First phone - ideally not smartphone but we can't get texts

[FraterculaArctica]

DS is going into Yr 6 and it will be the expected "thing" to get him a phone for his 11th birthday in preparation for secondary school. He's a mid year birthday so we have some time to think about this.

DS is very easily addicted to tech and we would prefer to hold off on a smartphone for a couple more years. However, we have almost no mobile signal in our house (rural) so DH and I are unlikely to pick up or be able to send SMS from or to him, which kind of defeats the point. Broadband is fine.

Is there any solution we've missed, where he'd be able to message us and his friends but without full internet access on his phone? Thanks!

Bump

Just get a smart phone and switch on all the parental controls. I know with iPhone you can limit web access, you can prob do the same with most androids.

funnily enough there’s an arrival in the fail about this very subject today.

With parental controls you can lock almost everything down on a smartphone - we use Google family link and the options are there to only allow specific apps and completely lock out the Internet while still allowing WhatsApp for family use and location tracker.

Over the next years it's better to teach him responsible use allowing bit by bit so he is aware by the time he starts secondary school and will reasonably need to use it for buses and homework and social links with friends and such.

You can't stop the tide rolling in but you can control how it does so he can be ready to handle anything as he grows up. Knowledge is power.

I'd use an older iPhone model and turn parental controls to the strictest settings so there's no internet accessible. However you would still be able to call and text over wifi. This works in my house as our signal can be patchy in the village but I can make and receive calls/texts too.
If you don't want to get an iPhone, buy the cheapest crappiest android phone you can, he'll not want to use it for games and the internet as it's slow, yet you'll still be able to call and text if it supports wifi calling. (Most phones do these days)

Something like this: www.argos.co.uk/product/2654887?clickSR=slp:term:mobile%20ohone:3:1013:1

Some mobile providers will route calls and texts via your wifi so it doesn't matter if you have a phone signal (provided you have wifi)

It might be helpful for you all to switch to a provider that does this

Just use an old iPhone and use parental controls to remove safari, YouTube etc etc everything off it except WhatsApp. You can even remove App Store.

Thanks everyone - lots of ideas for us to explore. DH and I have Android phones so I suspect we will go down that route eventually (maybe with one of our old phones). I thought that text routing via WiFi should be a thing - we will explore this with our provider.

I'd say a smart phone once he hits high school he will need it for his homework/planner/research in class

Not all companies allow this - but if your provider does you may need to activate it on your phone first.

But there are increasing movements (among parents and based on articles in the media) NOT to allow kids smartphones before 13 or 14. This is going to push back against the "need a smartphone for secondary" model.

I got my DD an old nokia phone when she started year 7.She can only call or text me.It suits both of us just fine.