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Original poster

When would you allow a mobile phone?

22 replies

weesaidie · 20/10/2005 22:21

Just wondering.

I always thought I may allow my dd a mobile phone when she was a teenager (14-16ish) and would be out and about with friends.

However in a cafe/bar today I saw a boy of 9/10 with one.

What do you all think? When and why would you allow it?

OP posts:

startingtobehalloweenylover · 20/10/2005 22:25

no way i would allow a child of 10 to have one! who are they going to call???????

rummum · 20/10/2005 22:31

my children aged 9 and 7 have mobile phones... in the summer I was forever going to find them and check on them when they were out playing...
I brought them each a nokia 3310 from ebay, they won't be mugged for that (about £10/12) and brought a tesco's sim card each....
Now when they are out I give them 2 rings and they come home... in any emergency they can ring me.... They do not...
Text/ring their friends day or night willy nilly
they do jobs to earn their credit...
the phones are hung up when not in use....

This works for us, it gives me peace of mind.

WigWamBam · 20/10/2005 22:31

I'm in two minds - part of me is horrified at the thought of a ten year old with a mobile, yet another part of me thinks that it would be a sensible way for the child to always be able to contact their parents; a bit like the updated version of my mother always making sure I had 10p on me to use a call-box if I had to.

I think 10 would be the youngest I would be prepared to allow it though - and then only for calling home.

Milliways · 20/10/2005 22:32

DD got hers (DH's old one) when she started secondary school. She quite often walks & it's a long way. It's also brill when she is on a school sports team playing an away match. Calls me when 5mins from school so I don't sit in school car park for hours whilst coach is in a jam somewhere.

DS is in year 6, and will get one foe his birthday next August before he goes to secondary school as well.

hunkerpumpkin · 20/10/2005 22:33

DS has one and he's 18mo.

compo · 20/10/2005 22:34

I think gradually there will be less phone boxes so it will be important for children to have to have mobiles at a younger age unfortunately

expatinscotland · 20/10/2005 22:34

My 11-year-old niece got one when she was 10.

LucyJones · 20/10/2005 22:34

ah hp is it a play one like the one my ds has?!!!!

ScarySkribble · 20/10/2005 22:36

A collegue got one for his DS when he was 6yrs , so he could phone mum or dad when he was at grannies.

I would say once thay are out and about on their own, visiting friends a bit further away and using public transport on their own, for safety I would like to think they could phone home, I wouldn't top it up so they can call friends that would be up to them, you can still call 999 even with out credit .

Once DS starts high school he will be traveling on either the school bus or public bus into town depending on school and I would worry that he couldn't contact us if he missed the bus or something.

hunkerpumpkin · 20/10/2005 22:37

No, it's a real one. But it's DH's old one He has a pretend one too, but isn't as interested in it!

startingtobehalloweenylover · 20/10/2005 22:38

rummum you'd be surprised what people will mug you for! especially if you're only 7 and can't fight back

Dodsey · 20/10/2005 22:50

Think they're really handy for safety reasons but you must monitor the txts. BF's DD was being sent sexual txts from a classmates big brother without realising there had been a phone switch. I know of several cases of txt bullying going on in local schools too.

logic · 20/10/2005 22:56

I don't think I would let my two have a phone until they started secondary school. It's important then when they are travelling without you. You really must monitor them though. My sister was bullied via hers. This other girl used to leave her nasty voicemails. She had to change both phone and number in the end.

Passionkiller · 20/10/2005 22:58

Secondary school I think

Original poster

weesaidie · 20/10/2005 23:00

I know what you mean hunker. Although I find my dd is still only interested in ones that actually work! Not that they work for too long in her hands!

OP posts:

swedishmum · 20/10/2005 23:25

Mine all have them (except the baby but the two at primary school only take them when we are going out for the day or something and they might get lost or need to phone us. They don't take them to friends' houses or school. It gives the middle 2 a bit more independence - they are 9 and 8. Maybe in the countryside we are a bit more concerned about security and a bit less on fashion statements.

JanH · 20/10/2005 23:58

Finishing primary school/starting secondary seems like a good point to begin these days - there are virtually no phone boxes any more

tigermoth · 21/10/2005 00:21

my son got one for his 11th birthday. Most of his class had phones or got them in year 6. Agree with janh and others that mobile phones become commonplace once children start secondary school. Many blazers even have a special mobile phone pocket sewn into the lining.

As for putting an endless amount of credit on it so ds1 can always make an emergency call to us.... now that's a dilemma. We give him £10.00 a month and this has usually lasted him just about. But this month he ran out of credit after a week. Too many phone calls to friends. Do we put more credit on it so he can contact us, of make him wait, hoping he will learn his lesson?

JanH · 21/10/2005 00:38

tigermoth, get him one of those free O2 SIM cards; for each monthly £10 top-up you get either 300 texts or 100 anytime-minutes/texts (plus the £10 of credit - at least I think so!)

tigermoth · 21/10/2005 00:42

I'll tell ds about this ( bet he knows already) and see what he thinks. I am terrible at reading text messages though. Note to self - must learn to do this better.

mummytosteven · 21/10/2005 01:17

when they are old enough to get a paperround/babysitting job to pay for it themselves. I think they are an absolute drain for money.

compo does have a very good point re:lack of payphones - we reap what we sow sometimes, don't we.......

ScarySkribble · 22/10/2005 00:00

The O2 deal is quite good as they all seem to text mostly, don't worry if they run out of credit they can still phone 999 so if it is a real emergency they won't be stuck. Even if you can't get a signal for your network as long as it can get another network signal you can stil phone 999. Doesn't really help if they are out of credit and they just need to phone to say they are going to be late I don't think the police would appreciate passing tht message on.

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