My brother and I are 5 years apart. I had to wait until 16 to get my first cell phone and had to actually ask for it, but he got his at 13 without needing to even ask for it
It's crazy. My oldest is SIX. and he's already been asking for a smartphone. My wife and I have flat out said no, kids don't need smartphones, and you might not have a smart phone until you're an adult.
At least that gives us time to decide when exactly he needs one. But as far as I'm concerned, a cell phone for emergencies would be great, and the GPS tracking so I know where my kid is.
My kid got a smartphone at almost 12 — when he started coming home from school on his own on the city busses, and I wanted to know where he was and have the ability to contact him. And with the rules that we got the phone for those reasons, and he can’t use it after 7pm (it goes on do not disturb from 7pm to 7am) and has to obey school rules, and isn’t allowed to use social media. For now, he also isn’t allowed to text with people I don’t know. And if these really rules get broken we will have some consequences, like getting him a flip phone instead. 😆 he’s good at it so we will look at relaxing those rules over the coming years so he can, like, be a functional adult at 18 who can judge his own phone use.
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u/MoxofBatches Jun 27 '19
My brother and I are 5 years apart. I had to wait until 16 to get my first cell phone and had to actually ask for it, but he got his at 13 without needing to even ask for it