9 Year old asking for iphone?

[MegBarker]

My 9 year old daughter came home from school the other day and told me that some of her friends have got an Iphone and asked if she could have one. I was so shocked, she seems far too young in my opinion and definitely not ready to have unlimited access to the internet, especially social media! My husband and I were thinking about getting her a phone so that she can call home if she needs to but she manages to lose everything so I'm worried that she will just lose it or it will get stolen. Does anyone have any words of wisdom? I really don't want her to have an Iphone yet.

There are lots of phones out there other than iphones.
I will be getting my youngest a simple no internet, £10 a month pay as you go for when she starts secondary school and that is only as a needs must, for safety. It will do for a couple of years and if she dont like it then tough! Xx

My daughter is still in preschool and her two best friends got iPads for xmas. No doubt they'll be getting iPhones by the time they're 6!

Just say no. I will be. End of. The longer I can keep them both off social media the better in my opinion.

I will also add..a good friend of mine had a panic because her son's phone battery had died etc, she couldn't get hold of him. He was 14. Incapable of using his brain to ask for help. Didn't know his home phone number. Didn't know his mum's mobile number. Had basically missed his stop on the bus and had tried to call her to ask what to do.

I do worry that by giving kids phones, we are simply copping out of actually teaching them what to do in a real situation!

iPhones are overpriced hype, regardless of the ridiculousness of her request. DH has one for work and only uses it when he has to - his own £250 android gets loads more use.

If my 13yo wanted an iPhone, I'd tell him he could have it when he could pay for it himself. As it is, he's thrilled with his £120 Sony E5. He's also already knackered the charging port once and he only got it in October. When it's working, it plays pokemon and lets him surf the web and email family members just fine.

And yes, my 10yo has an iPod touch. He can only use that on WiFi, but he only uses it to watch the same 3 videos and google for pictures of things he likes (ASD and LDs - he followed me round for 10 minutes pleased as punch that he'd found the webpage for a local shopping centre, this evening!) I could tether it to my phone if I needed to, though, as I have a 3 advanced plan.

You've been had, GardenGeek

DS2 has the version of these for his iPod. They bounce well.
www.amazon.co.uk/iPhone-ULAK-Shockproof-Resistant-Protective/dp/B01CS5EGBS/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1490136673&sr=8-13&keywords=iphone+5s+case&tag=mumsnetforum-21

Funny- my DH just said tonight that he'd give his old iPhone 6 to our 9yr old DS (yr 4) for his birthday. DS has asked before and I've always said yr7.
I wouldn't want him to have unsupervised access to the internet.
It's a waste of contract money
He doesn't need one.
He would get it snatched and possibly get hurt if he got it out in the street.
I would be so embarrassed in front of other parents if my 9yr old had a 'Phone.
no no no no no

My old iPhone 3GS still makes calls / texts / iMessages / uses the internet, and has excellent battery life. Lots of apps no longer work as it doesn't use the latest IoS but it's fine as a starter phone. Giffgaff is great for kids (and adults as well), and an Otterbox or Griffin case won't break the bank.

My 7 year old would like one too. "No" is the simple answer there.

Count Magnus

Is it possible to set up parental controls on web access on a phone? That would be my biggest concern.

iOS does have good parental controls for web content, video content, TV, books etc.

Cheap smartphone towards end of year 6 - iPhone around year8 when they use their birthday/Christmas money to contribute- surprising how many change their mind when they have to cough up and can "suddenly managed"!

PLACEMARKING (oops, and shouting, sorry...)

I'm holding out until secondary school.

Jmvh1978 you can buy them online at John Lewis, on Amazon or obviously on their website. I really would recommend it, we went to London Zoo last weekend and it's great to have that extra peace of mind (and was especially useful when my daughter called me from the queue in the cafe with her dad to find out what coffee I wanted... 😊)
When she has moves on to a phone, my son (who is 5) will have it.