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Original poster

Their first Mobile Phone

6 replies

UpInSmoke · 30/08/2011 14:03

DS1 got a mobile phone the christmas before he was due to start secondary school. It was about £30.

Now DS2 is coming up to the same age and I will be getting him one for christmas. The school he's at is full of "well off" kids (unlike the school DS2 was in) and most of the kids have Blackberries (even the 9/10 year olds!). One lad in year 6 has an iphone.

There is no way DS will be getting a designer phone like this - I've seen one for £30 (called a Miami, cheap touch screen), is he likely to get picked on for having a "crap" phone?

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scurryfunge · 30/08/2011 14:08

No, I don't think it will matter. Crap phones are cool at my son's school.

Ingles2 · 30/08/2011 14:08

same here smoke.... Ds1 starts secondary on Monday with a 30 quid nokia touch screen, with a bundle for texts...
There is no way on earth he is getting anything more expensive, unless he pays for it himself and deals with the inevitable loss.
I don't think they'll get picked on, it can't be that all their friends have iphones/blackberries... even if it seems that way.

ragged · 30/08/2011 17:05

Wow, blackberries for 9yos? DD has a 9yo friend with an iPhone (darling only child). That leaves me Shock. I think it's more important you get a good phone call package (make sure they always have credit to ring you Wink).

Start asking around for stories of battered/lost/washed Blackberries among the under 16s. There should be no shortage. That will probably reassure you that a cheap choice is a good one.

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SaggyHairyArse · 30/08/2011 20:30

My STBXH gave my 9 year old an iphone 3 weeks after giving him a PS3 for Christmas.

He also gave our 7 year old an iphone for her birthday, a month prior to that he gave her a notebook.

I am mortified at other peoples perception of me as there is no way I would indulge my children like this but what do you do when the gift has been given???

I wonder what they will get for Christmasses and birthdays this year, where will he go from here?

Lucy88 · 01/09/2011 14:33

My friends daughter who is 11 has just got a Blackberry, however her Mum got it on contract for £7 a month and she has to give her money for texts and calls - she is very sensible.

I have just had to get my 6 year old a mobile and before anyone says WTF - I'll explain.

He goes to his Dads every other weekend and there are times when he has missed me and wanted to say hello or goodnight before he goes to bed, but his Dad is too tight-fisted to put any credit on his phone and therefore my son can't phone me. I bought the cheapest Nokia I could find (£12.99) and put some credit on it. It lives in the drawer in the kitchen until he goes to his Dads and his Dad minds it for him. When he wants to phone me, he can do and we don't have to worry about his Dad not having any credit.

He wil get hisown phone when he goes to High School.

Gone are the days when I was a teenager and we had money for the phone box. lol

ragged · 01/09/2011 16:03

Come back in two years & tell us how your friend's DD got on with her Blackberry, Lucy88. I give it 70% odds she'll have broke or lost it by then.

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