How old were your kids when they got a phone?

[Stephanator]

My daughter got hers for her 12th birthday - last year of primary school.

11th birthday ready for secondary school.

Easter of last year in primary but was my FILs old one and almost a brick. Upgraded her to DHs 3 Yr old Samsung last year.
Installed every parental control we could and agreement that we could request to view it and check it whenever we wanted

11; for secondary school.

13, not allowed on social media, phones checked regularly, DH is quite into tech and did the parental controls thing.

Access to a cheap dumb phone for when out and about where we were separated like swimming galas etc with family numbers from about 8, this phone also doubled as our land line and remained plugged in in one spot for outgoing calls. £3.99 a month was decidedly better than line rental.

Nokia smartphone in year 7, no social media other than WhatsApp, regular parental spot checks.

As she aged up we talked about the pros and cons of different platforms, she dabbled with a few others SC and TikTok but removed them as thought they were stupid and time sucks.

I'd highly recommend Nokia / HMD smart phones, they are great for sustainability and affordable to buy outright and pair with a super cheap SIM. DDs is 4 years old now, the screen is still perfect although Nokia have designed them that you can do simple repairs like screen replacement at home. Also have one and. Much prefer it to my old iPhone.

Summer term just before secondary school. It’s a bit of a walk to the bus and a 15+ minute bus ride to nearby town, so I needed to be able to keep track of her. Also all their bloody homework is on there. 🙈

11 here too