Phones/tablets

[Thismummyneedshelpplease]

So my 8 year old has decided that she wants/needs a phone because all her friends have one she is so determined that she needs one she now has convinced herself (and almost me!) that her tablet is useless.

I don't normally give in to peer pressure and don't believe i will in this case either but I hate seeing how she feels about this shes normally so happy with life and grateful for everything.

I won't give in and get a phone (just yet!) I do think shes too young for a phone and she is never away anywhere without me that she would need one anyway. However I do see her point in that her tablet is the amazon kindle fire which has no apps that can do funny face filters etc that you can do on phones videos calling to friends etc thats what she wants.

Any advice on what type of tablet may be best for that and still have the peace of mind I want to have as a parent knowing the tablet is safe for her and she cant just run wild accessing anything.

Also i know the minute phones come on the scene the toys are ditched, and she still enjoys her toys so I'm going to try and help this be the case for as long as possible but give her some leeway with more possibilities on the tablet. Heres hoping someone can help!

Thank you for any help you can
Give.

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MNHQ

Has she said what apps she wants? You can get her an iPad or something then install a parental monitoring app where you can see everything she does from your phone and put parental controls on. Guess she's in year 3 or 4? Im only 25 and I don't remember having any interest in phones or social media at that age, crazy how it's changed. Im a TA and a lot of the kids in my school have 'phones' but they're essentially functioning as mini tablets as they have no access to phone calls etc so you could technically get her a phone. I guess you need to consider if she'll lose out socially by not having one and weigh that up against the risks of her being online all the time instead of keeping herself busy. Hope you get it sorted xx

Thank you. She sees her friends making pictures on snap chat and just wants to be able to do things like that. I let her use my phone to do it when shes with them and im there but it's not the same apparently. I do see that but i just don't want her in social media shes too young to understand the dangers and that of adding people she doesn't know and seeing stuff she shouldn't.

She was happy to play on my phone and show her friends her photos but also wants to do it at home with her little sister so thinking maybe a tablet with more functions may suffice in the meantime until we
Shes ready for the phone because i know when the phone comes out the toys are over

Hm I'd say a heavily monitored iPad then would be the best bet. Look at this app apps.apple.com/gb/app/parental-control-app-famisafe/id1385417904