I think it's a bit too young, but it's the OP call. I would be more concerned about the safety of the kid, walking about with an iPhone.
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Just gave an 8 year old his first iPhone, am I crazy?
- Thread starter dontwalkhand
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This.
It's a first gen, so the value is minimal. If there were a good way to give a kid an iPhone (I would go with iPod Touch, personally), this is the way to do it.
Only one issue I can think of...
Assuming your child is old enough to not lose the phone, I can think of one legitimate reason to not give a young child an iPhone - the risk of movie and video game addiction. You really do want kids (especially kids) to develop interests and talents, do physical activities, etc. And I've seen time and time again that they just LOVE video games and movies, and they will stop doing all other activities if they can.
So it's a question of degree of control. If you can get your child motivated regardless of whether he owns his own distraction device, then it's not an issue. But I know many 5 year olds with iPhones who will illegally "sneak them" at night or when parents think they're playing with something else, and do nothing all day but watch movies / play games on them.
I wonder if there's be a way to do time controls - you know, things like 2 hours of movies + video games a day or so... ?
The last thing anyone wants is their child to become a young adults with no real talents or physical ability.
- Jeff
Assuming your child is old enough to not lose the phone, I can think of one legitimate reason to not give a young child an iPhone - the risk of movie and video game addiction. You really do want kids (especially kids) to develop interests and talents, do physical activities, etc. And I've seen time and time again that they just LOVE video games and movies, and they will stop doing all other activities if they can.
So it's a question of degree of control. If you can get your child motivated regardless of whether he owns his own distraction device, then it's not an issue. But I know many 5 year olds with iPhones who will illegally "sneak them" at night or when parents think they're playing with something else, and do nothing all day but watch movies / play games on them.
I wonder if there's be a way to do time controls - you know, things like 2 hours of movies + video games a day or so... ?
The last thing anyone wants is their child to become a young adults with no real talents or physical ability.
- Jeff
Our daughter definitely has limits with her pantech phone. She can text the people I have set up on the screen for her or call them. All family members. She doesn't have any games or internet, and it can't leave the house unless shes going to grandmas. Right now I'm using it because I'm waiting for a new phone.
Originally she got the galaxy tab for her birthday because she was extremely frustrated with reading. I tried everything we could to help her be more interested it which is why we bought the tablet. The more she has to figure stuff out, the more interesting it has been for her. It's something we can do together, she has plenty of educational games.
As for our 4 year old and his iPod, it's extremely locked down. No access to a web browser or inappropriate apps. He can use the wifi, but he can't download anything without a password or my permission.
I believe if you set limits for your children, and teach them responsibility they will understand. If either of our kids ever wants a smart phone, it will be when they have a job so they can be responsible for their internet costs etc. And at this point the devices they have are good enough for them.
Originally she got the galaxy tab for her birthday because she was extremely frustrated with reading. I tried everything we could to help her be more interested it which is why we bought the tablet. The more she has to figure stuff out, the more interesting it has been for her. It's something we can do together, she has plenty of educational games.
As for our 4 year old and his iPod, it's extremely locked down. No access to a web browser or inappropriate apps. He can use the wifi, but he can't download anything without a password or my permission.
I believe if you set limits for your children, and teach them responsibility they will understand. If either of our kids ever wants a smart phone, it will be when they have a job so they can be responsible for their internet costs etc. And at this point the devices they have are good enough for them.
To me the big concern is whom the kid might come in contact with on the phone. One of my kids suffered two separate incidents of grooming, one of which resulted in a conviction and another of which resulted in an ongoing police investigation. Of course after the first incident we locked down internet and phone access tight (actually it was tight to begin with), but the second person who tried to groom my kid used a bona fide children's site and avoided all of the security and parental control software. We detected the problem in each case within days and there was no physical abuse, but the damage was done. Everybody thinks it won't happen, but even with vigilant parents it can. On balance, is it worth the risk at the age of 8? Let the kid be a kid - they don't need a phone.
My kids have no access to web browsers on their devices. They do on the home computer, but they rarely use that and I'm always right near.
IMNSHO 8 is a bit too young for a phone. But the I'm an old crusty who believes what I believe because I believe it.
+1
iPod Touch or iPad seems like a better idea at that age.
Glad to hear it. However, the first incident I described happened when my kid met somebody in person in school and the grooming was done via the phone. Simply blocking the internet doesn't work. Once somebody intent on grooming has access to a kid, the first thing they do is to manipulate the kid into disabling any form of parental control or surveillance. You don't want to know horrible ways that manipulation can be achieved... Just sayin'.
I forgot to mention the important part I guess, the phone DOES NOT go with him to school. It stays home charging. It DOES however go with him to after school activities (he comes home first anyways, then goes out to do said activity).
T-Mobile has a "webguard" feature that came with the Parental Controls package, and that was activated...however, unfortunately none of that will work when its on Wi-Fi, so I have to find something I can put at the router level perhaps. I will give it a few more days before I decide if I want to completely block access to Safari.
I was thinking about the 3GS just for the "Find My Friends" feature alone, but not sure if that would even work, or if it would just suck the battery down to nothing and render the feature useless anyway.
For those wondering why it has 500 minutes, is when we added a line to the unlimited family plan, 500 minutes was the least we were allowed to choose. He probably burns through a whole 10 or 20 minutes, and goes nowhere near 500. The hard stop is there as a just in case thing if anything. He gets plenty of time outdoors (which he isn't allowed to bring the phone to, because we all know phones + outdoors + kids = broken screens), and is enrolled in an extracurricular math program as well.
Call it laziness if you must, but I rather have anybody call/text him to get him to come downstairs when he is up in his room, then yell upstairs, as yelling would interrupt my works in iMovie, GarageBand, and my dad's work in FCP...so was that worth it alone for him to have a phone? I thought it was ;-). Is it locked down? You betcha.
In conclusion: The phone pretty much stays with him around the house, but when he is out, he isn't really allowed to take it anywhere, unless he is going to be by himself somewhere, such as the Math Program....and absolutely no taking it to school
T-Mobile has a "webguard" feature that came with the Parental Controls package, and that was activated...however, unfortunately none of that will work when its on Wi-Fi, so I have to find something I can put at the router level perhaps. I will give it a few more days before I decide if I want to completely block access to Safari.
I was thinking about the 3GS just for the "Find My Friends" feature alone, but not sure if that would even work, or if it would just suck the battery down to nothing and render the feature useless anyway.
For those wondering why it has 500 minutes, is when we added a line to the unlimited family plan, 500 minutes was the least we were allowed to choose. He probably burns through a whole 10 or 20 minutes, and goes nowhere near 500. The hard stop is there as a just in case thing if anything. He gets plenty of time outdoors (which he isn't allowed to bring the phone to, because we all know phones + outdoors + kids = broken screens), and is enrolled in an extracurricular math program as well.
Call it laziness if you must, but I rather have anybody call/text him to get him to come downstairs when he is up in his room, then yell upstairs, as yelling would interrupt my works in iMovie, GarageBand, and my dad's work in FCP
...so was that worth it alone for him to have a phone? I thought it was ;-). Is it locked down? You betcha.In conclusion: The phone pretty much stays with him around the house, but when he is out, he isn't really allowed to take it anywhere, unless he is going to be by himself somewhere, such as the Math Program....and absolutely no taking it to school
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Sounds pretty stupid to me. But I suppose their are worst parents out there. I'm 19 and I've had a phone since middle school, but this still sounds pretty stupid to me.
If you're set on going down this road, don't wait on restricting the internet. Unrestricted internet access WILL bite your son sooner or later.
Example: Type "girls fun" in Google. You get links to American Girl Doll, Fisher-Price and another site with kids browser games. All innocuous stuff.
Now type "girl fun." Not so good.
Learned that the hard way with my own daughter. And there are hundreds of other innocent ways for even responsible kids to end up where they shouldn't (and really don't want to) be.
I think you have to ask yourself: Why are you really doing this? Just so you don't have to yell upstairs? Is that really it? Or is it maybe, just a little, that it makes you feel good somehow to give your son an awesome gadget that you know in your heart is really too advanced for him? He doesn't need it. You don't need him to have it. So why, really, are you doing it?
Is it for you or for him? That question lies at the heart of most parenting issues. Just speaking from experience.
My 5yr old is going to be getting her first phone around that age as well.
I don't think it's crazy. I want to know when she's at a friends, etc, she has a line of communication with us at all times.
We're no longer limited by landlines, and they shouldn't either. I only plan on her being able to text/call (no web, etc) when that happens but I think it's fine.
Plus my wife loves the idea of getting texts from her.
I don't think it's crazy. I want to know when she's at a friends, etc, she has a line of communication with us at all times.
We're no longer limited by landlines, and they shouldn't either. I only plan on her being able to text/call (no web, etc) when that happens but I think it's fine.
Plus my wife loves the idea of getting texts from her.
Because anywhere that a 5 year old is going to be doesn't have a single adult with access to a phone, right?
Where is a child going to be that they need a phone so desperately? Grandma's? The babysitter's? Preschool? A play date? The kid is 5. You aren't sending them down to the corner store with a shopping list or to the airport to pick up a friend.
Even if you're meaning you're getting the kid a phone at 8, the same thing applies.
Then it's even dumber for a sibling to be making parenting decisions.
Sounds like Dad needs to pull his head out of his FCP.
Because anywhere that a 5 year old is going to be doesn't have a single adult with access to a phone, right?
Where is a child going to be that they need a phone so desperately? Grandma's? The babysitter's? Preschool? A play date? The kid is 5. You aren't sending them down to the corner store with a shopping list or to the airport to pick up a friend.
Even if you're meaning you're getting the kid a phone at 8, the same thing applies.
This. No THIS.
A gadget isn't a substitute for an adult. Could your kid need to call you from a party or a play date or an after school activity? Certainly. Is a cell phone one solution? Yes. But is it the best solution? No.
Better to know the parents or the teacher or the coach or the tutor - the adult who is on the scene. Better to know ALL the adults who are involved and call each other and look out for each other. And tell your kid to look to the adults you know and trust to help him.
You can't give a little kid a phone and assume he'll be fine out in the world. That's just not how it works.
My daughters phone is NOT a substitute for an adult. It stays at home and was originally purchased because we do not have a home phone. If she comes home from school and something has happened and I'm not home or I'm not okay, she needs to be able to call someone. I don't allow her to leave the house with it unless she's going to grandmas and wants to work on her texting which is the equivalent of her practicing spelling.
If it's her only access to a phone, then that's obviously different.
And, sorry if I came off as confrontational. That's not my intent. It's just that a common rationale people give for their young kids having a phone is "What if they need to call me?" But when you look at the situation a bit more closely, it often seems that the phone is a crutch to avoid having to do the old-fashioned work of parenting. Knowing what your kid is doing and who he's with, and having sufficient rapport with the adults to trust that they can help your kid if need be, is infinitely better than a kid alone with a phone.
Not directed at you specifically. Just standing on a soapbox.
You ARE crazy to stay with T-Mobile!
I did research with staying with Tmo, being stuck with EDGE speeds, AND paying full price for iPhone 4S, it was a loosing proposition!
Don't forget, you are STILL paying phone subsidies even if your contract has expired!!
To be fair I did talk with TMo many times, but in the end they refused to give me a reasonable offer for me to stay, so I left.
AT&T is not perfect but it worked out much better for me, and after 14 years with T-Mobile (Voicestream when I joined) I left and have NO REGRETS for leaving.
I did research with staying with Tmo, being stuck with EDGE speeds, AND paying full price for iPhone 4S, it was a loosing proposition!
Don't forget, you are STILL paying phone subsidies even if your contract has expired!!
To be fair I did talk with TMo many times, but in the end they refused to give me a reasonable offer for me to stay, so I left.
AT&T is not perfect but it worked out much better for me, and after 14 years with T-Mobile (Voicestream when I joined) I left and have NO REGRETS for leaving.