How do you guys feel about a 6 yr okd getting a phone. Although parents monitor, there is still phone calls and text messages and rest things reg phones have! Strangest thing when someone mentioned it to me.
9 Likes
My 7 year old has a phone tho it is only able to connect to WiFi for games we have had so many tablets bust in the first year but the phones always work better so we got her one so she isn’t asking to play on ours. My 10 year old has one cuz he hangs out at the library and does other after school activities and he uses it to call us. Tho he mostly used it to play games also
1 Like
No. My kids are 16&14 and they didn’t get phones until they went to grade 9… my other kids are 6&4 and I would NOT be giving them phones… ridiculous
2 Likes
Nope way too young. I gave my son one at 8 BUT it was for safety issues. Everyone’s situation is different but 6 years old is too young.
2 Likes
I got my son a phone when he was 13 to ring me when hes away from home for for me to ring him which we do,but when he is at home he never uses it. Never charges it and I think he forgets he has it, so i think I’m lucky and won’t be buying him anymore phones. I think this one will last him.
My daughter got a phone at 6, she had to prove for a year she could keep it safe to get service on it (she spends a lot of time traveling and visiting with family since her father passed away)
She’s 9 now and most of her friends have phones, or iPads and have had them the same as her.
I really don’t see a difference in giving a child a phone vs tablet.
3 Likes
It’s fine. My kids all had phones before 7. The risk of danger is slim.
1 Like
Depends on the use. If it’s being used for games - educational and learning apps, then why not? There are parental settings for the calls and texts. Not much different than a kids tablet. My son has one and I am in control of how long he’s on each app, and his very limited contacts (grandparents and me and my husband only).
Everything else is locked.
My kids have electronics but no data plan! They need wifi to run anything
All my kids started off with flip phones, if I had to - they had to. The older they get and their responsibility level determined when they got to upgrade to touch screens that did more.
Nope my 17 yr old isn’t allowed
4 Likes
Mine is 6 and got her for Xmas. We have a buttload of supervision on it. It shuts off after a certain time and the Apple Store helped us add a bunch of parental stuff on it. You can even get a copy of the text messages and block various websites. She also is not allowed to take to school and we now can take it away if she is bad. She mostly
Just plays games on it or watches her kid shows
2 Likes
My kids won’t be getting one until they are driving. If you feel the need to get one though check out gab phones.they have no internet access
Not just no. But hellllll mf no
My kids are 7 and almost 9 they don’t need phones until they are able to be home by selves or drive. They don’t need phones when they are always with an adult.
2 Likes
Absolutely not!! My girls are 7 and 6 and i would not be giving them phones. Absolutely ridiculous.
6 Likes
Pretty much every phone has a kids mode. They can’t access anything you don’t want them to, and there are timers and stuff you can set. I wouldn’t give a kid that young a totally unlocked phone and let them go, though. This is literally all my kiddo can access without me physically unlocking it with my fingerprint.
2 Likes
My 8 year old has a phone so I can contact her when she’s at her dad’s house.
I think this all depends on the level of trust you have with your child and how much awareness they have to Internet safety. Many toddlers/children have tablets and tbh there’s not much difference at all. You can do pretty much everything on a tablet that you can do on a phone, most tablets nowadays even have a sim card slot.
I dont see a problem aslong as you closely monitor the device and make your child aware of Internet safety and apply safesearch and a parental lock.
My kids never had a phone until age 15, theres no reason for it
2 Likes
I feel that kids need phones. I grew up in the 70s & 80s. I had access to a phone to call friends, family. I also had TV, a music player, video games, dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedias etc. I don’t feel it’s right to take that away from kids just because the format has changed.
I also feel that when you deprive a young child from technology you’re depriving them from learning how to handle it. For starters so many kids don’t know how to make a phone call because they don’t have a phone. That kid in the news who lived with his mom’s dead body for weeks because he didn’t know how to call 911 for example. Also internet safety. If you wait until your kid is “old enough to pay for it themselves” you’ve taken the chance to teach them not to give personal information out online, that people aren’t always who they say they are, to avoid scams etc. A teen who’s paying for it themselves aren’t going to let you monitor it or listen to you like a 5-6 yo will.
I do believe they need to be monitored. I have all my kids user names & passwords. I check texts & calls. I log into their accounts to see their activity.
My younger 2 started with phones without service. I put text now on them so they could call while on WiFi. Other than that it was just a mini tablet. They got service when the need raised for them to need it.
2 Likes
Why does a 6 year old need a phone? Maybe a 12 year old.
I didn’t let my kids have a phone till high school and it was closely monitored.
4 Likes
Take the sim card out and voila nobody can send messages to the phone, or call or track it, then only games can be played on it
Just an FYI…technology like a cell phone or an ipad is EXTREMELY different from a house phone from the 80’s. Starting with the fact that it’s literally changing the way our brains develop…this is not healthy for a 6 yr old. Look at the rise in mental health issues, look at the drop in physical outdoor activity, it actually becomes an addiction causing a “withdrawl” when it’s taken away.
Please stop giving young children phones and tablets…the amount of screen time they get during regular school hours now, to come home and spend all evening on the screen, is NOT healthy.
1 Like
Not my kid not my business so idc what other homes do.
1 Like
Way too young, if it is a contact thing they make a product I think is called a Gizmo. It is like a watch and the child can contact only who you want and set up.
6 yr olds don’t need phones
I bought my daughter a cell phone at 7. It ONLY did calls, text and a gps tracker. I only added family as contacts and it cost about $15 a month. It gave her access to call me when she was at a friend or family members house and she could talk to her grandparents anytime she wanted without borrowing my phone.
I wouldn’t give her a full smart phone will access to anything though.
My kids not till they are probably 16 I was 12 when I got my phone and that was the early 2000 no internet were talking a TracFone with so many mins on it 
My kids have a phone but only works on wifi and they just use it to play games and msg family
I am an Aunt of many children n thought as a distraction but, as the world 
changes… I would hope they have one for protection to call for help either in or out of school. They should have limited calls available and a GPS. 
I will not give a phone to 6 years old kid