What Age Should Kids Have a Phone?

I guess it's a fine balance between wanting them to have a phone so they can keep safe and make instant contact if needs be.

I would say when they turn into teenagers is a fair age, but with plenty of restrictions/filters/blocks on the phone so they can't access anything they shouldn't be seeing.

I saw a thread on the other deals website about a father wanting to buy his teen daughter the latest iPhone.

If you know, those things aren't cheap and what would she use it for? TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix and maybe Twitter. These apps don't need a phone that costs like £1500. /end of rant

A budget Android phone (£80~£100) honestly does the job and if they lose it, screen gets cracked, or stolen they didn't lose much.

I've recently been talking about this with my sons. They want to start walking from school September 25 so will either buy phone each for Christmas/birthday or one between them. It definitely won't be top of the range lower smart phone will be fine

We didn't give our youngest girl a phone until she was 9 , no reason to have one before that age, we have limits and restrictions on it as well

Well, tech is a huge part of their lives and will be something they’ll be utilising heavily when they get older, so the earlier the better (but obviously teaching responsibilities, boundaries and respect are necessary, with common sense ver much needed). The age is dependent on the maturity of the child

I was absolutely shocked when a 7 year old friend of our daughter's turned up to her party with her own phone, not a cheap one either, this was years ago & to keep in touch with her Mum...

Our daughter had her first phone when she was ready to start High School, it was a red plastic Arctel one cost £10 & there was £10 in credit on it..

It did the basics & that's all she needed then..

Even today our daughter doesn't have an expensive phone & neither do her Da & I.

Our studious 25 yesr old daughter has NEVER been on FB, isn't interested in Snap Chat, Instagram or the others, she is only on WhatsApp to keep in touch with family & friends..

Her heroes & heroines are REAL people not the ones on Social Media .

I think when they start high school is soon enough. To be honest they’re the ruin of kids today. They are constantly addicted to the things and even asking them to put them away at the dinner table so everyone can eat dinner in peace can cause a row. I’ve 13yr old grandson with ADHD and 1st thing he does in morning is lift his phone and he’ll be stuck to it 24/7 only his mum has restrictions bout how long he can be on it and what time it switches off in evening. He joined local scout troop bout yr ago and that’s only time he won’t even think bout his phone. He goes off on wkend camps and phone is left at home. He left yesterday morn for Jersey camping for wk and when his mum left him off they were shocked to see him with his mobile, they’d never seen him with it before and were convinced he was only scout without phone. He only took it with him for the plane journey. Getting into scouts was best thing he ever did to get him away from his phone

I had my first mobile phone when I was about 19 because my ex asked me to get one so she can call me from work as she was expecting our first baby.

I hardly ever got any pocket money I had to work for my money when I was in school so having a mobile phone before I was about 19 was not possible in my case in Bradford

My daughter had her first mobile phone in line with attending secondary school. It was a mid range phone. When she turned 16 she started to progress with more modern phones. After that she started working part time and chose her own phone. Our only request was that the phone was insured in case of loss or theft. So far it’s worked out well

I never agreed with my children having phones and it was mum who gave her old one to one of them. It’s great for safety for them but so many bad things which affect their mental health.