Phone free childhood

[chellie]

Eldest granddaughter had to have a smart phone in Year 6 as it was needed for her Type 1 diabetes tracking.

 

[jim8flog]

My children are of ages that having a basic Nokia 3310 was being state of the art.
My son never bothered with one but my daughter was an absolute nightmare, one month running up a phone bill of £250 despite the phone contract having unlimited free texts (why I bought it for her).
I could not persuade her friends parents to take out the same contract so they could text rather then talk.

I did have a disagreement with the school over her having one but explained it was necessary so we knew where she was and if she needed picking up and when to expect her back from her mates where she often went straight after school.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Both my daughters had a phone when they went to secondary school, and that was a balance between buying one good enough to not have their peers ridicule them but not good enough everyone wanted to steal it.
As much as I don't really do "social media", nearly all kids do and hiding then from it is akin to not letting them out of the house until their 18. Being able to judge what is good, bad, right or wrong is essential to their balanaced upbringing and being street smart to know whats what.
They won't appreciate being "those weirdo kids" who don't have something everyone else has. I would aslo say leading by example is very important.

 

[nickjdavis]

And I'd argue there's no better hobby/pastime than golf for teaching kids vital social skills.

dunno about that...I played with a 15 year old at the weekend and he didnt even stop for a pint afterwards.

 

[HampshireHog]

Gave them our old iPhones once they were walking to school by themselves.

Phone tracking gives some piece of mind, plus Apple Parental Controls are pretty good.

 

[Golfloveruk]

Both mine got iPhones when they went to secondary school on the bus.

iPhones allowed us to set them up appropriately and monitor screen time/ usage.

 

[Tashyboy]

As opposed to old school parents who spent all the time down the pub?

On a positive, at our local welfare a fair few parents spend a good bit of time in the bar with there kids

 

[KenL]

I'd say YouTube is fine , no social media (considering they aren't even allowed an account until 13 anyways they shouldn't have it)

Almost every kid has social media before 13.

 

[PJ87]

Almost every kid has social media before 13.

That's the thing, tik tok user age is 13 and the social media companies get complaints they need to do more to protect kids. Yet we allow them to have accounts early

 

[Fromtherough]

That's the thing, tik tok user age is 13 and the social media companies get complaints they need to do more to protect kids. Yet we allow them to have accounts early

YouTube has the same age restriction for setting up an account. I’d guess a lot of kids view YouTube videos though prior to that with or without an account. My nephew uses YouTube kids - but some of the content available on there is not age appropriate.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Never had a phone until I joined GE (USA) around 1990. Was never a problem before and always had at least 1 BT phonecard to use in a call box should I need to. Once I got to 14 or so my parents were happy with me more or less going where I wanted (usually the golf club) and if I was going to be late I'd call.

Of course the world is a different beast now and I'd never want my kids without a way to call for help. I'd hope I wouldn't be that parent that is obsessive about what they are looking at or downloading but I am not sure I could help myself if only for that desire for them to be safe and there is enough crap they will get exposed to once they reach the age of consent and beyond

 

[Pin-seeker]

Reckon a few on here should have limited phone time

 

[Arthur Wedge]

YouTube has the same age restriction for setting up an account. I’d guess a lot of kids view YouTube videos though prior to that with or without an account. My nephew uses YouTube kids - but some of the content available on there is not age appropriate.

We have kids you tube on the pad for her to use that’s very much restricted

Also she has a kids kindle but again very much locked down

There is that one kid at school who has an I phone and it’s caused a bit of mayhem in class but daughter appears very happy with her kindle

 

[PJ87]

We have kids you tube on the pad for her to use that’s very much restricted

Also she has a kids kindle but again very much locked down

There is that one kid at school who has an I phone and it’s caused a bit of mayhem in class but daughter appears very happy with her kindle

Do the school let it in class or is it very much just the kid having it has caused the issues? Daughter's school if they have phones are locked in a box before school and collected at the gates

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Do the school let it in class or is it very much just the kid having it has caused the issues? Daughter's school if they have phones are locked in a box before school and collected at the gates

Seems the phone was taken into class and then showed off at break time

School now take the phone in the morning and it’s in the office until end of school

 

[Leftitshort]

Make a deal with them - play golf, you can have a phone.

We'd have a booming golf industry in 10 years time.

And I'd argue there's no better hobby/pastime than golf for teaching kids vital social skills.

If that’s the case then why do so many golfer have no social skills one of life’s mysteries

 

[Orikoru]

I got my first phone when I was 14 I think. That was of course a Nokia 3210.

I don't really know what we'll do yet as my little girl is only 20 months old. Things may have moved on in the next decade. Surely it's not beyond the realm of possibility to give them a smartphone that requires some sort of admin password to install new apps etc? So as a parent you can install the apps they need and they won't be able to add anything you don't want them to have. Does this exist?

 

[Bdill93]

I got my first phone when I was 14 I think. That was of course a Nokia 3210.

I don't really know what we'll do yet as my little girl is only 20 months old. Things may have moved on in the next decade. Surely it's not beyond the realm of possibility to give them a smartphone that requires some sort of admin password to install new apps etc? So as a parent you can install the apps they need and they won't be able to add anything you don't want them to have. Does this exist?

Yeah - parent controls!

Can even put it on your wifi and stuff too.

Long story short - I dont agree with personal devices until at least the age of 10 - and from then tight controls until they are 16ish I think is perfectly appropriate.

Group chats - can be great but can also be nasty nasty places for kids. More bullying is done online these days than in person.

 

[Neilds]

I haven't got kids so not a problem I will ever encounter but when chatting with my wife, we both said that if we had kids, they wouldn't have a phone, no TV in the bedroom, etc and we would be proper strict. In reality we would probably have given in just to get some peace and quiet

 

[Lord Tyrion]

In a similar scenario, my son was about 14-15 when, I think, Grand Theft Auto came out. It had an 18 certificate. He wanted it, we said no. It eventually transpired that all of his mates had it, he was the only one who didn't. He could play it whenever he wanted at their houses. What do you do, stop him meeting anyone outside of school?

The genie is out of the bottle. You largely have to trust them, make sure they understand the good and the bad. I would say, most schools now are very good on this type of subject, social media, and that helps.