Your Guide to Buying Your Child Their First Mobile Phone

For many parents, their child getting closer and closer to starting secondary school means that they need to start thinking about purchasing a mobile phone for them. Often, starting secondary school marks the beginning of a new independence for pre-teens as they start to spend more time outside with friends and walk to and from school in groups with friends rather than being taken in by mum or dad. For parents, a mobile phone provides peace of mind that should their child need them, they are just a phone call away. But, buying your child their first mobile phone can be daunting, so we’ve put together a handy guide to make the process easier for you.

Choosing a Plan

Before you choose a smartphone for your child, the best thing to do is first choose a plan for them, as this will make it easier for you to budget and determine which handsets are available for the amount that you are willing to pay. If you choose a pay as you go or SIM only plan, bear in mind that these come handset-free and therefore you will have to purchase the mobile phone outright. This can often be a great idea for parents as there are many inexpensive mobile handsets which are perfect for kids and teens. If you choose a handset which is locked to a certain network, Unlock Smart can provide you with a code to unlock it to use on any.

Picking a Handset

When choosing a handset for your child, you will want something that they like but also nothing too expensive or fancy. When purchasing a mobile phone handset, you will want to keep your child’s safety in mind – sending them to school with a brand new iPhone 7 could endanger them by making them a target of theft, for example. Instead, stick to older handsets – if your child wants a smartphone, there are many cheap Android models which would be suitable, or older iPhone models such as the iPhone 4S or 5c can be perfect choices for kids as they have plenty of features but don’t attract too much attention.

Mobile Safety

Many parents understand that at some point their child will need to have their own smartphone, however, the issue of safety is a massive one. With horror stories about children being groomed and tricked online or seeing things that they should never be seeing at their age, it’s no surprise that most parents take extreme caution when it comes to getting a mobile phone for their child. Before you make a purchase, it’s important to talk to your child about the dangers of talking to strangers online, for example, and make sure that they know they need to tell you about anything that doesn’t seem right. For extra security, many mobile phone networks will block pages that are unsuitable for under 18s, and you can also download apps for parental controls and keeping track of who your child is talking to.

Which smartphone did you choose for your child and why? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.