I think the OP is likely intelligent enough to learn from his own experience whether he was too young to own an iPhone at thirteen. If he loses it or has it stolen, or if he negligently breaks it, he might decide he'd misjudged his responsibility level at thirteen. If he discovers that because he dissipated resources on one expensive object he finds himself without sufficient resources for things he may want or need more later on, then he will likely conclude he made an error that an older version of himself might have avoided. If he expected at thirteen that owning an iPhone would enhance his social popularity or the esteem in which his fellows hold him, he is likely to very quickly learn that owning things rarely wins worthwhile friends or admiration--a truth you're never too young to learn.
On the other hand, if the iPhone makes him happy every time he picks it up; if it allows him to do things he enjoys doing that make him more productive, more safe, and better able to perform in school and to expand and strengthen his relationships, then he might reasonably conclude in a couple of years that he was indeed old enough at 13 to make the right decision for him, under his particular circumstances. And if he learns that he appreciates having the material resources to be able to acquire things of value to him, then maybe he'll also be motivated to study hard enough and to otherwise do those things a teenager needs to do to have the widest range of options of career choices still open to him when he completes his formation.
And if it turns out that buying that iPhone is the worst mistake he ever makes as a teenager, he'll still be a lot better off at 20 than most of us were.
Good luck to you, DC.
On the other hand, if the iPhone makes him happy every time he picks it up; if it allows him to do things he enjoys doing that make him more productive, more safe, and better able to perform in school and to expand and strengthen his relationships, then he might reasonably conclude in a couple of years that he was indeed old enough at 13 to make the right decision for him, under his particular circumstances. And if he learns that he appreciates having the material resources to be able to acquire things of value to him, then maybe he'll also be motivated to study hard enough and to otherwise do those things a teenager needs to do to have the widest range of options of career choices still open to him when he completes his formation.
And if it turns out that buying that iPhone is the worst mistake he ever makes as a teenager, he'll still be a lot better off at 20 than most of us were.
Good luck to you, DC.
