Cell phone for 11 year old

[tink89]

DD11 is starting middle school in a few months and I would like her to have some sort of way to communicate with me and the family. No social media is needed on the phone or internet really and she would only take to school and sports practices. My mother usually picks her up but sometimes I do or DH or one of my siblings. We just need to be in contact so that she can call us or we can let her know who is picking her up or if we will be running late.

I do not plan on her having an actual phone until she goes to high school. I just don't see the need for it.
Any suggestions on a smartphone?

 

[CdnCarrie]

We got our kid one at age 11 as he was taking public transit and we wanted to cut the home phone line. Without the phone line I had no way of contacting him if he was home alone.

 

[tink89]

We got our kid one at age 11 as he was taking public transit and we wanted to cut the home phone line. Without the phone line I had no way of contacting him if he was home alone.

Which phone?

 

[soccerdad72]

We started our younger son at around 11 with whatever the most basic phone being offered by our provider (Verizon) was at the time. After a year or so without incidents (e.g. braking it, losing it, etc.) we bit the bullet and got him an iPhone.

 

[OneOftheB's]

We gave our 10yo son my husbands old iPhone 5. He doesn’t have control over his iTunes account and has to go through us to download anything. We also put some controls on it that flag inappropriate words/websites etc.

If you just want a phone, you can get an old school flip phone. My 84 dad goes through 2-3 a year and we buy a replacement whenever his gets washed or goes swimming.

 

[sam_gordon]

DD11 is starting middle school in a few months and I would like her to have some sort of way to communicate with me and the family. No social media is needed on the phone or internet really and she would only take to school and sports practices. My mother usually picks her up but sometimes I do or DH or one of my siblings. We just need to be in contact so that she can call us or we can let her know who is picking her up or if we will be running late.

I do not plan on her having an actual phone until she goes to high school. I just don't see the need for it.
Any suggestions on a smartphone?

You actually contradicted yourself. A "smart phone" is going to be able to get on the internet, download apps, etc. If all you want is call/text, look for a basic phone. I'm going to suggest a pay as you go plan, which the main service providers have them as well as Walmart, Target, etc.

A pay as you go would be a lot cheaper if it gets lost or broken.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We gave him an older iPhone. It has come in handy many times including watching Netflix while on a plane, in a car, etc.

 

[tink89]

You actually contradicted yourself. A "smart phone" is going to be able to get on the internet, download apps, etc. If all you want is call/text, look for a basic phone. I'm going to suggest a pay as you go plan, which the main service providers have them as well as Walmart, Target, etc.

A pay as you go would be a lot cheaper if it gets lost or broken.

I just have not really looked in to much of this. I believe they have smartphones that parents can manage. Turn off from their phone and also see and block certain things. I don't mind a smart phone as long as It has some sort of parental controls.

We gave him an older iPhone. It has come in handy many times including watching Netflix while on a plane, in a car, etc.

I have an iphone 7 that she could have i guess but only if i am able to use parental controls. I would like her to be able to download apps just not social media apps. She is way too young for that.

 

[Colleen27]

We get our kids phones at that age too, but we get smartphones right from the start. Nothing high end - no iPhone X or Galaxy s10 - but I do want them to have access to Google calendar & docs, Duolingo, and their school e-mail at a minimum, so a flip phone isn't going to get the job done. For the first couple years, while they're still learning about responsible use, I do monitor what they're getting up to and what apps they're installing/using on their phones and I require the phones be left downstairs to charge when they go up to bed at night so they're not tempted to be watching YouTube or Snapchatting with friends when they should be sleeping.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

I have an iphone 7 that she could have i guess but only if i am able to use parental controls. I would like her to be able to download apps just not social media apps. She is way too young for that.

Apple's screen Time has many parental controls: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304

 

[tink89]

Apple's screen Time has many parental controls: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304

This seems like what i am looking for. Hope it will work with an iphone 7. I just need something she can take with her to school. She will not really be using it at home or taking it other places where we are present. I just want her to be able to communicate with family but can also take it on vacations or long day outings.

 

[wenrob]

I was just going to post about Screen Time on iPhones. My kids can’t do anything I don’t want them to do. I can control it from my iPhone or iPad. I have grounded them from devices and was still able to let them carry their phone and only use it as a phone and nothing else. It’s going to gain even more functionality in iOS 13 (will work on the 7) You can control iTunes spending etc. through Family Sharing. I have mine set up so they can’t buy anything without approval.

We handed down old iPhones when our kids were ten and have eased up on control/restrictions as they get older.

 

[wenrob]

This seems like what i am looking for. Hope it will work with an iphone 7. I just need something she can take with her to school. She will not really be using it at home or taking it other places where we are present. I just want her to be able to communicate with family but can also take it on vacations or long day outings.

This is similar to what we did. Now that they are older and we let them roam some when we’re out and about I have to remind them to bring their phones.

 

[wenrob]

We get our kids phones at that age too, but we get smartphones right from the start. Nothing high end - no iPhone X or Galaxy s10 - but I do want them to have access to Google calendar & docs, Duolingo, and their school e-mail at a minimum, so a flip phone isn't going to get the job done. For the first couple years, while they're still learning about responsible use, I do monitor what they're getting up to and what apps they're installing/using on their phones and I require the phones be left downstairs to charge when they go up to bed at night so they're not tempted to be watching YouTube or Snapchatting with friends when they should be sleeping.

I still won’t let mine have YouTube on their phones. I don’t want them dinking around (and burning up data) on YouTube at school. What does the school do? Allow them access on the school computers.

 

[MrsDuck]

I think it's a good age. And, I think a "dumb" phone without internet is a good choice!

 

[low-key]

its an electronic leach, young is good

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

We get our kids phones at that age too, but we get smartphones right from the start. Nothing high end - no iPhone X or Galaxy s10 - but I do want them to have access to Google calendar & docs, Duolingo, and their school e-mail at a minimum, so a flip phone isn't going to get the job done. For the first couple years, while they're still learning about responsible use, I do monitor what they're getting up to and what apps they're installing/using on their phones and I require the phones be left downstairs to charge when they go up to bed at night so they're not tempted to be watching YouTube or Snapchatting with friends when they should be sleeping.

I understand that I am a adult but how do you your kids get up on time I use my phone alarm clock when I have to be up by a certain time vrs a alarm clock less clutter

 

[wenrob]

I understand that I am a adult but how do you your kids get up on time I use my phone alarm clock when I have to be up by a certain time vrs a alarm clock less clutter

Alarm clocks. Actually my kids have Alexa set an alarm.

 

[Ellie008]

We got DD a phone at 11 as well. I was going to hand down my old one, but ended up getting a free one when we opened the new line of phone service. She got that instead, as I had just upgraded mine. I do have it set up so I have to approve any app she wants to download, and she doesn't get any social media.
I am surprised how much she uses it to communicate with friends though. Nearly all of her friends have phones, and they text each other a lot.

 

[Ellie008]

I understand that I am a adult but how do you your kids get up on time I use my phone alarm clock when I have to be up by a certain time vrs a alarm clock less clutter

My kids get up when I go wake them up. They do have alarm clocks in their rooms though.

How do you know what time it is when you wake up in the middle of the night if you don't have an alarm clock in the room? You grope around in the dark for your phone and then have to pick it up and look? That sounds terrible.
I have a clock that projects the time up onto the ceiling so that I don't even have to roll over to see what time it is when I wake up. That is luxury. Or maybe I just wake up too many times in the middle of the night!