Subscribe now and choose from over 30 free gifts worth up to £49 - Plus get £25 to spend in our shop
Eldest turns 11 in 6 weeks and with big school coming up it's time for a new phone. But with that comes all the worry of inappropriate apps etc.
We'd like him to be able to use Spotify but not just be glued to it all the time I.e. walking to school.
What does the forum suggest?
We got ours an iPhone 8 as it was cheap enough.
It's locked down pretty well but has actually revolutionised his social life. We live 30 mins drive from anyone and everything. Whatsapp means he's made friends with acquaintances and is able to organise rides with mates (that we have to drive him to).
What ever Android suits budget and use Google family link to have some control.
Assume Apple do something similar though.
For us, we started both ours off on basic non smart phones at that age. Once they could show they wouldn’t lose it or break it etc we allowed smart phones a year or two later. Eldest started on a cheap Samsung j series smartphone which was fine then moved up to an A54 which is again very good. Youngest started on my old s6 then got my s10 hand me down and seems happy but they are not into tech etc so as long as it does WhatsApp/snapchat/youtube or whatever they are happy.
New phone?! Our son is 11 soon and we’ve not got him one yet. Will keep an eye on this thread.
Apple and screen/app limits shared with other devices.
My 12y old has adapted well to my old iPhone 11 Pro. Don’t go too old as they won’t be able to use the latest apps which might limit them for use at school or with friends.
Let him choose from a list of chunky cases and buy a few edge to edge screen protectors.
Whatever you get them, make it clear that a) they pay for any breakage or loss, even if it's not thier fault b) they pay for any bills over contract c) they pay for anything newer or shinier.
Ours managed to look after their phones under such rules. Funnily enough the friends who's parent just bought them a new phone if it was lost or damaged seemed to go through phones regularly....
And +1 on Android mid-range, Google family and limited contract with no extra spend.
We also created a Gmail account for all of them, and made sure things like Spotify family and phone contacts were on that email address. They didn't have the password for a few years. But by the time they hit 18 they had everything set up in thier email and name. Much easier than 'borrowing' your account.
Reconditioned iPhone SE from GiffGaff has worked for us - no. 1 on an SE2 with a Talkmobile contract, no. 2 has just had an SE3 for her 10th Christmas on 1pmobile PAYG
We’d like him to be able to use Spotify but not just be glued to it all the time I.e. walking to school.
What does the forum suggest?
An iPod / other mp3 player?
As Andy4d. Nokia 105 4G for about £12 and a 99p/month Lebara SIM.
Ours got an iPhone 13 last Xmas, got a pretty good deal on Tesco mobile, we all have iPhones now so use family controls on things. You can set the max spend on the contract to be 1p so no danger of them rip massive bills. We’ve got insurance but after a year her phone is in mint condition as she’s looked after it.
Xiaomi Redmi phones are an absolute bargain. We normally pick up ours in some Amazon sale for about £120 but you can get quite a decent spec phone for not a lot of money. Just done the same for our daughter and got a cheap SIM from Lebara which is basically unlimited calls, texts and 15GB data for £5/MTH. Limit set on SIM to switch off data before she hits that limit.
Seems like a fair swap, is he hard working?
Whatever your last phone was that you stashed in the drawer when you got your latest?
Just about to update my 13yos pixel3 to my wife's 'old' pixel4a. 12yo is on a 4a that I picked up used off here. Hadn't upgraded my phone when he was due a more reliable phone than the moto g3 they both stated with.
Keep in your own ecosystem and as above, family link or apples equivalent.
Family link will let you shut down everything and anything..put it on a schedule, limit screen and app time, have you approve any apps, locate your kid, etc etc
It's very good but my kids do resent me when I drop the banhammer when they push the limits or are typical Wally's.
If OP has an Apple device themselves or phone or maccboook I would say without doubt an iPhone as they are so simple to setup with parental controls and manage remotely
our lads 13 and has our old iPhone 8
My daughter has Iphone and my son an Android. Both are easily locked down and both have location tracking so go for whatever you can get a good deal on.
I have an iphone and just added the family link app for my sons android.
What ever Android suits budget and use Google family link to have some control.
This. My daughter has a basic Motorola, which works perfectly well.
Check the school rules before you invest, many don’t allow smartphones. If ok gets a cheap 2nd hand phone in case it’s lost / broken / stolen. <br /><br />
ours aren’t allowed smartphone so we solved all the OPs problems by get them a £10 Nokia PAYG to let us know they’ve arrived / for emergencies.
@Kryton57 - are the kids not allowed smart phones at school at all? Or is just they can't have them switched on? How the hell would they police that they have a smart phone for outside school use, and what the hell has it got to do with the school if the kids stand outside the gates to message their parents?
Christ my kids often use their phones in school instead of calculators, and in some classes are encouraged to use their phones for certain things. My son is doing GCSE photography and his phone is integral.
I left teaching in 2018 so my experiences aren't bang up to date but my old place would collect in phones in the morning and pop them in pigeon holes and dole them back out again at the end of the day with a strict "no phones at any other time" policy.
I expect many other academies with Mallory Towers delusions are the same.
As above for Year 6 in primary becuase the kids are learning to walk to school / communicate with parents. My son’s secondary bans them in the basis of a) cheating b) distraction from schoolwork and c) safety of the pupils walking from/to school* (there have been robberies) not necessarily in that order.
They don’t need a smartphone for school anyway unless a a curriculum demands it.
<br />*some parents insist on giving kids £1200 smartphones for school comms, it’s an easy target for scrotes
We got our girls iPhones (older models) towards the end of Yr6. We set up Parental Controls so we have control over what apps are downloaded and we also have installed Life 360 which is great for seeing where they are quickly and easily. They are almost 15 now and they do use them more than we'd like, but they are teenagers and they use them extensively to communicate with friends. They aren't allowed them in class at school (although they are allowed to take them into school).
We also have a very strict 'no phones in the bedroom after bedtime' rule (they have to leave them in the kitchen where we can see them) which they still accept without argument – I think this is, above all other restrictions, the most important rule to have in place from the start.
As above for Year 6 in primary
Ah, primary. Fair enough then.
At that age my daughter just had a cheap Samsung (Blackberry type) phone.
At secondary school she had hand-me-down iphones.
As others have said don’t go too old. We’ve been nursing an old iPad Gen 4 which basically only runs FaceTime and apps installed previously.
I thought I’d get the same vintage with cellular for my kid to use in the car as it was very cheap. But the iOS whilst showing ‘family sharing’ doesn’t actually support it properly. Plus as others have said it won’t take any apps.
Some kind of smar****ch.
If only to watch their stymied expression as they try to figure out how to watch pronhub on it😂😂😂😂
A cheap android or old Apple whatevers easiest for you to provide tech support on.
Importantly a PAYG SIM (Giffgaff are great if your area is O2 friendly) so no idiots at his school will nick it and call premium numbers/Australia before you remotely lock it...