it doesn't mean she will have tiktok and Snapchat.

My dd had a phone at about the same age, heavily restricted screen time, safety features set up, no unrestricted Internet access. The whole reason was because my son moved out and she wanted to be able to message him about her day, and she plays a game she likes on there for her (supervised) screen time instead of on a tablet or laptop.

It's been absolutely fine.

OP I would be upset about this too.

Crikey, i have a 7 y/o and wouldn’t dream of giving them a phone, neither would they expect to have one

Why not?

Lazy and uninterested parenting.

Are you aware of the issues caused to very young children having smartphones?

Our DC had a phone at that age but it was WiFi only at home with a few apps, no SM.

Anyone who has researched whether giving a 7yo a smart phone would not have bought a 7 year old a smartphone...

Theres literally NO REASON for a 7 year old to have a smartphone.

Literally none.

It’s the height of scummy ignorant parenting as far as I’m concerned. 7 years old ffs.

I thought they couldnt sign up for social media under 14 if theyre on the phone plan if a parent?

I totally agree with you OP btw... but I think its your daugjters choice sadly

No not really, they just used them like a tablet really, with the added bonus of being able to message their friends and family members.