It is never too late to change your phone company. This is more of a challenge, which if you are a fearless person, you can do it without thinking much. I prefer to try all types of phones and then, again and again, to decide which one to stop. But with every phone I buy, I install my [url=https://www.familyorbit.com/blog/iphone-tracker/][color=#000000]iPhone spy app[/color][/url] to keep my phone and system away from hackers. Because lately, I had too many problems with them, they stuck like leeches, and I didn't know what to do until they advised me to install this application.

[color=#000000]iPhones don't work as well as people are saying. I recently bought a new iPhone, and one friend of mine helped me [/color][url=https://macpaw.com/how-to/set-up-new-iphone][color=#000000][size=100]set up a new iPhone from an old iPhone[/size][/color][/url][color=#000000]. I backup my old iPhone. After I inserted all the data into my new phone, it started to download my information. I used it for a week, and I have noticed that not all information was seven on my iCloud. I already deleted everything from my old phone, and I don't know how I can recover all that data. I had a lot of beautiful photos with my friends and family, and now they are lost.[/color]

No you're not being mean at all - unless you've already given him the impression that he might have his wish granted.

Our eldest child didn't get a 'phone until he was 13 and it was a cast off from an older relative. Our youngest was given a partially damaged cast off by a friend (unexpectedly and without our prior knowledge) at the age of 12, which we occasionally regret happening. But we never would have sanctioned it until she was 13 - luckily she is fairly bright and mature for her age and yes, nearly all her schoolfriend have 'phones.

But a brand new iPhone for a 10 year old ?!? You must be kidding. 

I would buy iPhone 7 or new SE for my children. 

get him a book, don't spoil your child with all those expensive stuff, he needs to know the price of other things which are more important

 they are tooo expensive.

Also agree; I must have assumed that a 10-year-old flash gadget is mistaken for all of his protection on too many occasions!
 

[size=100][font=Calibri,sans-serif]Not a problem if you have the money to spare. Best to let your chuffer take the phone for safe keeping when he drops child off at the school gate and give back when collecting child after school. [/font][/size] 8-)

We've done just as Jonny has stated recently with our 10 year old daughter who was pestering us for a phone and got all the above well stated advice from parents in her year group.
We bought an old iphone7 for £100.

She does need it because she is partially travelling to school by herself and while we didnt get mobile phones until we were at university, smart phones, apps and social media are a fact of life for this generation.

I would rather the children learned how to navigate this world safely and with parental supervision. For that reason I think age 10 is not a bad idea.

[quote=AbbevilleMummy post_id=263265 time=1608060893 user_id=6896]The only plus I would say regarding an iPhone over any other brands is that if you have an iPhone you can create a child’s account linked to your account which means they can’t download any apps etc without your phone notifying you and asking permission. There are other controls too.

I imagine the other phone brands do similar so I would probably get whatever brand phone you have and linking them.[/quote]

This is a really good point.  Mrs Santa, if you do go for an (older!!) iphone, assuming you already have one yourself, there are a few things you should do:

Set up family sharing.  This effectively gives your son his own Apple ID, but it is linked to the parent account and he has to 'ask' permission from the parent before he can download any apps etc.  Once he clicks on 'buy' in app store you then get a message to ask permission.

Make sure that you enable 'find my iphone' so that you can track where he is (or at least where his phone is).  I find this particularly useful to give me peace of mind when my kids are going to and from from school on their own.

There is a little known 'restrictions' password that you should also set.  If something happens and the phone is stolen, or worst of all he is forced to open the phone to other kids so that they can take it, they can only do a limited number of things without the restrictions code.  If someone steals a an unlocked phone the first thing they will do is disable find my iphone.  The restrictions lock would prevent them from doing this. Obviously don't give this code to your son.

Lastly, there are a number of apps that allow parents visibility of their child's devices.  A friend of mine has a son who was using his phone to browse the internet (nothing dodgy) when they had gone to bed.  She had an app setup so that it notified her of this.  There is also an app called Gallery Guardian which is an app which immediately notifies the parents if a suspicious image has been detected on their child's device.

I realise that some of this may seem over the top, however none of it is particularly invasive, and my kids are both fully aware of what is setup on their phones, which hopefully means that they also understand some of the responsibility of owning a phone.  It's not a toy.

Jonny

[quote=KylieHodges post_id=263249 time=1608036028 user_id=55603]why are you putting your child under stress? Now is a completely different time and children develop much faster than we do.[/quote]

What kind of stress do you imply? So far I can see a caring Mum who is asking all the right questions, considering the decision and looking at it from every angle and carefully considering options. If you refer to child's " but muuuum all my friends have it", then it is no stress at all and it is oh so wrong! Comparing yourself to others based on the stuff you own is wrong. But I can clearly see that MrsSanta knows it already, and makes correct and well-thought choices. 

The only plus I would say regarding an iPhone over any other brands is that if you have an iPhone you can create a child’s account linked to your account which means they can’t download any apps etc without your phone notifying you and asking permission. There are other controls too.

I imagine the other phone brands do similar so I would probably get whatever brand phone you have and linking them.

Right, so no latest iphone for Xmas for my son! Decision made with all of your collective help. Thank you all so much for sharing.
I think we will steer away from Apple altogether and go for another brand that doesn't have so much status attahed. Will be the Social Dilemma too :-)

Absolutely 1000% too much for a 10 year-old and I would argue a ridiculous price for anyone if I'm honest. I am not a fan of the Apple bandwagon, they pull you in and after a year the updates go in and the battery suddenly dies and you have to upgrade because they just stop working. You need all of their special cables and accessories, eurgh. I have also watched the Social Dilemma too and it blew my mind!

From a parental perspective we will probably getting my 9 year-old a phone this year but we have explained it will be a dumb phone which can call and text only so he can contact us when out at the park with his chums.

I have spoken to him in detail about Tik Tok and Social Media in general (after watching social dilemma) and how miserable it can make people and how manipulative it all is. And he seems to understand. Even if he didn't he'd have to because I genuinely think it is one of the most harms we can expose our kids, let alone making him a massive target for thieves!

 

Schools at Christmas need consideration, particularly in primary.  Definitely you should not get this.  What is more, you need to work out why your son want one.  Is he being bullied at school or does he want to show off at school?  It is possible that there is someone at school who has been boasting about getting one for Christmas and laughing at others.

Forgive the story but.....  About 40 years ago I was coming to the end of my teaching practice in a primary school which had children from very poor to very comfortable families.  One poor girl used all her money to buy a very small bar of chocolate to thank me.  Just as she had given it to me, 2 girls from very comfortable families bounced in to give me a very large bar of the same chocolate (bought by parents).  The poor girl's face was dreadful to see - she was so upset.  I had to take her to one side and (despite all my own rules) hugged her and told her that her present meant so much more to me.