Mumsnet users discuss getting their child’s first mobile phone with musicMagpie

[EllieMumsnet]

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Buying your child their first mobile phone can feel like a big milestone; it’s one of their first steps to becoming a little more independent. With so many different types of phones out there and with a lot of information to sift through on when and how to go about getting your DC their first phone, whether you hand them down their siblings old one, buy a refurbished phone or even get a new one, musicMagpie would love to know your tips, experiences and thoughts on buying your child their first phone.

Here’s what musicMagpie has to say: “With the latest smartphones costing up to £1,000 or more each year, it’s not feasible for many families to be able to afford the latest Tech. You can still get your kids great quality phones without the hefty bill when you buy certified refurbished mobile phones from musicMagpie. You can literally save hundreds of pounds! For example, you could pay £449 for a brand new iPhone 7 or you could save over £170 for a very good condition iPhone 7 with musicMagpie. It’s not just the price – all of our phones comes with a 12 month warranty and go through a thorough 70 point check to make sure they’re in full working order. Here’s how we refurbish our phones. Keep the kids happy and save money… why wouldn’t you?”

What age did you decide to give your child their first phone? Or was it more about them starting secondary school or walking places by themselves that was the deciding factor? Have you/did you ever consider getting them a second hand/refurbished phone? If you did was it a hand-me-down phone from yourself or did you purchase a refurbished one? How did decide which phone was best and what type of package did you get e.g. pay-as-you-go or contract? Have you put any rules in place surrounding the use of their phone? Do you have any tips on where to shop for their first phone?

Whatever your thoughts, tips and/or experiences are, comment them on the thread below and all MNers that do will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

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I agree with the previous poster. Once they are on phones/ social media it is like you have opened a Pandora’s box.
I have never bought one of my 3 (now all teens) a new mobile phone.
I have two girls and I think social media is especially bad for girls.
I wanted to be able to contact them once they went to secondary and so that’s when they ended up with phones.
One has broken/ lost a lot of phones.

We’re trying to wait until year 6 (year 4 at the moment), I definitely won’t be buying new!

The first phone we bought was just a basic texting phone and I delay having a smart phone for as long as possible. If you are just getting one for them to be able to stay in touch with you then a basic one is all you need. As soon as they have smart phones you've got social media to deal with, the potential for bullying via text or social media, pressure from adverts, consumerism, porn and more. Not something I want to pay through the nose to have my kids exposed to when I just want a simple device so they can contact me if they have an emergency.

Step DD had my hand me down iPhone when she was 8, but it was more of her Dad's idea as he wanted to keep in contact (ordinarily I would think this is far too young, but it was more to keep in touch as we had moved a few hours away for his job). I want to say DD 6 will have one only when she starts secondary school, which is when I feel I would let her walk to the bus stop and make her way to and from school (I'm 30 and my parents got me one when I started year 7 - a good ol' 3310!) There is no way I would buy a new one for her, chances are she'd lose it, break it etc. It would either be a hand me down, or refurbised. I'm more worried about how technology is allowing children to be put at risk as a deciding factor I guess, the most risky thing I could do on my Nokia was take my eyes of the screen during a game of 'snake'...

We've just bought a surplus to requirements after upgrade phone for our soon to be 11 year old, I want her to get the hang of looking after and having responsibility for a phone before she's off to secondary school next September, the school is a bus ride away and I'm already worrying about her catching the bus and being safe on the way to school!! I've opted for buying from a family member as we are all on apple phones and it was a nominal cost as opposed to buying new/refurbished and paying more, I would consider buying from music magpie if the representation of cost in the above post is correct.

Our DC had non smart phones at age 9 when they started to walk to school or friends' houses and play out. They were given on the proviso that they had to look after them, keep them charged up, answer when we called and keep an eye on credit. Showing they could do this was a pre requisite for a smart phone at age 11. They both had new phones, but from the budget range. They've since both had better hand me downs. The phones are pay and they get £5 a month credit. Other than at the height of the pokemon go craze, this has always been plenty as they use WiFi mostly. We would certainly consider refurbished phones in the future; I think phones can get ridiculously expensive and this would be a cost effective way to get a better phone.

We are getting our dd her first phone for her 11th birthday in a couple of weeks. She walks to school with friends but will be starting high school in September so will need to get the bus on her own and I’d feel happier knowing she could get in touch if she needed to.
We are considering getting a second hand/refurbished phone. We are looking at online reviews for good models and to work out what may be best . I think we will probably go for pay-as-you-go initially but haven’t decided yet.
Like her tablet, we wouldn’t want her to install any apps without us looking into them. And would try to limit screen time in evenings before bed.

DD is getting a basic phone ( can’t remember the model off the top of my head) - it was something she said about bringing friends round after school & how it would be better to phone & make sure it was ok first that made us think we could get her one.She will be 10 next week. We’ve set up pay as you go & will make sure all the settings are age appropriate

DC got their phone at 13, brand new and went for a modest priced one (£150)
Didn’t occur to get a refurb one, I guess I didn’t realised they can be garunteed for 12m, just assumed it would be a short timeframe eg 3m and nervous about spending so much on something that’s had 1or more previous owners.
There is set rules eg has to be on silent and charge in kitchen at night, dc generally sensible anyway around internet safety etc

Oh, bought phone outright and just has a sim only contact monlthy in my name but paid from pocket money!

I would probably think about it around the time they start secondary school. Would definitely consider a refurbished phone.

99p toy one from 99p stores

We haven't got to the mobile stage yet fortunately

Our eldest is 11 and will be getting her first phone for Christmas. Their primary school is shit hot on internet safety so she's pretty aware of that (listens more at school than at home) and DH use to work in software design in the telecons industry so he is on the ball as far as parental controls go, we already have tight controls on the wifi and will have the same on her phone.

We'll buy a phone outright and have PAYG and initially will have roaming data switched off. And the usual charging phone at night downstairs etc.

Her friends at school already have a group chat set up which is driving her desire to have a phone and so I've spoken about the possibilities of bullying and teasing and how that makes people feel. She's pretty sensible and considerate but it's something that I think can escalate quite quickly and they are children and so don't always understand the impact on others of what they do and say.

It was much easier when phones were simple devices for contacting people!

I will give them my old one

Ds got a new phone which cost around £120 a year ago. He was 9. He has a £5 monthly contract with Sky. I have been happy with the phone and contract. He only uses it occasionally so probably not worth the money but gets him used to using one for when he will need it in the future.

I bought my DD her first phone just before she started Year 7 in September, so she's 11.
She wanted a fancy phone, but after speaking to my sis in laws, we have bought her a very basic secondhand Nokia Lumia. Purely because their experience with my nieces and nephews are that they tend to leave their first mobiles on buses or in school and wander off without them, meaning they lose them pretty quickly. The fancier the handset the less chance of it being handed in.
Considering a lad in her year had his coat pinched recently with his iPhone x in the pocket never to be seen again, I think they were right!
Due to its age, she can't really do much other than text me or her Dad. I dont want her on Snapchat and the likes, and the school have banned mobiles being on show at any time during the school day anyway.
She has the Vodafone 1 tariff and we tend to top up with £10 twice a month.
We are considering allowing her to have my mobile once I get my upgrade in February which will mean a smart phone with better apps. But we have and will continue to expect her to show us her mobile to check nothing has been sent to her which is nasty and she hasn't been up to no good on it too. When she was 1st at secondary she fell out with a friend who sent her really nasty messages with foul language and she did show me, I want her to feel we trust her and that she can show us anything like this but at the same time we also know we have to watch and take responsibility for her as she grows up.

First phone an Alcatel for texting. Very cheap. Then the wonderful new Nokia 3310. But just now bought a vodaphone n9 lite for £59. Don't like smartphones, think the battery life is just finish for our purposes but DC has been adamant and is now 13. Going for £10 a month bundle but wish I could do less. Will monitor.

I bought ds a second hand iPhone off a FB selling page. Not the most up to date but perfectly adequate for an 11 year old. I paid a tenner to get a plastic screen protector fitted. He’s on a £9.50 contract which includes everything (he has never exceeded any of the limits).

Well, my son is only 1 and a half and already has a mobile and his own phone number, but it's only because he kept playing with his dad's phone, so we decided to give him one of my old ones as he seems to like taking selfies and videos and he can even go on YouTube and the cbeebies app and play videos on them. He's only got a phone number so that we can ring him and can talk to him as he's so excited about it.

I would definitely consider a refurbished phone so long as the software was up to date and SECURE. There is no need for a child to have such an expensive piece of equipment, too much responsibility.

We got my DD a phone for her 11th birthday, and it was a few months before secondary school. We'll do the same for DS soon.
We decided not to spend a huge amount - paid around £150, and glad it wasn't more because it took her less than a week to crack the corner of the screen! It's been almost a year now and we haven't replaced the screen as it's only a corner, and she'll probably do it again anyway.
She useless at talking on the phone - the few times she's called me she's monosyllabic. She mostly uses it for messaging friends, games and taking photos.
I hadn't thought of second hand but I like the idea for the future.

Both of my DCs got mobile phones for their 11th birthdays in the summer before starting secondary school. To me timing was important as younger than that I think there would be more chance of them losing them. We have only ever bought brand new phones but from budget models , Motorola's. These do everything a smart phone needs to for c.£150. I would never spend £350 on an iPhone for them, evens refurb, and they've never been marked out as different at school for not having the latest phone.

My 3 all got refurbished phones the day they started middle school (9,10,10)
They like to walk to school on there own then so I needed to make sure they could contact me & I them, in the 10 minute walk on their own.
They were just basic smartphone's. Nothing too jazzy. With payg sims. They were all more than happy with it