How old were your kids when they got their first phone? Why did you decide to get them one?
My eldest daughter was 12 but it was due to her 40 minute travel to school or if she missed one of the two buses she gets to and then from school plus she was alone, my second daughter was the same age but was for if her sister was not with her or away from school.
My daughters, now 19, got their first phones when they were 8. Their dad and I were separated and shared custody. They used their phones to talk to me when they were with him and vice versa. They also walked 2 blocks after school to their after school program and would text us when they arrived to let us know they made it safely.
My son, now 14, got his when he was 10 and started attending summer camp, after school programs and sports.
My youngest daughter is currently 9. She has her dads old phone, but it only works on WiFi. She plays games on it and she has SnapChat with privacy settings and only family members that she talks to. She is either at school, with us or with one of her siblings, so there is really no need for her to have a phone.
Also, all of my kids started out on pre paid plans so that if they didn’t follow any set rules, I could cancel service at any time.
I got one in 6th grade because I was in ski club in middle school and we never got back at the same time. My mom sat and waited for an hour one day and was late to pick me up another and said screw it lol
It was also one of the Nokia brick phones so all you could do was call and text. She put like 15 minutes a month on it and I could use .25 minutes to text her when we were 15 minutes away from the school
My older kids didn’t get a phone til high school. It was only a TracFone. My youngest who’s in elementary school still doesn’t have a phone. I see no need for it.
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My son is 6. I got him one when he started kindergarten and use Life360 so I know where he is at all times. Especially with his bus schedule being unreliable
All my kids got one for there grade 8 graduation
15 and 16 because they got jobs
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When they could pay for it on their own.
My oldest was 13 so we made that the age for all the kids
My kids got them when they were going into 5th grade which is jr high in our district. The school is about 20 minutes away and the first time riding a bus to school. Also they started having more of a social life at that time and I like being able to be in touch with them
12/13 and you can set it up how you want with the parental controls… as they get older you can change it anytime…
One were all 15 didn’t see any reason for them to have one before then
Me & each one of my sisters got one on our 10th birthday!
Between 12 & 13. By that age they were going for walks alone, meeting up with friends at the mall ect … It made it easier for us and them to send me a text to say " hay, you ok if I meet up with so, and so? They can also make plans on their own. They know to get a time, location and rough time as to when they will be done. They send me a text when they are leaving, if we’re not picking them up
My other thing was that their friends stopped calling my cell number.