First phone for tween?

[monorailsilver]

My 13 yo dd has an iphone, its a 4 but still an iphone.

She got it at the end of 6th grade, she is now in 8th. 7th & 8th are middle school here, 6th is still elementary. Basically she got it the day before the last day of school as a 6th grade graduation present.

She was going to get a phone and we chose the iphone for 2 reasons:

Her ipod was old & outdated, it didn't have a camera, quite a few apps she couldn't use on it, etc... So instead of getting her a new ipod for Christmas 6 months prior we chose to make her wait. I know she was bummed Christmas morning but oh well!!

I liked the find my iphone feature and we are all on the same iTunes account.

I will say quite a few kids do have iphones. There are others that don't. Heck she planned on getting the slider kind of phone and had no idea she was getting an iphone. Most of the kids have the 4s or 5s.

She and I will upgrade in June to a 5/free phone and my son who is in 6th grade will also get one.

She obviously texts, I have her check things online at times if we are out, she has instagram (I do check the texts & instagram from time to time). There are days that I don't pick her up at school but I pick her up from one of the bus stops about 15 min before she gets to ours. And I can track her so I can see when I have to leave my house. I don't have to wait at the corner forever not knowing if I missed her or if the bus is late.

Even yesterday it was pouring so I just kept tracking her until the bus was about a mile away & then I left my house & got to the bus stop with out waiting forever.

Go with what you are comfortable since you are paying for it.

 

[Sparkly]

My first phone at 11 years old was a Nokia! It only did calls and texts and played Snake, but I loved it.

I didn't get a smart phone until last year. (okay, I had a Blackberry when I was 18, but that did almost nothing so it's only a slightly more intelligent phone)

 

[SEA333]

I am going to get my DD (11) a phone for Christmas. I didn't plan on getting her one this early but her middle school is lacking in the communication department. They want them to be independent so they sign up themselves for the late bus which the times vary and I never know what time she will be coming home from after school clubs or if the clubs are cancelled that day. So I want to be able to know where she is! So I decided to get her one. As it is she is the last of her close friends to get one. She of course wants an Iphone and says a flip phone would embarrass her!

Just wondering what is a good first phone that won't embarrass my 11 year old??? Do 11 year olds have smart phones?

My 10 year old got the hand-me-down Iphone something or other last year, dropped it on her friends wood floors and cracked the screen (fluke accident....she really does take very good care of it and was devastated when she picked it up and saw the shattered screen), but it only ever had wireless capabilities on it.

She uses the house phone to call me when she gets home from school, just like in the old days. She survives - and so do we. She's getting a new one for Christmas, but again, only wireless on it until she starts 6th grade next year. Frankly, it's more because we already pay an arm and a leg for my, DH, and DS14's phone plans and I just cannot see spending that much on a 4th line. sigh.

If you get your DD a phone at all, don't embarrass her. If she is the last one to get a phone out of her friends, do her a favor and get her a new(er) smart phone

And, yes, at least in my area, "all' the kids have smartphones. I coach cheerleading for 10-12 year old girls. Every single one of them (26 in all) have smartphones. So does 95% of DD's friends at school, evident by the amount of time they all spend on Instagram I think one of them uses an Ipad to communicate. The rest use their phones. But, that is my area. It could differ. We live in an area of the Chicago suburbs where our income bracket is considered "working/middle-class", however, in many parts of the country, we would be considered affluent. (darn home prices and taxes here !! grrr)

 

[Missy29]

I just got my ds 11 an iPhone 6 for Christmas, it's defienetly his big present, it was $200 since we activated a new line and with our current plan(Sprint) only an extra $30 a month. Also getting him the life case with it. I would get her something she will be happy with, which is probably something her friends have or better.

 

[ArmchairDetective]

My daughter (12) has been begging for a phone. She says all of the kids have em! So, we got a used iPhone 5c on eBay and we added her to our Ting plan. It is a Christmas gift and I am uber excited to give it to her. She is not expecting it at all!

For kids, this is optimal. The phone is paid for up front and so you don't "lease" or "finance" it over time. There is no contract. We can change her phone at any time.

The Ting plan will cost ~$17/mo. I expect she will text more than talk and her data will be limited to mostly WiFi.

We've had our business phone on Ting for about a year and have been very happy with customer service, clear billing, and the ability to track/monitor and limit.

If anyone wants a referral link, PM me. I think we each get $25 as credit.

 

[MinnieForMe]

My daughter who is 13 now still has her first phone from age 10. It's a Pantech but looks like a Blackberry. She's not asking for an IPhone and in our family you don't get a smartphone until you have a job that you can pay $20 towards the data fee. Other daughter was 16 when she got an iPhone . I don't fall for the everyone has one.

Us too! My son got his iPhone after he got a job and a car. He was 16! I am currently looking for something inexpensive for my 13 year old to take with him on a 4 day trip to Washington, DC.

Thanks everyone for posting. It is helping with my decision (but he won't be getting an Iphone!

 

[jensen]

DD11 has an iPod. Most of her friends just have iPods, too. So, we haven't had to worry about a phone for her, yet.

This summer we got DS14 a phone for his birthday. When I went into the store, my intent was to get him a dumb phone. But, the smartphone was free with our plan and it only costs $10/month more for data than regular cellular with unlimited texting. So, I caved.

Of course, within a month, he had broken the phone. That's another story for another thread...

 

[Jaime4004]

We got DD a tracfone when she was 9 because she was very busy with activities afterschool and I wanted to keep track of her. She loved it, but still asked for an iphone for years. She would frequently run out of texts. Her ipod died this fall so she got an iphone for her 11th birthday. Very few kids in her class actually had one at the time, but they slowly seem to be getting them... It gets a lot of use. Facetiming/texting friends, looking up things on internet for homework, calling/texting me to pick her up from activities, videoing cheerleading routines that she is learning, etc. We are an iphone family, the other 2 younger kids have our old iphones to use as ipods (phone function off, only works on wifi). I love being texted or facetimed by them if they miss me while i'm out. DS 9 will probably stick with that for a while, I don't see him wanting to talk to or text friends any time soon. The ipod does everything he needs it to. And he isn't involved in any activities that we're not there for.

 

[stsomewhere]

My daughter is in 8th grade and son in 11th grade. They have both had iphones for a few years. They upgrade to Iphone 6+ when they came out. It is their Christmas present. We were able to sell their iphone 4 to ATT store for $200 each. We received a credit on our bill.

We pay $150 a month for 4 iphones.