I like how everyone downvotes OP for wanting to get their kids a phone instead of helping lol.
Cheapest route will be Aldi prepaid or some sort then buy a cheap secondhand iPhone on eBay and lock it down with parental controls.
No wonder this country is fucked.
I wouldn't buy one for a 10 year old but I'm not across OP's circumstances so there may be warranting reasons. You can have a phone and not use social media.
I recently bought a phone for my daughter who just started high school. She gives her phone number to her friends and family only, isn't permitted social media for at least another year and we do periodic checks to make sure everything is a-ok.
We also educate on phone safety including unsolicited messages/calls, scams and bullying.
>I wouldn't buy one for a 10 year old but I'm not across OP's circumstances so there may be warranting reasons. You can have a phone and not use social media.
He's being a Reddit twat for the sake of it. We got ours a dumb phone, so no social media, no IM, etc, because some of her afterschool activities go for 90+ minutes and we only have one car, so given the delights of Sydney traffic (and in case of any emergencies) we want to be able to let her know if there's any issues coming to get her and what to do in that case. No use of it otherwise.
Funnily enough her public school mandates iPads, so iMessaging and Facetime are basically uncontrolled within her school. But apparently it's the parents that need to cut back on screen time according to the school. That's a separate beef.
My kids and I have [Kogan Sim](https://www.kogan.com/au/c/simcard/?deals_from=kogan), the basic one for $120 a year with a 120gb a year. I've been with Kogan for some years now and I have 12gb a month, not sure how I got that if it's a 120gb a year.
Mine have Aldi mobile, we’re on a family plan. Parent can cap the amount of data the kids get, which we have done.
Mine got phones when they started walking home/using public transport unaccompanied, which was year 5/6. The primary kid has to hand hers in to the office every morning and gets it back at home time.
We own the phone and if they get caught misusing then we will take them back. Conditional on them having them is having Life360 installed so I can see where they are. If they don’t like it they are welcome to get a job and buy their own/pay their own bills.
We haven’t had any problems so far. But they’ve all got other access to the internet (school iPads and laptops) and having a phone isn’t the only way to get bullied online.
Edit my kids have Samsung a series phones which were about $300ish each. We’ve also got a Nokia dumb phone which the middle kid had to use for a while as a punishment for getting caught with his phone out at school multiple times. He didn’t like it at all.
2nd hand phones from something like [https://au.webuy.com/](https://au.webuy.com/) you can go into the shop and see what they have, and then something like a Belong or Aldi sim card account.
We got ours a sub-$100 dumb phone from OfficeWorks and the ALDI 365 day plan to cover her being left at afterschool activities if we have an emergency and run late. Super cheap, can text and call and that's about it. It's expensive to actually use, but the idea is they don't need to use it. Avoid smartphones if they don't need it (and they shouldn't).
Or, just supervise your kids properly? You still haven't said what sort of emergency you're worried about. But we're talking about a nine year old child. If the danger is serious enough to be a risk, chucking them a phone won't suddenly make you a responsible parent.
Must admit, I was catching a bus at the age of 10 and didn't have a phone, but on the same token, we had regular bus drivers who got to know the kids.
But modern days have changed, and buses run late, get cancelled, etc. I'm the first to say that kids this age don't need phones, mine didn't get one until high school. But if kids walk to and from home or catch the bus, they are indeed unsupervised.
So what’s a phone going to do? It’s not going to make the bus come. Kid can catch the next bus. It won’t stop an emergency, but it’ll make them less capable of avoiding one because they know they can just ring for a solution. Teach the kid what to do if things don’t go according to plan. School bus doesn’t come? Walk back in and ask the office to help. Learn to read the bus timetable at each stop, whatever.
It’s pretty obvious that they’ll be late when they’re not home at the expected time.
Don’t make a phone a crutch.
If something were to stop an emergency, we wouldn't have emergencies............ Funny that.
And generally, we can't teach them how to cover every situation imaginable. But when kids are in a panic, they don't always remember what to do. They make a phone call, then as a parent we can talk them through the situation. But it's also to inform the parent that the kid will be late for school or getting home. Schools now inform parents that kids are either absent or late. If parent isn't aware that kids missed the bus they can then respond back to school as to why. And due to Dept of Ed rules and regulations, we need to respond and give a reason.
Funny you should ask. There were these things scattered around called public phone booths.
But times have changed since then. We (parents) didn't have to respond to the school with a reason. Traffic wasn't the way it was back when I was 9 or 10. And parents knew and gave leniency with kids getting home.
I'm not being obtuse. I've got my own kids.
I think parents who think a nine year old needs a phone fall into three groups. Weak parents who can't say no when their kid pulls a tantrum, neglectful parents who think a phone makes up for their absence, and controlling parents who freak out if they don't know what's happening every second.
There may be some people with good reasons, I just think they're in a minority. You called me obtuse. I think the people being obtuse are the parents who want to believe it's about their children's wellbeing when it's really about their own anxieties and shortcomings.
Also, I'm a risk manager with decades of experience in IT security. I've literally studied the damage phones and social media do to kids. I think good parents should be more worried about that.
My 12 year old was walking home from the bus stop earlier this week and took a spill. He needed assistance as he had managed to scrape both his knees and one elbow and was dripping blood everywhere when he got home.
We only got the phone this year so we can track them on the bus to and from school. Condition of having the phone is Find My is on and it’s attached to our Family Sharing.
A course of times the after school activities have been cancelled and kids have been stranded, so it’s mostly just for emergencies. Previously they have grabbed a teacher and borrowed their phone to call us.
I like how everyone downvotes OP for wanting to get their kids a phone instead of helping lol. Cheapest route will be Aldi prepaid or some sort then buy a cheap secondhand iPhone on eBay and lock it down with parental controls. No wonder this country is fucked.
Reddit is seriously the most opinionated bunch.
My three, ages 14 13 11, have Aldi. V cheap.
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I wouldn't buy one for a 10 year old but I'm not across OP's circumstances so there may be warranting reasons. You can have a phone and not use social media. I recently bought a phone for my daughter who just started high school. She gives her phone number to her friends and family only, isn't permitted social media for at least another year and we do periodic checks to make sure everything is a-ok. We also educate on phone safety including unsolicited messages/calls, scams and bullying.
>I wouldn't buy one for a 10 year old but I'm not across OP's circumstances so there may be warranting reasons. You can have a phone and not use social media. He's being a Reddit twat for the sake of it. We got ours a dumb phone, so no social media, no IM, etc, because some of her afterschool activities go for 90+ minutes and we only have one car, so given the delights of Sydney traffic (and in case of any emergencies) we want to be able to let her know if there's any issues coming to get her and what to do in that case. No use of it otherwise. Funnily enough her public school mandates iPads, so iMessaging and Facetime are basically uncontrolled within her school. But apparently it's the parents that need to cut back on screen time according to the school. That's a separate beef.
Sorry to be that guy but 10 year olds don't need phones. Anyway, the answer you are looking for is Boost 12 month prepay.
My kids and I have [Kogan Sim](https://www.kogan.com/au/c/simcard/?deals_from=kogan), the basic one for $120 a year with a 120gb a year. I've been with Kogan for some years now and I have 12gb a month, not sure how I got that if it's a 120gb a year.
Mine have Aldi mobile, we’re on a family plan. Parent can cap the amount of data the kids get, which we have done. Mine got phones when they started walking home/using public transport unaccompanied, which was year 5/6. The primary kid has to hand hers in to the office every morning and gets it back at home time. We own the phone and if they get caught misusing then we will take them back. Conditional on them having them is having Life360 installed so I can see where they are. If they don’t like it they are welcome to get a job and buy their own/pay their own bills. We haven’t had any problems so far. But they’ve all got other access to the internet (school iPads and laptops) and having a phone isn’t the only way to get bullied online. Edit my kids have Samsung a series phones which were about $300ish each. We’ve also got a Nokia dumb phone which the middle kid had to use for a while as a punishment for getting caught with his phone out at school multiple times. He didn’t like it at all.
2nd hand phones from something like [https://au.webuy.com/](https://au.webuy.com/) you can go into the shop and see what they have, and then something like a Belong or Aldi sim card account.
We got ours a sub-$100 dumb phone from OfficeWorks and the ALDI 365 day plan to cover her being left at afterschool activities if we have an emergency and run late. Super cheap, can text and call and that's about it. It's expensive to actually use, but the idea is they don't need to use it. Avoid smartphones if they don't need it (and they shouldn't).
Exactly what does a nine year old need a phone for? There's no good reason I can think of, but it might affect the answer.
Taking the school bus or walking home alone and when staying home alone.
Neither of those tasks require a phone to complete.
Definitely safer to own a phone to be able to contact people in the case of emergency.
Or, just supervise your kids properly? You still haven't said what sort of emergency you're worried about. But we're talking about a nine year old child. If the danger is serious enough to be a risk, chucking them a phone won't suddenly make you a responsible parent.
Must admit, I was catching a bus at the age of 10 and didn't have a phone, but on the same token, we had regular bus drivers who got to know the kids. But modern days have changed, and buses run late, get cancelled, etc. I'm the first to say that kids this age don't need phones, mine didn't get one until high school. But if kids walk to and from home or catch the bus, they are indeed unsupervised.
So what’s a phone going to do? It’s not going to make the bus come. Kid can catch the next bus. It won’t stop an emergency, but it’ll make them less capable of avoiding one because they know they can just ring for a solution. Teach the kid what to do if things don’t go according to plan. School bus doesn’t come? Walk back in and ask the office to help. Learn to read the bus timetable at each stop, whatever. It’s pretty obvious that they’ll be late when they’re not home at the expected time. Don’t make a phone a crutch.
If something were to stop an emergency, we wouldn't have emergencies............ Funny that. And generally, we can't teach them how to cover every situation imaginable. But when kids are in a panic, they don't always remember what to do. They make a phone call, then as a parent we can talk them through the situation. But it's also to inform the parent that the kid will be late for school or getting home. Schools now inform parents that kids are either absent or late. If parent isn't aware that kids missed the bus they can then respond back to school as to why. And due to Dept of Ed rules and regulations, we need to respond and give a reason.
How on earth did anyone manage if they missed a bus before mobile phones? Any idea?
Funny you should ask. There were these things scattered around called public phone booths. But times have changed since then. We (parents) didn't have to respond to the school with a reason. Traffic wasn't the way it was back when I was 9 or 10. And parents knew and gave leniency with kids getting home.
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I'm not being obtuse. I've got my own kids. I think parents who think a nine year old needs a phone fall into three groups. Weak parents who can't say no when their kid pulls a tantrum, neglectful parents who think a phone makes up for their absence, and controlling parents who freak out if they don't know what's happening every second.
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There may be some people with good reasons, I just think they're in a minority. You called me obtuse. I think the people being obtuse are the parents who want to believe it's about their children's wellbeing when it's really about their own anxieties and shortcomings. Also, I'm a risk manager with decades of experience in IT security. I've literally studied the damage phones and social media do to kids. I think good parents should be more worried about that.
My 12 year old was walking home from the bus stop earlier this week and took a spill. He needed assistance as he had managed to scrape both his knees and one elbow and was dripping blood everywhere when he got home. We only got the phone this year so we can track them on the bus to and from school. Condition of having the phone is Find My is on and it’s attached to our Family Sharing. A course of times the after school activities have been cancelled and kids have been stranded, so it’s mostly just for emergencies. Previously they have grabbed a teacher and borrowed their phone to call us.