If you saw a ten year old girl with an iPhone....

fteale

My daughter is 6, and she has my old iPhone that she uses as an iPod. Heaven help the person who *****es her out, or makes any sort of comment at all.

Now that I completely get. My son uses my old phone to play games on too. But he is never out of my sight.

Skmellyg

It is really none of my business what you chose to give or not give your child. I would never say anything. I personally would never give a 10 year old a phone much less an iphone. I still live in the stone age and my kids will not have phones (or at least contract phones) till they are maybe 17.

Uxorial

Not my business.
I wouldn't say anything.

Brenda_1965

I'd think her mom knows a good deal when she sees one! An iPod costs $500. An iPhone is much much much less with a contract. Since kids need phones now...many people don't have house phones, and for safety reasons kids need one in there pockets nowadays!

If I said anything to her at all, I might ask her if she is reading books on it, and maybe ask her what her favorite apps are. My son is ten, and my daughter is 15. They both have android phones, and the read their books on them. They also use the Internet connection to look up answers to their incessant questions! If US Cellular offered iPhones, we would have those instead.

Ps. Nearly half the kids where I teach have the $500 iPod touches!

You GO Mom!

drelan

I wouldn't say anything. It's your child, you choose how you raise them and it's certainly not my place to voice my opinion to a child...that's just being rude.

My daughter is 11 and I won't allow her to have a phone and probably won't until she's much older (maybe 16 but probably 17). I know that might sound like I'm being "old fashioned", but there is nothing "old fashioned" about kids these days. They have too much access to the internet as it is (porn, etc.) I heard a Jr. High School teacher friend of mine saying that she confiscated a phone from one of her female students she was shocked at what she saw on there. Teenage girls sending naked photos of themselves to boys...and her warning was "Parents need to go through their kids' phones and see what they're up to". Trust me, that happens more than you can possibly imagine. (I also have a 17 yr old son and I know how THEY think.) I know that's not true of ALL kids. It really depends on how responsible they are. Just my 2 cents.

Plentiful_Tentacles

People always use the saying "I didn't have it when I was your age, so why should you?" Well, just to put in another standpoint, at the time many of us were younger these things weren't even invented yet. Like I had a gameboy color, the kind without a backlight and was bulkier then a graphic calculator. When I had it, older people would say the same thing. "I didn't have that when I was a kid, I had," so on and so forth.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that times are changing, and more complicated accessories are being developed. My younger sister who is six, owns a DS, an ipod and is allowed to go onto the computer because she's intelligent enough to use them. It's just our culture now I suppose.

I wouldn't yell at your child. I may question it, but hey, it's not my responsibility to worry about something like that.

Skmellyg

I just can't think why an 8 or 10 year old would need a phone. Surely they are only out of your sight at school and I don't know of any school that allow phones. Children only need phones once they are roaming unsupervised, and 10 is too young for that.

Some 10 year olds have phones at that age because they may stay over at the other parents house if their parents are divorced.

nopeekiepeekie

the person that did that to your child should be ashamed of themselves! how sad to yell at a child in that way, especially when it's a child you do not know!

we just got both our kids iPhones(ages 12 & 14 - 14yo had a previous phone that she took extremely good care of for 2 years - not a scratch on it). a 3GS is 99 cents with a 2 year plan through AT&T. which was a lot cheaper than any of the other phones they were offering (even the flip phones were kind of spendy). that being said, they know we can take the phone at any given time and see what it is on it. they have definite turn on and turn off times. with the amount of sports my son plays he needs a phone in case practice runs late or it starts to rain and he needs a ride. it's definitely a judgement call on the parents behalf an nobody should say anything to the child because of what their parent decides. When the new iPhones come out, our kids will be getting our hand me down 4s.

happyfeetrebel1

My daughter is 14, and she'd LOVE a phone..she doesn't need one.

she's either IN school, on the way to school, or coming home from school. We have a phone at our house, and the school has one.

Would I say something to someone else's kid? nope..not unless she was doing something BAD with it, LOL

Lots of girls my daughter's class have them, my kid is the minority.

Owlie45

I wouldn't make a single comment, it is none of my business if it is theirs or if they are playing with their parents.


Honestly I would be jealous, cause I don't got one:grumble:

Reinventing_Me

Both of my kids had phones at 10 for safety reasons. When they were on their way to school (waiting for the bus), or out with friends, I felt more comfortable knowing that they could reach me if they needed to. Now they are 19 and 14 and have had smart phones for a few years now. If they ever find themselves out somewhere without me or another family member and need any kind of information at all (cab phone number, bus schedule, account access, etc.), I know they can access it easily or have it emailed to them. Smartphones are so much more than a vanity thing or cool gadget for me and mine. Some people just don't get that. The woman I talked to when I upgraded my son's phone couldn't believe I was "getting him such a nice phone at his age". Whatever - he's going to have something, why not make it something worth the stinking contract extension (provided the out of pocket expense is reasonable).

achasnis

I believe there are circumstances in which it should be perfectly fine...

I know that I had a phone when I was in 5th grade.... It was more helpful to my parents considering that I had always been involved in competitive dancing, and that was the first year I was participating in extracurricular activities as well. My parents could contact me easily about pick up times/rides from after school activities, and I could contact them just as easily. When trying to keep things organized and timely in situations like that, I believe there is nothing wrong with it. Was I given unlimited calling minutes, internet, and texting? Absolutely not, it was used ONLY for purposes of contact between my parents and I for organizing all of my after school activities...

Before we go judging people just because we see a phone in a ten year olds hands, I think that we should realize that we don't always know the entire reason behind it... If I am ever in that type of situation, I would not hesitate to equip my child with a phone - with limited capabilities of course.

cheercoach80

Would you b*tch her out for it? Assume it wasn't her phone?

Would you think her parents were too permissive?

Would you say anything or make any judgements at all?

My daughter just texted me to let me know that someone just gave her hell for "playing with her parents iPhone" when she told them it was HER phone, they then, IN FRONT OF HER, made some rather derogatory comments about my parenting choices and how permissive parents make bad children.

I almost wish I was there so I could give that person a piece of my mind.

Lauren

My ten year old has her own cell phone, granted it's not an iphone but it is a samsung galaxy III (with restrictions placed on her plan, she has unlimited talk and text, that's it and I can view all her calls, numbers she's texting etc online with my parental controls as well as block numbers) and she does get comments about her being a "spoiled brat" because she has it BUT with that being said, people don't realize, we don't have a house phone, my other two younger daughters (7 & 5) get off the bus with her in the afternoon and if (god forbid) anything happened that someone wasn't home for them after school (which thankfully has never happened, but her school does not call and let parents know if they are releasing children early due to weather, no heat, etc) how would she reach me, her father or her grandparents for help? We live 20 miles down a dirt road with only 10 other people here year round. It's not safe for my child to have no way to contact us. She EARNS her phone on a monthly basis by doing chores (like dishes, folding and putting away her laundry, etc), maintaining a B+ (or higher) average at school (not having her phone turned on at school is one of the rules!) and by basic proper comportment (they are all cheerleaders and our family and their club holds them to a very high standard). I have seen a good many young children with iphones and heard many people berate those children for it and I'm always the first to say "How do you know there's not a good reason for them to have it?". If I didn't feel my child was responsible enough to handle having her own phone she wouldn't have it, but that is the parent's decision, and no one else's!

TurtleRunnerNC

My children are 15 & 12. They both have iPhones (hubby & I have Android phones). We are in a neighborhood in a rural area. In this day and age I would not feel comfortable with them running around the 'hood' to & from friends houses if I could not reach them.. usually if they are running around out front I will sot on tje porchn& read to keep an eye. There are an unreal amount of children in my neighborhood who are completely unsupervised. They do insanely stupid &##!? That will probably end up with me helping them home with a broken or bloody something. We try to keep an eye on them & discuss safety with them. They are not allowed to use any of our stuff without helmets regardless that they do not use them on their own.

My children know that hubby & I can check any text messages @ anytime. If they erase their history they lose the phone. At night they are plugged in to charge in the kitchen.

We had huge school bus issues @ the beginning of last year & if my daughter didn't have a phone we would not have known she was ok. Bus deiver got lost. Well over an hour late. The school had no clue. Parents of kids with phones were letting parents of kids without know.

You cannot be too careful. Turn on tje news. How many missing children are they talking about. I knlw a phone won't keep my child 100% safe but I feel that knlwing I can reach them is important or more important they csn reach me in an emergency.

Janet9906

I just bought a new phone today, I gave my 13 year old my old one, it's not a smart phone, all he can use it for is to call me or his friends...that's all he needs for now ;-)

sarahrbraun

I wouldn't say anything. It's your child, you choose how you raise them and it's certainly not my place to voice my opinion to a child...that's just being rude.

My daughter is 11 and I won't allow her to have a phone and probably won't until she's much older (maybe 16 but probably 17). I know that might sound like I'm being "old fashioned", but there is nothing "old fashioned" about kids these days. They have too much access to the internet as it is (porn, etc.) I heard a Jr. High School teacher friend of mine saying that she confiscated a phone from one of her female students she was shocked at what she saw on there. Teenage girls sending naked photos of themselves to boys...and her warning was "Parents need to go through their kids' phones and see what they're up to". Trust me, that happens more than you can possibly imagine. (I also have a 17 yr old son and I know how THEY think.) I know that's not true of ALL kids. It really depends on how responsible they are. Just my 2 cents.

THIS^^^ I have a 16yo, 12yo, and a 6yo. The 16yo HAD a cheap prepaid phone with NO camera for about 3 years. He misplaced it for 6 months, so it got deactivated and I haven't replaced it. My 12yo desperately wants a phone, but I just don't feel like she can be responsible with it--hubby lets her text on his phone, and several times she has almost caused him to go over his monthly limit And then there is the whole thing with kids trying to grow up so fast-- I want to protect her from her more mature peers!

maibailley

I don't think there's a problem with her having an iPhone. It is 2012, technology is not the enemy it is the reality of our world. In my opinion good parenting is about preparing your child for the world, not preotecting them from it. As long as she is taught about appropriate use of the phone and can't purchase random apps, go for it I swear some people would have us living in the dark ages...

I agree with this, schools are introducing iPhones, iPads, iPods with apps for all different approaches to learning. Children need to know how to use this technology and as long as you have a responsible 10 year old, which I'm sure you must before you gave such expensive equipment I'm sure she is therefore responsible enough to use it. pay no heed of judgmental people.

saragato

I think that is too young to have a phone, but I wouldn't say anything about it. I sure as heck wouldn't berate the child for it. Simply uncalled for.

Seconding this. I know a lot of parents get them for safety reasons or because they're fine with the kid having that kind of phone, but personally I don't think someone as young as 10 should have a phone capable of more than just being a phone. I wasn't allowed a cell until 15 and that was because of safety reasons and my phone didn't even have the capability of texting, getting on the internet, or anything except making/answering calls and taking pictures I couldn't even send and I didn't even WANT the camera on the phone. But I certainly wouldn't even talk to a kid about them having an iphone or whatnot because in the end that's their business and if their parent lets them have it, it's the parent's problem if they act stupid with it, not mine.

sdumma

This

Alex_is_Hawks

Thanks Everyone...i appreciate the thoughts and comments.


The phone is for her safety and it's closely monitored by myself. She does not have restrictions on it, but she's never misused it, misplaced or or abused her privileges.

The main reason she has an iPhone is because *I* have an iPhone and as a result when she's with her father and not with me, we can Facetime. Which makes me feel more at ease and makes her feel more at ease.

Thanks again.

Lauren