My poor Iphone-less 13 year old

[castleview]

So DD13 was telling me how ALL the kids in school got Iphones for Christmas. Funny how all constitutes five or six kids while the other 200 students go unnoticed. I said "maybe one day, but you have all you need on your phone (calling & texting) and you have your IPOD". Well, I forgot that the IPOD is only the 4th generation.

So as the bus comes, she said "I'm not even going to ask for a new car when I'm old enough because I'll be lucky to drive a hubcap to school." Well, okay…at least she knows to keep her expectations low.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

LOL!

(FYI, she's ahead of my 17 year old. His phone doesn't even have texting {and he never remembers it anyway})

 

[Monte Cristo]

So DD13 was telling me how ALL the kids in school got Iphones for Christmas. Funny how all constitutes five or six kids while the other 200 students go unnoticed. I said "maybe one day, but you have all you need on your phone (calling & texting) and you have your IPOD". Well, I forgot that the IPOD is only the 4th generation.

So as the bus comes, she said "I'm not even going to ask for a new car when I'm old enough because I'll be lucky to drive a hubcap to school." Well, okay…at least she knows to keep her expectations low.

I spoil my kids, or so my wife says, so I would get her the phone.

 

[jrmasm]

So DD13 was telling me how ALL the kids in school got Iphones for Christmas. Funny how all constitutes five or six kids while the other 200 students go unnoticed. I said "maybe one day, but you have all you need on your phone (calling & texting) and you have your IPOD". Well, I forgot that the IPOD is only the 4th generation.

So as the bus comes, she said "I'm not even going to ask for a new car when I'm old enough because I'll be lucky to drive a hubcap to school." Well, okay…at least she knows to keep her expectations low.

Tell your daughter she's not the most abused YET. My DD 17 just got an Iphone in Dec.

I'm mean!!

 

[Disney Doll]

I think we need to call DCF.

 

[dsneprincess]

My poor DS has almost the same problem, except no iphone (and a lot of the kids in 5-8 here really DO have them!) & no cell phone at all. Itouch is only 4th generation & 8gig, so that's been an embarressment from day 1. To make matters even worse, mom disabled safari & put in some horribly un-cool middle school friendly browser. He is also not allowed to bring the itouch(or even his 3ds) to school daily for use at lunch. See, there are "meaner" moms than you! LOL

 

[goofyintoronto]

My DS12 got an iphone a few months ago. BUT, its only an iphone 4, and it was free because i switched him over to my plan, the family plan. I thought it would be easier to pay one phone bill instead of 2 separate ones, so i switched him over. And if he can a free iphone then why not!? I had the option of getting him the 4s for $79, but I decided not to. He doesnt need it. Lol. He'd argue that he does, but whatever.

I was surprised as to how many other kids in his class had one as well!

 

[clm10308]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h9TnjmnCv6s

I hope this link works. It is to a cute song on on YouTube call "I ain't got no iPhone"

Tim Hawkins slos has a funny song "I'm not gonna buy you an iPhone"
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tlyOSRTxglA

 

[okeydokey]

Too funny. My DD got her first phone last year when she was almost 14, talk and text only, no data. She never complained.

We got her first ipod this year for Christmas. She asked for the gen 4 because the gen 5 was too expensive and she said that it was ridiculous to pay that much. They drive me crazy in many ways, but they are always grateful for what they get and reasonable about money.

Many of her friends (younger than her too) have the data phones and laptops, but we live in a pretty rural, area and she also has friends who live in a much lower income bracket than we do. She realizes we are blessed.

 

[Glynis]

Well, then, I must be the meanest mom on the planet! My 15 year old has a basic phone, no data plan, limited texting. Plus, keeping it is contingent on keeping her grades to A's and B's. She's working her butt off to bring her C+ in Algebra 2 up before next Tuesday!

To top all that off, my 13 year old DS has no phone whatsoever. He is in his first year of middle school, and we gave him the same deal as his sister when she was 13... straight A's for a year means a basic cell phone after we get his report card.

None of my kids have more than an iPod nano, either. If they want anything more, they have to save up their money and buy it themselves. So far, the 13 year old is saving his money for one, but yesterday changed his mind, and decided a French horn is really what he wants. DD 15 is fine with her nano, and my twin 10 year olds don't really care. Hope that continues for a while!

 

[pigletgirl]

Stirring the pot here, but why does a 12 year old need a cellphone, much less an iphone?

 

[afnaechiquita]

Consider this

http://www.uproxx.com/technology/20...an-18-point-contract-to-get-his-first-iphone/

 

[SaraJayne]

So DD13 was telling me how ALL the kids in school got Iphones for Christmas. Funny how all constitutes five or six kids while the other 200 students go unnoticed. I said "maybe one day, but you have all you need on your phone (calling & texting) and you have your IPOD". Well, I forgot that the IPOD is only the 4th generation.

So as the bus comes, she said "I'm not even going to ask for a new car when I'm old enough because I'll be lucky to drive a hubcap to school." Well, okay…at least she knows to keep her expectations low.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd16 has an iphone - ds14 has a 4 year old broken down cellphone (because he broke his last one). He wants an iphone . Maybe when he can get through a two year contract without losing or breaking a phone (this broken down one was even lost, he had to go back to one which had a charger stand!). Good thing we save them.

A lot of dd11's friends and dd9's friends got iphones for Christmas. Dd9 did finally get an ipod touch (4th generation, refurbished). Dd11 has had a phone for a few years due to her dance schedule, but she prefers her ipod touch anyway.

Some justify it, saying that if you have a phone and and ipod touch, you might as well put them together. However, you don't have to pay for a data plan on the touch, and if it's lost, too bad, so sad, it's done - I don't STILL have to pay a monthly fee for it.

Now, I see the need for cellphones, because I don't want my kids to have to be in the company of adults at all times. I want them to have certain freedoms, and it's much easier if they can call me, and let me know where they are, or I can call them, and tell them to come home. I'd love to get one for ds9, because of all of his sports practices (that never end when they are supposed to), but I'd feel guilty not giving one to dd9 (who doesn't need one - she's usually with dd11, who has a phone).

All I can say is that my cellphone bill is ridiculous as it is without everyone having a data plan!

 

[SpecialK]

My DS12 got an iphone a few months ago. BUT, its only an iphone 4, and it was free because i switched him over to my plan, the family plan. I thought it would be easier to pay one phone bill instead of 2 separate ones, so i switched him over. And if he can a free iphone then why not!? I had the option of getting him the 4s for $79, but I decided not to. He doesnt need it. Lol. He'd argue that he does, but whatever.

I was surprised as to how many other kids in his class had one as well!

I had to laugh when I read this. My kids, 15 and 17, just got the 4 and so did their parents. I only opt for the free phones, so we jumped to smart phones using the oldest technology out there. My 17 year old still had a flip phone, so he was happy!

 

[lemondog]

OP, we've got the SAME battle here. MY 11yo wants an iPhone so bad it's all she can talk about. Actually, she just wants a cell phone, period. She has NO cell phone because an 11yo whose mom doesn't work and is almost always at home with us other than when she is at school or swim practice (which I attend with her) does not NEED a phone. She too has an iPod 4th gen. with 8gig and apparently that just doesn't cut the mustard! And lord forbid you ask her to actually pick up the home phone and call a friend on a landline...she looks at you like you have 3 heads. It really does not help that there are 3rd graders at her school with iPhones, but DH and I have stood our ground for over a year and will continue to do so until we feel she NEEDS a phone. The whining and carrying on does get old, though. The sense of entitlement these kids have nowadays kills me.

 

[aprilgail2]

My DS12 got an iphone a few months ago. BUT, its only an iphone 4, and it was free because i switched him over to my plan, the family plan. I thought it would be easier to pay one phone bill instead of 2 separate ones, so i switched him over. And if he can a free iphone then why not!? I had the option of getting him the 4s for $79, but I decided not to. He doesnt need it. Lol. He'd argue that he does, but whatever.

I was surprised as to how many other kids in his class had one as well!

My daughter is 13 and out of all her friends only ONE doesn't have a smart phone. My daughter right now has an iphone3- I keep bugging her to back it up so I can upgrade her to an iphone 4 (its free) but she is in no rush.

Stirring the pot here, but why does a 12 year old need a cellphone, much less an iphone?

I got my daughter a phone at 9 in 5th grade when she started going off to the park by herself or to friends houses on her bike. I liked that I could get her and she could get me, she would call if they were leaving the park to go to a friends house and when she was leaving that house to come home- I liked her having freedom to be a kid but still being able to be "attached" to her. By the first year of Jr. High she needed one-after school activities time changes, cancelled and needed a lift home etc. The office closes when school ends so there is no phone available to the kid if drama ends at 5 instead of 6 and they need lifts home- so either they hang out outside the school waiting for 6 or she can call and I get her at 5...I prefer getting the call! Of course the kids of all the parents who say "why does my kid need a phone" then borrow hers to call! If your kid is borrowing another kids phone to call you then they need their own phone!

 

[ICF]

My 12 and 9 year olds don't have a phone and there are no plans to get them one. If I did decide to get one at a later time, it would be the cheapest phone and plan I could get.

If they want a smart phone they can pay for it and the data plan that it carries. They can text, use the internet and such on their IPod's for free and without me paying $30 a month for it via their IPhone.

 

[SaraJayne]

DD11 (6th grade) just got a basic cell phone for Christmas, after wanting one for at least a year.

The thing that bugged me the most? The iphone 4 and 4s were cheaper than her basic cell phone! But her older brother just got an iPhone for Christmas (his first smart phone) and we felt it wasn't fair to give DD an iPhone as her very first cellphone when DB had to wait, kwim?

Anyway, the reason we got her one now is she is starting to have more freedom and go places without us and we just feel more comfortable knowing she can contact us if needed.

She truly is one of the last kids in her class to get a cell phone. Most of her peers have had one for at least a year, some much longer.

 

[TXinmyheart]

My kid can get a phone when my kid can pay for the phone and the plan. End of story. I had to wait for hours as a kid when after school got cancelled or my mom was late. I lived to tell the tale.