Peer pressure to buy kids phones
Discussion
My 2 daughters had a meltdown the other week. They both want new iphone 7's for Christmas. I informed them santa wont be buying £900 of phones. They are 12&14. Some of the kids in their class have contract iphones, these same parents rent houses and lease the latest cars. They dont own jack s
t. I suggested id buy a brand new Moto G or similar, that went down well! It HAS to have the apple badge on apparently. They have had 2nd hand iphone 5's in the past but they break and are usually bought off ebay and are already knackered or they get old iphones off family members, which are equally broken. Or they drop them and break them. They refuse to have a case as it isnt cool.
t. I suggested id buy a brand new Moto G or similar, that went down well! It HAS to have the apple badge on apparently. They have had 2nd hand iphone 5's in the past but they break and are usually bought off ebay and are already knackered or they get old iphones off family members, which are equally broken. Or they drop them and break them. They refuse to have a case as it isnt cool.wjwren said:
My 2 daughters had a meltdown the other week. They both want new iphone 7's for Christmas. I informed them santa wont be buying £900 of phones. They are 12&14. Some of the kids in their class have contract iphones, these same parents rent houses and lease the latest cars. They dont own jack st. I suggested id buy a brand new Moto G or similar, that went down well! It HAS to have the apple badge on apparently. They have had 2nd hand iphone 5's in the past but they break and are usually bought off ebay and are already knackered or they get old iphones off family members, which are equally broken. Or they drop them and break them. They refuse to have a case as it isnt cool.
Why do you tolerate this behaviour from your kids?t. I suggested id buy a brand new Moto G or similar, that went down well! It HAS to have the apple badge on apparently. They have had 2nd hand iphone 5's in the past but they break and are usually bought off ebay and are already knackered or they get old iphones off family members, which are equally broken. Or they drop them and break them. They refuse to have a case as it isnt cool.I also have 2 teenagers
One is perfectly happy with a hand me down android
The other isnt and so I blagged a S/H iphone from the office tart for its birthday who had not one but two 6S's because he thought he'd lost one but the day after buying a replacement realised he hadnt - like you do......
iphone kid similarly doesnt do cases and has been explicitly told that when the inevitable happens and the 6S goes to ground and dies there will be no shiny aspirational replacement and they will be plugging their SIM into the Galaxy S3 from the man drawer
But my kids hate me whereas you're probably adored by yours
Cheers
I know I find it shocking how kids just expect the latest iPhone and parents think nothing of getting them a contract phone which probably amounts to around 1k in cost over 2 years all in. My cousin and all her friends at the age of 12 expect the latest iPhone and expensive designer hand bags to go to school with trying to look like Kim Kardashian it’s sad.
I over heard 2 women in work discussing there sons Christmas presents 1 is getting a new iPhone X probably about £200 down and £50 p/m for 2yrs a £500 Canada Goose jacket because all his friends have them and a new laptop. And the other was the new iPhone, Xbox one and big screen tv. Neither have got much money yet won’t hesitate to buy such ridiculous things for there kids. And another woman who’s 13yr old brat has gone through 3 IPhones in the last year! One was smashed on purpose throwing a tantrum yet she still gets her another claiming off the insurance like it’s nothing.
Nobody has any sense of value anymore
I over heard 2 women in work discussing there sons Christmas presents 1 is getting a new iPhone X probably about £200 down and £50 p/m for 2yrs a £500 Canada Goose jacket because all his friends have them and a new laptop. And the other was the new iPhone, Xbox one and big screen tv. Neither have got much money yet won’t hesitate to buy such ridiculous things for there kids. And another woman who’s 13yr old brat has gone through 3 IPhones in the last year! One was smashed on purpose throwing a tantrum yet she still gets her another claiming off the insurance like it’s nothing.
Nobody has any sense of value anymore
My 15 year old daughter gets my iPhone cast offs.
After replacing the screen 3 times on a 5S she inherited my old 6+. I told her it was going in an Otterbox case or she couldn’t have it.
I regularly hear her drop it at home, never mind when she’s out and about, but although the case is starting to look a little tired the phone itself is as decent as it was when she inherited it.
Guess I’m firmer with my kids than some others but until she can afford her own phone or contract, those are the rules.
After replacing the screen 3 times on a 5S she inherited my old 6+. I told her it was going in an Otterbox case or she couldn’t have it.
I regularly hear her drop it at home, never mind when she’s out and about, but although the case is starting to look a little tired the phone itself is as decent as it was when she inherited it.
Guess I’m firmer with my kids than some others but until she can afford her own phone or contract, those are the rules.
I don’t see the problem with kids having iPhones at all personally.
Phones are disposable items whether people like it or not and the secondary school environment today is drastically different from when I left secondary school in ‘98 and the expectations and pressures on kids from each other, social media, general media, parents, etc. are the greatest ever known.
If a few quid on an iphone helps alliviate some of this pressure and helps them mentally it’s a good deal in my book.
For reference my daughter is 4 and has had her own iPad for 2yrs now, caseless. It’s been dropped indoors/outdoors travelled all over the world and is a little beaten but has never damaged the screen.
Also though I did buy my nephew his first phone (a Nokia Lumia beater to see how he got on with it) when he was 10/11 and his first iPhone (iPhone 8 christmas last year, his parents provide the sim) he was 12/13
Phones are disposable items whether people like it or not and the secondary school environment today is drastically different from when I left secondary school in ‘98 and the expectations and pressures on kids from each other, social media, general media, parents, etc. are the greatest ever known.
If a few quid on an iphone helps alliviate some of this pressure and helps them mentally it’s a good deal in my book.
For reference my daughter is 4 and has had her own iPad for 2yrs now, caseless. It’s been dropped indoors/outdoors travelled all over the world and is a little beaten but has never damaged the screen.
Also though I did buy my nephew his first phone (a Nokia Lumia beater to see how he got on with it) when he was 10/11 and his first iPhone (iPhone 8 christmas last year, his parents provide the sim) he was 12/13
Edited by alorotom on Wednesday 14th November 06:31
My daughters each have 5S that I got from mates who'd upgraded and couldn't be arsed to seel their phones they now owned at the end of their contracts. Fortunate moments, there!
My youngest's phone dies when the battery shows 30%, and she now wants an Android, convinced it's only Apple programming slower performance, but, hey - I only read the news to see who's een fined, and why, so what do I know?
I'm still not paying £900 or equivalent for the latest model, largest screens, especially when they keep being dropped! (3 screen replacements on my daughters, and that's WITH Panzer glass! WTF!!
My youngest's phone dies when the battery shows 30%, and she now wants an Android, convinced it's only Apple programming slower performance, but, hey - I only read the news to see who's een fined, and why, so what do I know?
I'm still not paying £900 or equivalent for the latest model, largest screens, especially when they keep being dropped! (3 screen replacements on my daughters, and that's WITH Panzer glass! WTF!!
Gary C said:
alorotom said:
If a few quid on an iphone helps alliviate some of this pressure and helps them mentally it’s a good deal in my book.
But its not 'a few quid' is it ?Edited by alorotom on Wednesday 14th November 06:31
alorotom said:
If a few quid on an iphone helps alliviate some of this pressure and helps them mentally it’s a good deal in my book.
I think the problem is that not all parents can afford an iPhone, and kids sent to school with less expensive devices are often bullied. Some UK schools are banning phones completely during school hours, they're seen as disruptive and vectors for theft and online bullying/sexting. France has just passed a law banning them in school hours.
There have been surveys showing that banning phones at school bring improvements in academic results:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/16/...
My friends bring their 11 and 13 year-olds round sometimes, both with smartphones. They seem addicted.
The first thing the kids ask for is the wifi password. They get sullen and withdrawn when I tell them they can't have it as my work computers/NAS etc are on it.
Seems they think I'm the dysfunctional one. :-)
They get around it though, the local school-kids share parent's BT Openzone logins. The road outside is used by kids on the way to school and back, elderly neighbour wondered why there was always a bunch of kids hanging around outside her house after school. Got her to cancel the Openzone on her BT hub, and the kids disappeared the day after.
Gary C said:
alorotom said:
If a few quid on an iphone helps alliviate some of this pressure and helps them mentally it’s a good deal in my book.
But its not 'a few quid' is it ?Edited by alorotom on Wednesday 14th November 06:31
You can buy an iPhone 8 for £500, new from the recycling firms etc.
Assuming it lasts 18mths that’s only £27 per month.
According to WEVA, teenagers spend an average of 9hrs per day on their phone, let’s reduce this to 6 (http://www.wvea.org/content/teens-spend-astounding-nine-hours-day-front-screens-researchers), that’s 182hrs a month ... that’s an astonishing £0.15 per hour of use (excluding connection, etc...)
Not much is it, really, for the level of use
alorotom said:
In the grand scheme of it all, yeah it is. Especially if it can alleviate unnecessary stresses and pressures that being ostracised could create.
You can buy an iPhone 8 for £500, new from the recycling firms etc.
Assuming it lasts 18mths that’s only £27 per month.
According to WEVA, teenagers spend an average of 9hrs per day on their phone, let’s reduce this to 6 (http://www.wvea.org/content/teens-spend-astounding-nine-hours-day-front-screens-researchers), that’s 182hrs a month ... that’s an astonishing £0.15 per hour of use (excluding connection, etc...)
Not much is it, really, for the level of use
Jesus. You can buy an iPhone 8 for £500, new from the recycling firms etc.
Assuming it lasts 18mths that’s only £27 per month.
According to WEVA, teenagers spend an average of 9hrs per day on their phone, let’s reduce this to 6 (http://www.wvea.org/content/teens-spend-astounding-nine-hours-day-front-screens-researchers), that’s 182hrs a month ... that’s an astonishing £0.15 per hour of use (excluding connection, etc...)
Not much is it, really, for the level of use
So that’s 9 hours on their phone.... 7 hours at school. 1 hours homework. 1 hour for din dins. That leaves 6 hours to get some sleep. No wonder kids are moody little
s. alorotom said:
Gary C said:
alorotom said:
If a few quid on an iphone helps alliviate some of this pressure and helps them mentally it’s a good deal in my book.
But its not 'a few quid' is it ?Edited by alorotom on Wednesday 14th November 06:31
You can buy an iPhone 8 for £500, new from the recycling firms etc.
Assuming it lasts 18mths that’s only £27 per month.
According to WEVA, teenagers spend an average of 9hrs per day on their phone, let’s reduce this to 6 (http://www.wvea.org/content/teens-spend-astounding-nine-hours-day-front-screens-researchers), that’s 182hrs a month ... that’s an astonishing £0.15 per hour of use (excluding connection, etc...)
Not much is it, really, for the level of use
Unfortunately I think everyone is addicted to their phones (or more accurately addicted to social media). I see that on a daily basis during consultations. People genuinely can't put the phone down or go for 10 mins without looking at it.
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