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.

Not everywhere

scottish government is rolling out iPad / Chromebook for every child.

they’ve got as far as age 10 in most parts of the country and age 8 in some parts.

my kids have had government Chromebooks for 5/6 years now and are expecting to get upgraded to iPads very soon.

home work and time tables all issued by smart phones, school dinners and school buses paid for using phones.

Thank you - that's interesting that personal smartphones still play a part

Maybe an unintentional control group if things move in a different direction in other parts of the UK?

Yet, also in Scotland 💔 these parents: Parents taking action

You think the Scottish govt are going to listen?

not a chance

That's pretty horrific

Not in lanarkshire they haven't!

Fife have had them for P6 and above for 5 years. The govt pledge is every child by end 2026.

Google tells me south Lanarkshire is pretty well on with the roll out but north Lanarkshire is lagging

looks like usual SNP fuck up

https://mol.im/a/13673407

Usual SNP fuck up sounds about right.
I know kids in secondary in both North & South Lanarkshire neither have them

But Glasgow seem to issue in S1. I know Glasgows are tightly controlled, they can't down load things like Netflix and only the council ipads can connect to the school WiFi

Agreed. Absurd comparison. They are not the same thing at all.

Yes there is...family link allows you to do all of this.

Again perhaps educate yourself before spouting utter BS

Phones and Tablets can be locked down, Internet restricted, or completely disabled.

Just because you don't know how doesn't mean it's not possible for the average parents.

Yep. Thought it doesn't come as any surprise that someone who is clearly not that 'academically enabled' thinks it's fine to give their 7 year old a mobile.

Honestly, I despair.

The family link relates to your own account, not the individual device, you are only blocking the apps and browser access, you aren’t stopping the individual device from working and it has an easy workaround if your child uses another WiFi network (those tech skills you think they're gaining come in handy at this point) or they can access an app you haven’t blocked, or use hidden chats feature if you allow them to have WhatsApp, then when your children turn 13 they can opt out of your family safety anyway 🤷‍♀️ but I’m sure you’re aware of all of that.
See, I am educated in this. I did that when my dc was in y6 before starting secondary school and the pressure requirement for a smartphone came from every angle. So now I understand it more than most- thanks also to a relative who works in cyber security- and I also know that for all the safety features you as the parent think you have in place, you can’t prevent your child seeing something on another child’s phone (in the same way you can’t be there to stop another child supplying them with illegal substances or alcohol, but if parents are supplying the phones then who can you blame?)

The OPs GC is 7yo, if all her friends have phones too, it’s not going to be too long before she sees something a 7yo shouldn’t see.

It doesn't matter how a device is connected to the Internet Family Link controls the device.

This is bs. I work in education. None of the three local authorities I’ve worked in have issues individual devices.

our school canteen takes cash. I don’t issue homework online. Kids get printed copies. What you describe does NOT happen in every LA.

@ForUmberFinch the pp was talking about Scotland, is that where you’ve worked? School doesn’t offer laptops or devices where we are, but family at private school do get iPads, laptops provided but are not allowed to use personal smartphones in classes.

Would be interesting to hear back from the OP @Alisonjayne8 if their GD is allowed them at school?

I disagree actually. Maybe my situation is niche, but I suspect not. If your ex was constantly pulling a disappearing act with your young child and you didn’t know where they were, along with them not being allowed to be in contact, you might decide a smartphone with a tracker wasn’t end of the world. My DD was 8 when she got her phone and it was under strict screen time and parental controls. It wasn’t ideal but if you’ve never felt th fear of not knowing where your child is when the other parent can use this for coercion, maybe it’s fine for you to think differently but with less judgment.

fwiw I regret a lot of the decisions I’ve made as a parent and I do things differently and still regret them with my youngest but I care deeply for both my kids, have always tried to do the right thing and at end of day I still agree with my initial comment that granny is allowed to have an opinion on her grandchild but this isn’t her call