Lowdown Chat: When do you let your kids have a phone with a sim card?
Parenting can be a struggle, kids wanting all the latest things yesterday. But what age would YOU allow yours to have a usable phone with sim?
Demme Moody had a question for the group this week that read;
What's the MINIMUM age would/have you allow your child to have a phone with a sim card? Not necessarily downloading all the social media apps.
Please don't feel the need to explain why when answering, your reasons are your reasons. Just would like to see an average age.
Read on to find out what people themselves do from Family Lowdown
"Id say as late as you can away with, my girl has one at nearly 8 only so she can contact me when she isn't with me. I agonized over the decision, too young etc. In the end she only really uses it to message immediate family"
"12, when he starts to take the bus to secondary school (much further away than his primary)."
"I'm considering this in certain instances for my almost 9yo but we have a unique set of circumstances"
"6 an 8 my girls have them"
"My boys are 7 & 10 but they have one for when they at their dads if they want to get in touch, and same for when they're home as they video call their dad every day."
"Think he was 10. When he started playing at friends houses.
"Mine both got phones when they were allowed to play further than our street I think the oldest was 9 and the youngest was 7 but the youngest was only allowed away from the street with the big one but just in case the big one was busy getting beaten up or stuck down a well I thought it safer to let the little one have one too so he could alert me to danger and I could rush to their rescue"
"My son had one for his 10th birthday. But no social media. He's now 14. And still has no social media."
"As soon as they are able to walk home alone from school"
"11 towards the end of primary school so they can get everyone's numbers etc before moving to a new school"
"Once they go to secondary school"
"I think it depends on circumstances. If your child is mature enough. If your child is away from you a lot. If your child has another parent or siblings they may want to contact off their own back.
I would say that it only becomes a NEED when the child is travelling alone for school etc"
"Mine got contract phones just before they went up to secondary (not expensive) "
"I got my son his phone for his 10th birthday so he can learn to manage it for a year before starting secondary school"
"Mine won't be getting them until they start secondary school so 11"
"Year 6.. around 10 years old."
"My daughter (12) has just started high school this September and got her first phone then.
We recycled one of our old phones and got a sim only deal sim card so she could text us when she was at school and when she was setting off to walk home."
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