Son's father has bought five year old a mobile!

[Hullabalooo]

Just found out that my ex has bought our 5 year old son a mobile. That's so wrong!

He's expecting me to let him use it at mine. Obviously I'm not going to agree to this batshit behaviour but I'm not sure how to respond to say no calmly and rationally.

Any suggestions?

That is pretty crazy! I wish my son had a phone, as it would make things so much easier. He messages me kisses and hearts from his mums phone which gets a little awkward!!

But he is just 7 and not old enough for that responsibility yet, let alone a 5yro

Just let your son be responsible for it. It’ll be lost or run out of charge in no time. Oh and don’t let it connect to your WiFi.

In the meantime if for any reason he’s able to use the internet on it, turn it off / hide the app icon / put parental controls al over it.

Any chance he’s bought it so he can chat/facetime his son without having to tie up your phone?

I’d disable everything apart from maybe a couple of educational games, phone and facetime.

Have it in communal areas so you know when it rings. Then let your son talk to his dad.

Let your 5 year old lose it. It will take about 15 minutes max.

that's fine. It's HIS phone, and he has full responsibility for attaching it to the internet, charging it, and not losing it. He won't need reminding of course, because he's completely old enough to be responsible for a mobile phone.

(It will be gone by the end of the day)

DS has a friend the same age who's very proud of his "phone"
It's an old handset with no credit and no way to get on the internet. He uses it to take selfies.
Could you do something similar OP? Disable the internet and just let him use the camera and some kid friendly apps?

I don't think this one is worth a big argument OP. Just figure out your own rules for when your son is at your house (eg 20 mins a day on games) and apply them yourself. No need for a massive discussion about it.

I'm just fundamentally opposed to the concept of a five year old having a mobile phone. It's wrong on so many levels.

You don't need to let him keep it though you can be in charge of it and if his dad phones you can answer it, btw I agree with you it is nuts but maybe his dad thought it was a good idea so he could talk to him.