At what age would you allow your daughter to have her own iphone?

[Splinter]

My 9 year old has an iPhone. It was a birthday gift from my parents, but they okayed it with me first. He really likes it for the music, games and camera, and he hardly uses the internet on it.

 

Obviously he doesn't need it, but no one really does, so I don't see a reason to wait until a certain age.

[angela in ohio]

One consideration to the concern of letting a younger kid have unlimited internet access on their phone is making it a condition that mom and dad can see the phone on request at any time. This may not be enough for some kids, but it could with others.

 

On the other hand, I didn't get one until I was 22, so I'm not terribly sympathetic to youngins getting one :tongue_smilie:

 

Don't feel too bad, there weren't cell phones at all when many of use were 22. :D

 

When I was 22, everyone had pagers. I remember when my parents had a "car phone" which was a giant phone in a bag that sat in your car and plugged in to the cigarette lighter.

 

Of course, I realized the other day while reading a book about the internet that there were only 100 web pages when I was a freshman in college. :lol:

[Donna]

:iagree:When they have a job and can pay for it themselves. We buy them a regular phone when they start driving for emergencies but they pay for smart phones, texting, etc...*I* don't even have a smart phone!

 

:iagree::iagree:

[TheApprentice]

My ds 13 got a phone at 11 and my current 11 yo will be getting one for Christmas.

[Tap]

If cost wasn't a consideration, I wouldn't care if she had one at 10.

 

That being said, cost isn't a consideration for a regular cell phone, and dd12 doesn't have on yet.

 

She doesn't need one yet. I would rather save it for something special when she gets to the point of needing one.

[extendedforecast]

My dd13 already has an iPod, which is like an iPhone, but without the phone. When the time comes (soon) for her to get her own phone, we will get whichever free phone that can be added to our plan. When she can pay her own data usage, she can have an iPhone. I would have voted other, because it's a cost factor for us. Cost aside, it's not a matter of age, but of necessity. iPhone vs. regular phone is not an issue for us.

[Night Elf]

We don't have iphones, but we have smartphones with our Sprint plan. We have to pay a monthly charge for the data plan regardless of how many phones use it. Dd19 has been paying for her phone since she got a job 2 years ago, but dd13 doesn't pay for her phone. We pay extra per phone for insurance as well. It's come in handy a couple of times.

[nd293]

I think my real concern would be about Internet access - when the child is old enough for unsupervised Internet access, I guess I would not object to an iPhone over any other phone. Even if you don't have a data plan, the iPhone could be used in the house, linked to the home Internet, or at least, that's how ours work. So unless the phone is kept in a public place, the child would have "private" Internet access. Didn't know you could limit browsing with a password. That makes more sense.

[Homemaker]

I voted 18 or older, basically when they are on their own. There are too many dangers. My husband and I have one and

as an accountabilty thing we do together, I have a block code on his Safari and he uses a family safe browser. However, there are still ways of viewing inapproiate things from YouTube to even the app store (unless you set it 12 and younger, you can still look up sexy girls and have free porn without even purchasing or downloading an app). Also, not knowing who they are testing or calling would really bug me. Plus the CONSTANT "having" to be in contact with friends alllll the time I think is a little much. Kids need to have some alone time and not constant approval of friends.

 

I know we will be in the minority, but our poor kids will be lucky if they even have a tracphone or something they all share.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My daughter got her iPhone at 18. She paid for it (only $19 on the att site) and the data (as well as her portion of the text) herself. My son is 16½ and has his sister's old phone as he ruined his upgraded - not smart- phone (jumped into the pool with it as he was distracted by a girl). He qualifies for an upgrade next October.

 

Really, it wouldn't be about age (so I didn't vote). It is simply about responsibility.

[momofkhm]

Cost considerations aside (and knowing that all children are different, etc.) at what age would you allow your daughter to have a personal iphone?

 

I can't put cost considerations aside. She can have a smart phone when she can afford the data plan. My oldest is 17 and if she could pay for it, yes she could have one. My 14 yo, no.

[Hikin' Mama]

meaning that I wouldn't pay for one. I don't have a smart phone, and I'm not willing to pay for one for my kids either. In fact, I haven't provided cell phones for my teens either. When they go somewhere, I would let them borrow mine, if the need to. My oldest now has his own (he's in college), my 16 yos purchased a Tracphone and pays for his own minutes, and my 14 yod doesn't have one.

[woolybear]

IMO, one of the main dangers of smart phones is the unmonitored access to the internet. Our computers are in public places for a reason. No private internet use for our children. I wouldn't even consider that type of freedom until the late teens.

 

I would never pay for a smart phone for our kids at any age. That's one of life's perks that they will have to pay for themselves.

:iagree: I didn't have an answer when I read the poll and then the first post, but this seems very reasonable to me.

[Jenny in Florida]

So, I guess it's not really an age thing for us but rather a responsibility issue.

 

Ditto.

 

I didn't vote, because I wouldn't make the decision based on a child's age.

 

Both of my kids had cell phones from the time they were about seven or eight. They were often being dropped places without me, and didn't always have access to a phone without a cell. The phones were never used for "fun" purposes. They didn't call friends or get online or text anyone other than me or my husband. Both lost phones at least once or twice. There was no way we would have given either of them anything expensive or fancy at that point.

 

However, over the years, each on got an inexpensive MP3 player. When we got to the point at which they were good about taking care of the simple phones and the MP3 players, we began to feel fine about getting them fancier stuff.

 

My son now has an iPod touch, which he got for Christmas when he was 13. My daughter still has her basic cell phone and an iPod, because she's content with that and still misplaces her phone at least twice a week.

[Chris in VA]

:iagree:

IMO, one of the main dangers of smart phones is the unmonitored access to the internet. Our computers are in public places for a reason. No private internet use for our children. I wouldn't even consider that type of freedom until the late teens.

 

I would never pay for a smart phone for our kids at any age. That's one of life's perks that they will have to pay for themselves.

[ZooRho]

mine got a phone when we thought they would need one for OUR BENIFIT.

oldest was 16-17.

 

youngest got a phone at 12/13? BUT we had to update plans, and we made a decision to get rid of the house phone.

 

NOW to get one with a DATA plan, they would have to be paying for it themselves.

[J-rap]

IMO, one of the main dangers of smart phones is the unmonitored access to the internet. Our computers are in public places for a reason. No private internet use for our children. I wouldn't even consider that type of freedom until the late teens.

 

I would never pay for a smart phone for our kids at any age. That's one of life's perks that they will have to pay for themselves.

 

.

[kewb]

Both my kids got cell phones at 10. Neither one has internet access. They can make calls and they can text.

[Lisa3033]

Unrestricted, unsupervised access to the internet? Probably not until late teens, if even then. They would need to pay for the phone and service themselves.

[Melissa B]

Thanks for the replies!

 

It is the unrestricted access to the internet that concerns me. My eldest has a cell phone and her sister will get one this year as well. We do think they both need cell phones in our situation. While the iphones are free, my dh wants to offer both girls the option of one with the data plan being a birthday gift. My first thought was - No way. But I'm going to think on it more if the girls are interested.

[LaxMom]

Well, let's see... I got one at 40, after 26 years of gainful employment.

 

Yeah, my kids will get spendy phones and spendy plans when they, personally, can afford it. And are mature enough to have unfettered Internet access.