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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

What phones do your teens have (esp older ones)

42 replies

Theas18 · 18/10/2011 09:57

Ok I'm a gadget freak....I have an iphone 4 and coveting the 4S....

At the moment the kids have old ish phones on P+G. DS has a tocco lite (he's 16 in jan) and he's had it a year or more- surprisingly he's kept it immaculate. Youngest (12) has an alcatel one touch that is beaten up (had it 18 months).

In process of moving to giffgaff to take the spend on phones right down (on P+G with O2 at the moment).

Gave the 18yr old my £g iphone last year.

Trying to think what is appropriate and reasonable for them to have. They are lovely kids and would never say "so and so has an iphone I want one etc

So do "nice" teens all really have blackberries/iphones/galaxies or is that what the media want us to think? DS doesn't actually know what phones his mates have!

OP posts:
lesstalkmoreaction · 18/10/2011 10:02

Blackberries as its free to bbm each other and thats all they seem to want to do,£15 per month on contract or my dd 15 arranged her own p and go deal with orange for £15 which is unlimited text, bbm's, 100 minutes and some mb which she seems happy with.

LancsDad · 18/10/2011 13:06

My 13 year old has an iPhone 4 which we got for her 12th birthday. My 10 year old has a £20 payg. We set 10 as age to get phone and 12 to upgrade.

My 5 year old tries to put all phones either in the bin or in your cup of tea.

I have a cheapo samsung thing that makes call and sends texts.

mumsamilitant · 18/10/2011 13:42

DS nearly 14 has a blackberry (currently with police as evidence as had it stolen). He's now using an old thing and I want to keep it that way.

Think the blackberry craze has somewhat died down and if DS had a choice it would be a galaxy whatever you call it?

SecretSquirrels · 18/10/2011 15:12

Mine are not very brand aware. DS2 is 13 and his phone broke six months ago, he hasn't missed it.
If I was buying it would be cheap and functional.
DS1 has a Samsung Monte which he bought himself with birthday/Christmas money. He has a Sim only contract with Tesco for £6.00 a month which gives unlimited texts plus 1 hour talk. Pretty cheap deal I think. He never uses internet on a phone.

niceguy2 · 20/10/2011 23:12

My now 15yr old DD has my old iPhone 3GS. She's had it since probably just before she turned 14.

Basically it's about if they are mature and sensible. If he's managed to keep a Tocco Lite immaculate then at 16 then I'd say it's appropriate. Using Giffgaff on a £10 goodybag per month will mean unlimited texts & data so there's no chance of a big bill.

My motto is reward them when they are good. Tear them a new arsehole when they step out of line. Seems to have worked well so far.

Plus the iphone can be taken away as a punishment and I'm sure my DD would rather take a punch from me than have it removed....i go for removing the phone as it hurts her more! [hwink]

PowderMum · 21/10/2011 21:45

Both DD 14 & 12 have had an iPhone 4 for the past 12 months.

shesparkles · 21/10/2011 21:46

dd14 has a blackberry, as do the majority of her friends

ByTheSea · 21/10/2011 21:49

Blackberries. Tesco give away the phone with a £15/month contract.

GetOrfMo1Land · 21/10/2011 21:52

DD has a blackberry on £15 a month contract as well - it's a great deal and works out a lot cheaper than pay as you go, for what you get. All her mates have either blackberries or iphones.

ivykaty44 · 21/10/2011 21:52

my dd2 aged 13 in one month had a cheap 10 quid phone and sim contract - the phone got lost on bus last week. Dd2 rang on her friends phone and let me know and was very very sorry. I cancelled contract sim and virgin sent another sim and it arrived two days later. Dd2 went and purchased a new phone that looks like a blackberry but was 30 quid and she was over the moon with her purchase Grin has sent about 80 text this week.

dd2 has an ipod but doesn't take it to school and likes the fact that phone and ipod are not in one. Now even more so as if that had got lost there would have been a lot of tears....

LynetteScavo · 21/10/2011 21:59

Interesting. 12 yo DS is both a "gadget freak" and a "lovely kid" who would never say "so and so has an iphone I want one"

But I did press him as to what most people at school have, and it turns out that most of Y8 have Blackberries. (As he does now) This seems to be the case in most high schools around here. Teenagers are aware that there are phones which are better than a Blackberry, but still they remain hugely popular. Perhaps because they are durable. Perhaps because of advertising. (Although personally I can't recall ever having seen and advertising) Perhaps because it's what everybody's dad used to have! Hmm But, TBH, a Blackberry does seem to cover a teenagers basic needs.

He wouldn't take an iphone (or ipod touch) to school as he's seen too many dropped/cracked screens.

herbietea · 21/10/2011 22:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

LynetteScavo · 21/10/2011 22:00

ivykaty44, It does seem to be the done thing to have a separate phone (which will probably get lost/stolen and i phone which they can prance around with at home.

ivykaty44 · 21/10/2011 22:09

my dad pays for dd2's contract sim - they both get unlimited text and 300 minutes talk time and unlimted talk time to same provider - he pays just under 15 quid for both sims. He phoned them in the summer and said he thought he was paying to much and could they do soemthing cheaper - so they knocked the price down on both sims - one is more expensive than the other I think around 6 pounds for his sim and for dd2's is is around 8 pounds.

Worth asking your provider if they will lower the cost

niceguy2 · 21/10/2011 22:58

I think Blackberry's are hugely popular just because of BBM really. If all your mates have one then it's natural to want one too because most teenagers are essentially sheep. Grumpy sullen sheep but sheep nonetheless.

They also tick the affordable box nicely so thats why they are the phone of choice for schoolkids and chavs alike.

As you can tell, I'm not a Blackberry fan! [hwink]

supermama212 · 01/01/2012 08:12

htc wildfire s. its brill ( i want 1....)

GraduallyGoingInsane · 01/01/2012 16:41

DD1 (15) and DD2 (13) have BlackBerry Curves. They then BBM constantly.

DD3 (11) is hankering after a BlackBerry, but currently has my old Sony Ericson phone.

DD4 is still at Primary so she doesn't have one - we used secondary as the point at which you get a phone, due to the bus ride.

jellybeans · 06/01/2012 23:18

Older one is 15 has a blackberry. Tesco do a capped contract (unlimited texts and loads of calls) and a 12 month one along with good insurance for teens. 12 year old has a Tocco lite. She can get a blackberry in a year or two.

startail · 06/01/2012 23:41

DD1 is 14 soon and I offered to upgrade her phone. £15 samsung on Pay as U go.
She said no can I have some money to fund my iBooks habit instead.
Makes more sense for her to take phone and iPod to school, for her very long bus trip and have a cheap phone to take cycling and shopping that she's not worried about loosing.

startail · 06/01/2012 23:42

Also means phone is charged because it isn't used to play music, games or read on.

Ponders · 06/01/2012 23:48

DS2 (18) is very happy with his Blackberry Curve (8520?)

Previously he'd struggled bravely Hmm for years with a second-hand Sony Ericsson k800i - he'd lost so many phones previously I REFUSED to let him have anything else, but finally gave in after he managed to keep it going for about 2 years, & he has actually looked after this one

It's about £25 a month on an O2 contract with pretty much unlimited texts/calls/internet

mrsjay · 07/01/2012 12:15

my 18 yr old has an lg touchscreen she got last christmas she seems to like it shes not very gadgety though and cant afford an iphone and im not paying for it Wink dd2 who is only 13 got a galaxy for chritsmas and she loves it , they are both on PAYG with 02 15 quid a month i think ,

mrsjay · 07/01/2012 12:16

oh and dd1 said blackberries were a bit chavvy Blush dunno why as its just a phone ,

MaryZed · 07/01/2012 14:36

ds1 has a Nokia brick Grin. He says it's not worth upgrading as he loses/breaks/drops down loo so many phones that he needs a cheap phone and a cheap spare.

My other two have non-3G phones as well. I don't like the idea that they have 24 hour internet access. Both have had their phones for almost three years, a Samsung Tocco Lite (I think) and a Sony Ericsson S595.

bruffin · 07/01/2012 20:30

Ds 16 has a Samsung Galaxy Ace £15 a month with 3.500 minutes, 5000 texts and .5k internet and 2000 free to 3 minutes meaning he has no excuse for not calling me if he runs out of minutes. He absolutely loves it.
DD 14 has my old HTC wildfire again with 3 because you can cap the credit limit to zero.

Didn't want them having a Blackberry because they are so unreliable.

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