AIBU to consider a restricted smartphone for my 10-year-old?

[Noddyslittleredcar]

DS is 10, in year 6.

He's starting to gain a bit more independence - walking home from school, going to the shop alone, being left alone for short periods whilst we go out.

He doesn't currently have a phone and we don't have a landline, so there's no way for him to contact us should there be an issue, or if we have an issue.

Contemplating getting him a phone, but I worry he's too young?

FWIW DH and I have smart phones but use the "brick" device 90% of the time. For people who don't know (and I swear this isn't an advert for brick) brick allows you to select apps, specific websites (or web access completely) etc to block, or alternatively you can allow specific apps and websites and it blocks everything else. It also prevents downloads of new apps.

I'm suggesting we get DS a smart phone and then "brick" everything except maps, calls, SMS texts, whatthreewords and wallet.

I'm considering this option rather than an older Nokia type brick phone because of maps/location and wallet functionality. It would be a very cheap smartphone.

I'm really torn as we are a very low tech house - no tablets, a single family laptop etc and we hadn't intended to get DS a phone until year 9. But unlike when DH and I were younger, there's no public phone boxes and less access/ willingness to help people.

What do people think generally? I'm open to options/ discussions.

YABU - no 10 year old needs a phone for any reason
YANBU - this seems like a sensible compromise

We gave DD a very locked-down smartphone when she was 11; we use family link (android), and she hasn't tried to bypass it. I'm interested as to how you'll have payment on the phone; DD has a child's bank account, but the card can't be linked to a phone (so she carries a debit card separately). There's absolutely no way she'd having my card details!

It's worked well for us by and large; however DD hasn't tried to get round the controls, and both DH and I work in tech, so we're pretty on top of it. The one thing we got wrong is we allowed whatsapp - she doesn't sent inappropriate messages, but you can view a lot of videos via whatsapp, many of which are brainrot, even if they are age-restricted.

The phone is still restricted - no youtube, no browser (they are on there, but the permitted app time is set to zero). DD also has use of a laptop at home, which has, perhaps, meant she's been less desperate to push the limits.

Our children have Monzo kids accounts and you can add those to a digital wallet. We've also used pre-paid debit cards but not everywhere accepts them.

Please if he needs a phone, buy an old school button phone. Getting smartphones for my kids was a big mistake

If you don't mind sharing, why was it a mistake?

We didn’t give our eldest a smartphone till Christmas of year ten, gave her a brick Christmas of year eight

if she ever needed help she used her friends phones or asked people in real life, strangers are kinder than people think.
I would argue not having one has enabled my older two to be better timekeepers and problem solvers as they have to read bus timetables and stick to our plans rather than just calling us all the time
i trust my kids but I do not trust the wider public on the internet.
we also have a strict no phones upstairs policy in our house, and no phones after 8pm.
im sure my daughters have felt left out as a result but I don’t care. My job as their parent is to keep them safe.

i recommend the smartphonefreechildhood campaign website for more information

my husband and I are teachers and see first hand the damage smartphones are doing to this generation every day.

It's always a fight to get them to put the phone down

It's always a fight to get them to put the phone down

Very well explained. This is exactly it.