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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think a 7yr old should NOT have a mobile phone or Laptop

58 replies

ray81 · 30/06/2009 21:10

DD is 7 and wants a mobile and a Laptop, i have of course said NO. I dont want her to have a mobile until she goes to secondary school and a Laptop, well i just dont think its neseccary when we have a family one.
However many of the children in her class seem to have mobiles and some have laptops, her best friend is one of them. She is going to junior school in september and i know that the older children will have mobiles to.

I simply do not agree she needs or should have one at this age but feel quilty for her probably being the odd one out.
Does anyone think i am being unreasonable.

Ps i am sorry if this has been done before.

OP posts:

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 30/06/2009 21:14

YANBU at all. Of course she wants a phone and a laptop, but she most certainly does not need them.

hocuspontas · 30/06/2009 21:20

I can see the point of a mobile if the child stays with another parent sometimes. But am struggling to think of another reason!

My dd had her own laptop at 9. She was 'Sims' mad and used to make the family computer run too slow because of it! She watched dvds on it mainly. This was in the days before MSN and had no internet connection.

GrimmaTheNome · 30/06/2009 21:22

YANBU.

What does she want either for at that age?

The kids don't have mobiles at junior school, surely?

FAQinglovely · 30/06/2009 21:22

I did briefly consider a mobile for DS1 recently (he's 8) as he started walking the fll distance to school (just under a mile) on his own. But then I told myself to stop being so neurotic .

Plus we've just moved again and it's only 3 minutes up the hill again

Feelingoptimistic · 30/06/2009 21:23

Well, I am a very traditional mother (e.g. would NEVER allow a child to have a TV in their bedroom - over my dead body) and I think 7 is much too young for a mobile, BUT I am thinking of getting DD her own laptop when she is 5 or so...

GrimmaTheNome · 30/06/2009 21:23

I certainly wouldn't let so young a child have their own internet connection

PeedOffWithNits · 30/06/2009 21:23

DD will be off to secondary in 2 years and we will let her have a phone then so we can keep in touch/she can call in an emergency

primary school is too young

FAQinglovely · 30/06/2009 21:24

If I had the money then I would certaily consider getting DS1 his own PC (not laptop - that's for mummy ) - probably for his bedroom (well we do have 2 PC's downstairs already) - but with no internet connection.

Feelingoptimistic · 30/06/2009 21:25

ps I would be very much in control of what she used it for, and never alone in her room.

RumourOfAHurricane · 30/06/2009 21:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

GrimmaTheNome · 30/06/2009 21:26

heck, I don't even have a laptop!

MrsFlittersnoop · 30/06/2009 21:27

Yanbu.

We live an a seriously uber-geek household, with at least 6 computers but 13 year old DS does not have access to a laptop in his own bedroom, and only got a seriously crap mobile last year when he went to secondary school. He can just text and phone on it!

FAQinglovely · 30/06/2009 21:28

well feeling - if it has no internet connection then there would be nothing to worry about anyhow as she could only access stuff that you'd actually put on it ]]I think DS1 would love to "escape" to his room occasionally out of his brothers annoying interference/

ElenorRigby · 30/06/2009 21:29

YANBU. DSD is 6 1/2 and she will not be given mobile phones or a laptop for the forseable future. Nor will she have a TV in her bedroom or a games console.

squilly · 30/06/2009 21:33

Laptop and mobile at 7????

Er no! Never gonna happen in this house. DD is 8 and she knows she MIGHT get a mobile wen she goes to secondary school, but it'll be cheap n cheery at best. As for a laptop, it'll be a lot longer before she gets that!

Oh the madness of modern life.

Original poster

ray81 · 30/06/2009 21:35

Grimma, I have a sister who is 8 so 20 months older than DD and she is in the scholl DD is going to and although they dont take them to school they all have their own mobiles and ring eachother in the evenings. I realy dont see thst she should have one but feel very quilty as i KNOW she will be one of the few that wont have one.

Hocus DD does goe to her Dads at the weekends and i have often thought about getting her one for when she goes there however we are still friends and get on well so i have no prblems speaking with him so dont realy see a need there.

I have a laptop and she uses that sometimes and loves it but again i worry about the internet etc so at least if she is on mine i am in the room and can see what she is doing. Her dad has said he will get her one but i have said no until now but am wondering if i should let him get one for her.

It is so difficult to know what to do for the best, if she doesnt have one will she get bullied for this at school.?

OP posts:

4andnotout · 30/06/2009 21:36

My dd1 is 7 and has her own laptop, we monitor what site she goes on and for how long and it stays downstairs where we can observe.

She doesn't have nor will have a mobile though.

BCNS · 30/06/2009 21:40

Ds's both had mobiles by that age, but it's because they would spend every other weekend at dads.. and 3 whole weeks during summer there.. and ex has been funny about letting the boys call home if they want or need to.. or will have his phones turned off.. so I wanted to make sure that they could get hold of me if they needed me.

Aimsmum · 30/06/2009 21:41

Message withdrawn

Noonki · 30/06/2009 21:55

yanbu - at that age they are meant to have 45 mins a day screen time why the hell would they need a laptop of their own.

Also the jury is still out on the effects of mobiles and health affects (long term studies not finished for obvious reasons) why risk it.#

Also more likely to be mugged if they have obe

HolyGuacamole · 30/06/2009 22:02

My friend bought her 8 year old daughter a cheapo mobile on the agreement that her DD would use her own pocket money to put credit in it.

After a couple of weeks of blowing her pocket money on daft texts to her little pals, the mobile is now consigned to the scrapheap and she's back to spending her allowance on small toys, kids comics etc.

IneedAbetterNickname · 30/06/2009 22:08

My cousins 8 yr old dd has a mobile (on contract and its newer and better than mine) and he own laptop with internet connection. She also has her own tv, video and dvd players and freeview box in her room!!

I think she is too young for all of that.

katz · 30/06/2009 22:11

my dd who's 6 has a laptop, its an old one which isn't capable of going on line. Her and her friends love playing games on it and using word/power point to make up stories, and she has her own printer to be able to print them out.

Fruitysunshine · 30/06/2009 22:14

A laptop and a mobile are not a necessity but my DD8 has a mobile that she rarely uses. She wanted to be like mummy so my mum gave her an old one about a year ago and put £10 on it. It still has about £8 left. It was clearly a novelty thing. She uses our laptops and PC and we monitor what she does which is generally car parking games and printing off pictures to colour.

You can read every book, follow every rule about what you should and should not do in brining up your children but they are YOUR children and you should do what YOU think is right for them not what a book says or peer pressure from school.

Everyone will have an argument to back up their viewpoint - but as long as you are doing it in the genuine best interests of your children, who cares?

GrimmaTheNome · 30/06/2009 22:27

Bullied for not having a mobile aged 7? I hope not. Because then you're potentially in a catch 22.

Tonight we had 'curriculum evening' at school for DD, going into year 6 next year. At the end, the head gave us a bit of a warning about being alert to what our kids might be doing on the internet or mobile phones (some, a minority I think, have them by yr 5/6). He didn't go into details but reading between the lines there must have been some sort of bullying via phones and/or social networking sites.

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