At what age are my child's peers going to expect my kid to have a recent top of the line smartphone?

[Anonymous]

The expectation of at least having a smartphone starts in 6th grade.

Having a nice smartphone doesn't really kick in until age 13/14. And even then, I've not heard stories from my kids of peers being bullied or made fun of for not having the best phone.

I know that some kids make money selling their older iPhones at school once they get a newer model. It's something about how Instagram on an Android is crappy? Or maybe it's Snapchat? I just know that one of those apps doesn't work as well on an Android.

My neighbor's son traded his Samsung Galaxy S7 for an iPhone 5c. She was irate because he didn't understand he was trading a 2016 model phone for one released in 2013. "But it's an iPhone, mom" was all he kept telling her. His bad trade is kind of a running joke in our friend group now. When we had our neighborhood Halloween party on Saturday, another neighbor said, "Hey James, I'll trade you my half eaten cookie for your uneaten cookie that just came out of the oven." The kid gets upset because he still insists that he made a good trade. After all, it's an iPhone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a pp stated, it does depend on where you live, and this is one of the reasons why we chose not to live in a very wealthy area. Having stated that, DC got a motorola not-a-top-of-the-line-smartphone with no data plan in 6th grade, but DC paid for half of the cost with DC's saved up bday/xmas money. We were planning to get DC a dumbphone. We got DC the phone to contact us and vice versa, and not for data. Unlimited text comes with the call plan.

However, DC pays for the data plan with DC's allowance, which ends up being all of it for the month. The plan does gives credit for data not used for the month. This makes DC very careful about data usage outside our wireless range. Most of the time, DC gets some money back.

Actually it doesn't. We live in Bethesda among 2 million dollar homes where teens drive the latest SUV, and my son has never received comments about his lack of phone.
I posted earlier at 09:31.

What matters is your child's social group and how they act, and whether they are thrown together with nothing to do but start behaving nastily. My friend's daughter who was teased for her lack of data plan is stuck on the schoolbus for an hour with kids with nothing better to do - kids who in different circumstances would not have thought of being so rude.

Bullying can happen anytime, anywhere. Our children need to have a few responses pat, and know how to choose their friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The expectation of at least having a smartphone starts in 6th grade.

Having a nice smartphone doesn't really kick in until age 13/14. And even then, I've not heard stories from my kids of peers being bullied or made fun of for not having the best phone.

I know that some kids make money selling their older iPhones at school once they get a newer model. It's something about how Instagram on an Android is crappy? Or maybe it's Snapchat? I just know that one of those apps doesn't work as well on an Android.

My neighbor's son traded his Samsung Galaxy S7 for an iPhone 5c. She was irate because he didn't understand he was trading a 2016 model phone for one released in 2013. "But it's an iPhone, mom" was all he kept telling her. His bad trade is kind of a running joke in our friend group now. When we had our neighborhood Halloween party on Saturday, another neighbor said, "Hey James, I'll trade you my half eaten cookie for your uneaten cookie that just came out of the oven." The kid gets upset because he still insists that he made a good trade. After all, it's an iPhone!

Sorry, I agree with him. And I hope an adult nipped the teasing in the bud at the neighborhood party. How awful for this kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a pp stated, it does depend on where you live, and this is one of the reasons why we chose not to live in a very wealthy area. Having stated that, DC got a motorola not-a-top-of-the-line-smartphone with no data plan in 6th grade, but DC paid for half of the cost with DC's saved up bday/xmas money. We were planning to get DC a dumbphone. We got DC the phone to contact us and vice versa, and not for data. Unlimited text comes with the call plan.

However, DC pays for the data plan with DC's allowance, which ends up being all of it for the month. The plan does gives credit for data not used for the month. This makes DC very careful about data usage outside our wireless range. Most of the time, DC gets some money back.

Actually it doesn't. We live in Bethesda among 2 million dollar homes where teens drive the latest SUV, and my son has never received comments about his lack of phone.
I posted earlier at 09:31.

What matters is your child's social group and how they act, and whether they are thrown together with nothing to do but start behaving nastily. My friend's daughter who was teased for her lack of data plan is stuck on the schoolbus for an hour with kids with nothing better to do - kids who in different circumstances would not have thought of being so rude.

Bullying can happen anytime, anywhere. Our children need to have a few responses pat, and know how to choose their friends.

It's about the odds. Chances are, if you live in a wealthier area, more of the kids will have the latest smartphones. We lessen the odds by living in a not as wealthy area. Don't get me wrong..some of the kids where we live do have the latest of everything. But, the area is diverse in SES (and race), so there's a good mix of haves and have nots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The expectation of at least having a smartphone starts in 6th grade.

Having a nice smartphone doesn't really kick in until age 13/14. And even then, I've not heard stories from my kids of peers being bullied or made fun of for not having the best phone.

I know that some kids make money selling their older iPhones at school once they get a newer model. It's something about how Instagram on an Android is crappy? Or maybe it's Snapchat? I just know that one of those apps doesn't work as well on an Android.

My neighbor's son traded his Samsung Galaxy S7 for an iPhone 5c. She was irate because he didn't understand he was trading a 2016 model phone for one released in 2013. "But it's an iPhone, mom" was all he kept telling her. His bad trade is kind of a running joke in our friend group now. When we had our neighborhood Halloween party on Saturday, another neighbor said, "Hey James, I'll trade you my half eaten cookie for your uneaten cookie that just came out of the oven." The kid gets upset because he still insists that he made a good trade. After all, it's an iPhone!

Sorry, I agree with him. And I hope an adult nipped the teasing in the bud at the neighborhood party. How awful for this kid.

I don't suppose I explained it well, but it's in jest. He understands that it's not a hurtful teasing.

I, too, think that it was a pretty good trade, but then I'm an Apple fan and can't imagine going back to an Android.

[Anonymous]

Nobody in my kid's crowd cares about top of the line. My DS did complain that he didn't have a smartphone, though. He had my old flip phone. Luckily for him, it died, and we found a smartphone for $120.

[Anonymous]

Lots of kids in my son's peer group received phones before 6th grade. I'd say 50% have phones with data plans. And another 25% have their parents' old iPhones without data plans...so they use them to iMessage the other kids. That's why kids prefer iPhones to Androids. But the latest model of iPhone for a kid? That seems extravagant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The expectation of at least having a smartphone starts in 6th grade.

Having a nice smartphone doesn't really kick in until age 13/14. And even then, I've not heard stories from my kids of peers being bullied or made fun of for not having the best phone.

I know that some kids make money selling their older iPhones at school once they get a newer model. It's something about how Instagram on an Android is crappy? Or maybe it's Snapchat? I just know that one of those apps doesn't work as well on an Android.

My neighbor's son traded his Samsung Galaxy S7 for an iPhone 5c. She was irate because he didn't understand he was trading a 2016 model phone for one released in 2013. "But it's an iPhone, mom" was all he kept telling her. His bad trade is kind of a running joke in our friend group now. When we had our neighborhood Halloween party on Saturday, another neighbor said, "Hey James, I'll trade you my half eaten cookie for your uneaten cookie that just came out of the oven." The kid gets upset because he still insists that he made a good trade. After all, it's an iPhone!

Sorry, I agree with him. And I hope an adult nipped the teasing in the bud at the neighborhood party. How awful for this kid.

I don't suppose I explained it well, but it's in jest. He understands that it's not a hurtful teasing.

I, too, think that it was a pretty good trade, but then I'm an Apple fan and can't imagine going back to an Android.

Be careful with that line of thought. It always starts in jest, the person teased seems to laugh and go along with it, but in the end it can really do a number on his self-esteem. Every individual person may only refer to the story once, thinking they're not being rude, but if he knows a lot of people, it will get old really quickly. The key is for people to stop referring to it.

[Anonymous]

I'm getting my 17 year old high schooler an iphone next week. He's wanted one forever but I'm just now giving him one. My 12 year old says "but mom, what about me.." "but mom, all my friends have iphones." My response - "oh well, at least you have a phone". My 12 year old just got a phone a few months ago. I believe them both when they say all their friends have iPhones (I see it with my own eyes) but I don't care. I actually had no plans of ever buying either of my kids an iPhone (me and hubby don't have them) but I've had a chance of heart at least for now with regards to my older son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Considering, I don't have a top of the line smartphone, my child won't either.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Kids are not allowed to have phones before 8th grade in my kid's school system. I feel lucky that we don't have to deal with this until then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hasn't technology reached the point where kids should be able to browse the web and make telephone calls from their $200 basketball sneakers?

These shoes are ugly! I'm no teen, but I wouldn't wear those if LeBron paid me to!

[Anonymous]

Our kids can have our older phones, which will be really old at the time as we keep our phones forever and don't upgrade to the newest ones. I prefer kids having them younger so I can track them. You can limit the features on the phone if its an issue, we already do that on the iPads and kindles. I will probably do it in the next year or two for my 8 year old. My mom offered hers and to pay in her shared plan but they don't have much internet so it made no sense. Otherwise I would have agreed.

[Anonymous]

This is like top of the line sneakers, more important to lower classes than wealthier kids.

[Anonymous]

Who cares?