I made a deal with my kids (3 of them) that they would only get phones when they got to 9 years old. My daughter turned 9 in 2010 so I kept my promise and got her the phone. A small, cute (pink) Nokia "slider" that cost about 4k. She loved it - calls her mum, myself, grandparents, aunts and one or two of her best friends when she has airtime.

We have made certain rules, through - she only uses the phone over the weekend and on holidays as they are not allowed phones in school and we are with her at all other times.

She also has a small netbook, which surprisingly she uses more for writing short stories and downloading cooking recipes from the internet. (She cooked us a fabulous banana cake on Sunday). Which we encourage.

Her brothers will occasionally whine about their lack of a phone but we remind them about the minimum qualification. 2nd born turns 9 this year so he gets it. 3 born still has a 4 year wait.

To keep them happy I promised them a Gameboy at age 7.

I have also bought them a cheap, chinese android tablet on which I've loaded a bunch of games and they love it!

We have agreed that I will start teaching "how computers work" i.e. simple coding and under the hood stuff over the holidays... hope I don't rear a bunch of script kiddies!!!

Mblayo

On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 5:57 PM, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Skunks,

I'd like to seek your opinion here, and lo! I am already mentally prepared for what might come my way:)
My daughter, 7 years old, wants a mobile phone. I am thinking I should accept her request and provide one. Which phone it is is my current dilemma, but besides that I'd like to know from you if this is a good idea at all. And why it is not.
My justification:

1. I am tired of fighting with her over my phones. These kids find their way into games on any phone. Not sure how they find them when I, the owner, have never gone for them.
2. She already knows how to call people - has their numbers in her hear (well, she has mine, her mums, her grandma's and grandpa's, not sure who else)
3. She says she wants to play games and to be able to call her parents whenever they are not near...

I have her already running Qimo 4 Kids Linux on a small NoteBook, which has enough games and learning material, which I do believe is good enough computer for her. While I am at that point of "what the hell does she still want a phone for", I am still thinking it's right to just get her one.

Does anyone have a compelling reason for or against me getting her a phone?

If I have to get her a phone, which phone do you guys recommend for such a kid?

--
Best regards,
Odhiambo WASHINGTON,
Nairobi,KE
+254733744121/+254722743223
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Brian Munyao Longwe
e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com
cell:  +254715964281
blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
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