iPod vs iPhone for 10 year old....

[snoopy5386]

My oldest is turning 10 and has been asking for a phone. Many of her friends have either phones, iPads or iPods and communicate with each other through imessenger or texting.

We are trying to decide between getting her an iPod or upgrading our phones and handing down an iPhone 6 to her for her upcoming birthday.

I can get a 16g used iPod gen 6 for $170. She would be able to use iMessage and we could download a free texting app for her to use. Advantage to the ipod is it's cheaper to replace if she loses it and no monthly bill. Disadvantage is she needs wifi to use it and can't make calls.

I went to the AT&T store the other day and with the promotion they are running right now, we'd add a line, get BOGO iPhone 6S-es, have one iPhone 6 (64 gb) to hand down to DD and one to sell or keep as a back up phone and with the change to our plan our bill would only go up $15 a month. Cons are the iPhone is much more expensive to replace and we're on the hook for monthly service. Pros are she'd be able to communicate with all her friends easily and the phone will "grow with her" better and she'd have a phone when she needs one.

If she doesn't get a phone now at the latest she will either get one for her 11th birthday or when she enters 6th grade which is 18 months from now at which point DH or I would upgrade and she'd get our iPhone 6.

She's our oldest and I'm just trying to think this through long term and figure out which device would work best for the long term and give us the most bang for our buck, especially since it is an expensive purchase. The cost of the iPod is $170, the cost of a year of increased phone bill would be $180.

Loss is a big concern of mine, if she takes it out of the house she'd need to carry it in some sort of purse or bag and well, she's 10, kids lose things.

Would love to hear opinions especially from parents of teens or tweens and what they have done in this situation.

 

[Alexle2007]

I personally would get the phone. I was upgrading my iPhone over the summer and just kept the service on my prior iPhone for DS. We only pay $25 a month for his service and it didn't make sense to turn into an "iPod" when he already has an iPad. He has had some sort of electronic since he was 4 or 5 and had never lost any of them.

 

[ateam79828592]

We handed down our old iPhone to our 10 year old BUT we don't have it on our mobile plan. So it is essentially an iPod Touch. It doesn't leave the house unless we are on a trip. We may at some point add it to our mobile plan, but at this point it keeps our options open as well as provides a back-up phone for me/dh should something happen to our newer iPhones.

Personally our second option would probably be an iPad mini (refurb) as our kids like the bigger screen for watching/playing games. We have one for our family use and our 10 (almost 11) year old use iMessage/Facetime and Skype on it.

 

[Disneyliscious]

I would never get an I Phone for a 10 year old. Both my boys were 14 before they got phones and each of them started on a cheapie phone (my youngest got his first phone for xmas - a $20 Straight Talk phone thats a touch screen Android - a really nice phone actually). Once they show(ed) me (for a year) they could take care of the cheapie phone, they were upgraded to something nicer. There are SO many apps and things out there where a 10 year old girl would be a prime target for those who like to prey on children. I just wouldn't do it. With the Ipod, she can listen to music and have the text app you mentioned to get in touch with you if needed and as you said, its a lot less expensive to replace. I really don't see any reason why a 10 year old should need to do anything other than text anyway. The internet is not a place I'd want my children on, unsupervised, or with a small hand held device like a phone where I couldn't always see the screen anyway.

 

[mjkacmom]

I'd give her the phone, without a monthly plan, to use like an iPod.

 

[snoopy5386]

Thanks for the input so far. Giving her the phone without a data plan isn't an option since we can only get the BOGO deal if we add a line (for her). Otherwise DH and I cannot upgrade our phones till the fall.

Whether it is a iPhone or iPod I have no plans to give her unlimited internet or app access, which would be the same for both devices btw. I would remove safari from the device and password protect the AppStore so she would not be able to download apps without my approval.

She just got a kindle fire for Christmas so the iPad on top of that feels like overkill plus iPads are more expensive. I control the "family iPad" (older ipad2) which is what she is using to text her friends right now, but that means all her texts/messages come through my phone which is a blessing/curse. It also means she can see all my messages too which I am not a fan of. We could set this iPad up exclusively for her use, but again feels like overkill since she has the kindle fire that does everything she needs, except for the all important texting, imessage and face time.

My original thought was cheapy pre-paid phone, but seeing how her friends text/message with over a 100 silly messages per day it would end up being more expensive than just adding her to our plan.

 

[Hikergirl]

If you are definitely getting her a phone in the next 18 months I'd just give her the iphone now. I would definitely get a good case, otterbox of lifeproof for it and instead of using the plastic cover that comes with it, get a tempered glass stick on one.

To the pp who said you would never give a 10 year old an iphone but when on to state the benefits of the ipod, you do realize the iphone is just an ipod with phone capabilities.

 

[Andreas Mom]

We just went through this. For DD who turned 10 in November we gave her my old iPhone5c. We turned off the phone so it is used like an iPod touch. If and when we decide to give her a full phone we can. She can message anyone with an apple product or FaceTime in place of a call when in wifi which we have in the house. My DH has an android phone so he dowloaded an app that they can use to text.

We have many rules set up for it and I get a message when she wants to download something and I have to give approval before it will actually download.

 

[monorailsilver]

My thoughts are: she is 10 and does not need a phone at that age. My youngest is 10, still in elementary school, does not go walking around town with out an adult, sports practices the coaches have phones/our number.

She like her older 2 siblings got an iPod for 3rd grade Christmas. She doesn't text any of her friends, heck I think there are only a handful of kids in her grade that text on their iPods.

My older 2 got phones at the end of 6th grade since that ended elementary school. My oldest plays sports year round so I know when to pick her up "we are 10 min away."

Kids that age don't need the 24/7 contact of their friends to text. Plus there are so many places with free wifi around, heck I drive down the road and my comcast finds hot spots all over on my phone.

 

[scrapquitler]

I'd go with a phone rather than the iPod because she might need to call or text you where there isn't wifi.

BUT, I wouldn't give her an iPhone, even an old one. I'd pick up an inexpensive trac phone. My just turned 13 year old has a cheap Android trac phone (I think the phone was $20 or $30) and he is to use it for calling and texting us. No friends, no social media, etc. And we buy a triple minutes card for him every three months. Every 90 days I spend $20 and he gets 180 texts, 180 minutes of call time, and 180 megabytes of data. We never have to worry about a lost phone, because if it gets lost (which hasn't happened in the the two years he has had it) it's only a $20 or $30 phone. And we don't have to worry about him using too much of our data. It has been made VERY clear to him that he has a phone not for his pleasure or convenience, but for MY convenience.

 

[mrsp1030]

Regardless of what route you choose, I urge you to download net nanny or some other form of safe software...set it all up yourself and you own the pass codes to everything. Not to sound harsh but many kids today have older siblings who can show kids how to do anything and everything to their devices so you setting it up is essential. Our soon to be 10 year old has an iPad mini that he earned last summer via reading, working around the house, etc.. Some of his classmates have phones but we are not going that route anytime in the near future as he can text, email, etc for him iPad and no reason to need a phone at this point in time.

 

[wenrob]

We gave our two our old iPhone 5's for their 10th birthday. They have iPads and so already know the ropes and have been incredibly responsible with them. You can lock an iPhone (iPad, iPod etc) down tight with restrictions in settings. My kids can't get to any website I haven't put in there or approved. They can't get any app without my approval. (Make sure to set this up with Family Sharing and that she has her own ID). I have restrictions/age limit sets on books, movies and music so they can't get the more adult content others in the family have. I have data limited to specific things so they can't eat up our plan when out of the house. They can't get around it unless they figure out my passcode which is highly unlikely.

All the concerns for an iPhone mentioned in previous posts apply to iPads, iPods and just about any phone or device with data/WiFi capabilities. Using the tools available to us (restrictions etc) need to be used on ALL devices. To assume a less capable device is somehow safer is naive IMO.

As to 10 year olds having a phone, it's a new era. When is the last time you saw a pay phone? Even way, WAY back when I was a kid getting a shop owner to let you use their phone was near impossible and depending on being able to use someone else's phone can be iffy. (my kids are not to let anyone handle or use their phones) My rule of thumb for my kids has been when they are out and about more without one of us present it's time for a phone.

TL;DR- I vote phone especially if you will be getting one relatively soon anyway.

 

[katmatry]

We debated this at Christmas time for our 10 year old. We went with the ipod touch. He is able to listen to music, face time and text his friends. We had gotten our other 2 kids flip phones when they went into 6th grade and iphones for their 8th grade graduation. I'm sure he'll get the iPhone before the other 2 did but right now we're holding off.

 

[disneychrista]

I would not give my 10 an iPhone (with service). I would give her an iPod Touch or an old iPhone w/o service. I would not allow her to take it to school. She could use it at home (where I assume you have WIFI).

 

[DnA2010]

We gave our DD11 an old iPhone 4s for her 11th- no plan so only usable as an iPod on our wifi. I suppose a proper phone and iPad will be next with time, but I hate how zombie like kids with devices become. DD can still totally entertain herself and go out and play so we are holding off as long as we can with additional devices.

 

[StuckInKS]

have one iPhone 6 (64 gb) to hand down to DD and one to sell or keep as a back up phone

Since you would have two phones to spare, I would get give her the phone and keep the other in case she loses the first one. For the money you would spend on an iPod, it will pay for her first year of service. Plus, if she loses the iPod, you have to spend another $170 to replace it. If she loses the phone, you have a free backup. My DD12 wants a phone, but Santa brought her an iPod instead, just because it would cost us more than $15 a month to add a line for her and she's with us most of the time since we homeschool. She seems to be OK with it, but she doesn't go to school with a bunch of kids who have phones. I figure I will get her one this fall if we put her in private school or at the latest fall 2017 when she enters high school.

 

[disneychrista]

Plus, if she loses the iPod, you have to spend another $170 to replace it. If she loses the phone, you have a free backup.

If my child lost her iPod/Phone there is NO WAY I would be paying to get her a new one. Sorry, not going to happen.

 

[StuckInKS]

If my child lost her iPod/Phone there is NO WAY I would be paying to get her a new one. Sorry, not going to happen.

Oh, I totally agree. No way I would either.

However, OP said:

Advantage to the ipod is it's cheaper to replace if she loses it

So I assumed replacement was an issue for them and should be a consideration.

 

[kiramay]

My 11year olds share a $10 Tracfone. I bought minutes and 1 year of service for about $70. They are definitely not responsible enough for an expensive phone.

 

[justafigment27]

Since she is your oldest, I think you also need to consider your future cell phone purchases & phone bills since your other child(ren) will expect the same when they turn 10. Will you be able to get everyone free phones and only increase the phone bill $15/mo when the time comes?