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Teenagers

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

Original poster

Smart phone for 13 yr old?

13 replies

havenlady · 06/04/2014 11:52

DD 13 soon. Says she is only one of her friendship group without a smart phone, and can she have one for her birthday. Straw poll - do lots of 13 yr olds have smart phones and if so do they have contracts? Many thanks

OP posts:
OwlMother · 06/04/2014 11:57

Ds is 13,14 next month. He has an iphone, my old one, and is on a capped contract with tesco mobile. All of his friends do seem to have a smartphone of some sort. He never makes phone calls, it's all messaging and social media.

EdithWeston · 06/04/2014 11:58

Yes, DS2 (13) says that nearly everyone has a smartphone.

He was nagging me for one (as I said I'd consider an upgrade from basic brick after he'd shown me he could upkeep it safe for a whole year), but then 'traded' the upgrade for some coveted gaming kit instead, so I can't help with your second question about contracts etc.

exexpat · 06/04/2014 12:01

Both mine have smartphones. DS (15) has had one since he was 12/13; DD (11) had an old smartphone of mine as her first phone at age 10, and now has a newer Samsung Galaxy.

However, DD's phone is not set up for 3G/mobile internet - she can text and call away from home, and obviously play games etc she has already downloaded, but she can only access the internet via the home wifi.

Most of DD's friends also have Samsungs/parents' old iPhones etc.

Nocomet · 06/04/2014 12:02

DD2 doesn't, in theory her nockia can get in the net, but it's unbelievably slow.

She has an iPod and snap chats, Kik and instergrams on that.

DD1 has a Ace on contract, but again much prefers her iPod.

exexpat · 06/04/2014 12:02

Oh - and re contracts - DS had a contract for two or three years but has now switched to giffgaff as it works out cheaper; DD is on Tesco PAYG.

TeenAndTween · 06/04/2014 12:08

DD 14 has had a smartphone since y8. She had looked after her first phone well during y7 so had new (actually pre-owned) one for Xmas y8.
But:

  • she is on PAYG (like us, to discourage excessive use)
  • internet access disabled (ish, can be used where there is free wifi I think)
  • phone is in schoolbag downstairs overnight
  • we strongly discourage excessive use. I don't want a teen sitting texting all evening, and the longer we don't have to have one the better.
Theas18 · 06/04/2014 12:12

Depends who you ask lol

My 18 and 14yr olds have very bardic smartphones - galaxy y. The are indestructible. They are also a bit rubbish but it does bother them ( their mates range from new iPhones to no phone in the case of one of dd2 mates and everything in between!

People will say I'm mad but I'd never ever have a contract for a child. Enough adults run into huge bills " because I didn't know it would do that" and it's your bill and your credit score. Giffgaff etc are ideal.

Moto g is a brilliant smartphone for the money. (£100) on O2 but unlocked for a couple of quid via eBay. My 20yr old has one.

BastardDog · 06/04/2014 18:56

My 13 yo has a PAYG second hand iPhone, cost about £150 as a birthday present, and my 14 yo has a PAYG second hand something or other, only cost about £20 as he bought it from a relative.

I've seen the mess my sister got into with contracts for my nephews so I won't entertain anything other than PAYG for my two.

aGirlDownUnder1 · 07/04/2014 09:40

My 14 yo has had a smart phone (HTC) since she was 12 and she was on PAYG. Now she is 14 she bought herself a second hand iPhone from her friend's dad for $200 and I have recently put her on a plan as she was starting to use phone quite a lot.

frenchfancy · 08/04/2014 13:47

DD got hers for her 13th birthday. A Nokia Lumia on a fixed contract.

Dancergirl · 08/04/2014 23:29

We've got a similar issue. Dd is 12 (13 next month). She still has her first phone - a pretty basic Samsung Chat. Don't think you can do much on it but up to now she seemed happy. She would now like a touch screen phone for her birthday. She's not hugely into social media but has Instagram which she uses on her iPod.

I can't really see the point of a new phone if she has a device ie ipod for social media. Or am I missing something?

MacMum2627 · 08/04/2014 23:32

I would say yes to the smart phone, my DD 20 has an Iphone 5 and my DS 15 has a samsung galaxy s3. iPhones really are reliable, and with a capped contract huge bills can't be run up.

Travelledtheworld · 09/04/2014 11:05

My DS14 is probably the only teenager in the UK not to have a phone at all and he says he doesn't want one. Thinks all boys with phones are sad
losers.

He chats to his friends on Skype on a laptop.

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