What age would YOU give your child a mobile? Mothers enter a fierce debate over when their little one should own a phone - with some giving their kids technology as young as FIVE
- Mothers have taken to Mumsnet to debate the age kids should own a phone
- The poster wanted her 10-year-old to have one and she'd monitor it closely
- Other parents said they'd give their child one age five, seven or 11
Most people can't live without a mobile phone - but how young is too young to own one?
That's the exact debate that mothers found themselves embroiled in after one parent took to Mumsnet to debate the age that they should give their offspring their first mobile.
One woman started the thread by explaining that it's her daughter's 10th birthday so she wants to buy her a mobile phone. She added that she'd monitor it closely with no social media allowed - just Whatsapp and games.
Mothers have taken to Mumsnet to debate the age that they should give their offspring their first mobile - with very mixed opinions
She asked fellow parents at what age they gave their children their first mobile - and the responses wildly varied.
'How old was your child when they had their first mobile and was it too soon?', she asked parents. 'I have very cheap contract and its capped so no bill shock...'
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One mother agreed with the poster, saying children should receive their first phone around that age to ensure they were safe walking home from school.
One woman, however, admitted giving her daughter a phone at the age of five but 'only for calls and texts to her parents or grandparents'.
Parents shared their differing opinions on when a child should be allowed to have a mobile, as well as their reasons behind their decision
Other mothers revealed they gifted their child a phone age six, 11 and seven. Reasons that parents gave their children a phone varied from allowing their little ones to play Pokemon Go to using it for safety reasons for their walk home.
Many parents shared their rules with the forum, which ranged from only being allowed to use the phone in the lounge in front of their parents to banning them in their bedrooms.
Reasons that parents gave their children phones varied from allowing them to play games to having it as an emergency form of contact
