He’s a teenager so yeah, now would be a good time for one. Keep it simple though, calls and texts only to start with

I gave my daughter her first phone at 12,she is now 20. She was in 6 class .

My daughter is 12 and she will start high school in February. She got her first mobile phone for Christmas, so she has some time to get to know it.

there are some good comments here

Hubby and I have talked about this at length, even though our son is only 3yo! We think he should be allowed a phone at high school, but limited to certain things and certainly limited to a set amount per month. But I guess we will probably be re-evaluating when he does get to high school, in 10 years’ time!

I have wondered the same. It depends on your situation. My son is in grade 8 now and has not needed a phone, but now I am starting back at work on call I think it would be good for him.

Next year sound soon enough to me, they are good for some kids but cause trouble for others. Set rules and keep to them when you do give him one.

Will be activating my daughter’s mobile phone soon its there so I can call her if im running late for pick up or if she has something on afterschool re studing or Teacher being silly and keeping them in.

I am in the same situation. My daughter will be at high school next year and we have discussed its use. Not for social networking but to let me know she has arrived safely at school due to taking public transport.

Mobile phone is a must necessity these days, teens should have it with guidance from parents for its useful use.

I think it depends on if you think he really needs it and why you think this. Will he be travelling places alone? Will he need to contact you during the day? Does he just want one because everyone else has one?
Our daughter was given one when she went into year 9 as she was the only one of our children still at school and on some days would be walking to and from school on her own, and coming home to an empty house. We gave her one linked to our account which only cost $10 a month. She got free calls to us and her brother as well as some credit to use to contact friends. She went over her limit once and had to pay the difference. She was more careful after that.
Our older children all had to wait till they could pay for their own.

I was the same as Debmar….when they started highschool and they had a set amount of credit permonth and once it was used that was it until the following month and once they left high school they had to pay for their own credit

Did you get your teen a phone?

Both my children got a phone when they started high school,prepaid mainly for emergency contact for both them and us,once they had used up the credit for the month they had to wait for the next month for more credit to go on it. Taught them how to budget a bit.

I got my first phone when I started high school

Did you end up getting him a phone?

What did you end up doing in regards to the phone?

Did you end up giving your teen a phone?

What did you end up deciding?

I would when they become more independant, for safety reasons.