Best Dumb Phone for Child Who Needs Weaning off Social Media

Maltopia on 31/10/2016 - 19:27

Hello,

I want to replace my almost 13 year old's smartphone with something that does phone calls and texts and not much else so we can organise pick up times from school and out of school lessons.

Don't mind Facebook as she won't use it, but don't want anything that can put on Instagram or Snapchat. Skype, very basic games and music is not a dealbreaker, but I don't want Youtube on it or available for it either (she watches too many videos too).

Would prefer it wasn't locked so I can rotate pre-paid SIM cards bought at half price through various sales.

Many thanks.

Mobile

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 31/10/2016 - 19:38
    +2

    If you stop one way of access, they will find another one some day..

    but don't want anything that can put on Instagram or Snapchat. Skype, very basic games and music is not a dealbreaker, but I don't want Youtube on it or available for it either

    If you trust your child then no need to impose this. Just turn off the wifi when it gets out of hand… If you think that they will end up using their mobile data, then just lower their plan where they have basically no data for having the chance to overuse it

    • scrimshaw on 31/10/2016 - 19:48
      +4

      On Android 5.0 and above, using a restricted account will let you bar access to the Google Play store and whitelist certain apps for use.

      Find out how to here

    • Maltopia on 31/10/2016 - 20:01
      +1

      I've had multiple instances of her agreeing not to use certain apps, then she goes and uses them as she can't resist.

      We have had her make secret email, Google and Twitter accounts in the past, and looking through her chat history with one person, it seemed they were a paedophile trying to groom her.

      So going down a locked pathway rather than trust is the way to go for now.

      • [Deactivated] on 31/10/2016 - 20:12
        +3

        Yep then restrictions are probaly more appropriate then. I am assuming they have the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 according to your previous post? Here is how to block certain apps on this phone by setting the phone accordingly :)

        • Maltopia on 31/10/2016 - 20:47

          Yeah, she has the Note 3. It came preinstalled with a chat program I had never heard off in the MUI, and she has been chatting to "kids around the world" who have a common interest (K Pop), but we have said to her that she can only chat with people from her school, or friends she has met first face-to-face and she agreed to this, especially since the last time she was secretly chatting to people "overseas", one of them was the one who appeared to be grooming her.

          Thanks for the link, I will look into it :)

  • dave999 on 31/10/2016 - 19:57
    +2

    With a windows 10 phone you can restrict any app, restrict any website, restrict hours of use by time and by length. As the parent you also get emailed weekly the detailed usage of every minutes used by each individual app.

    • Savas on 31/10/2016 - 20:03
      +7

      Plus its a windows phone so your already ristricted I.e. No Snapchat app!

      • dave999 on 31/10/2016 - 20:17
        +3

        :)
        But the reality is windows phone 10 is perfect for this use case. You can also do this for a windows 10 computer. It is obviously using the same technology that they use to lockdown work computers but have adapted it to lock down child accounts on desktops and mobile as well.

        See https://account.microsoft.com/family/about

  • YungDaggerDick on 31/10/2016 - 20:00
    +3

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/273143

    Telstra Cruise for $9?

    • Maltopia on 31/10/2016 - 20:05

      Yeah, I could get a Cruise for the Telstra, a $15 Alcatel for Optus, and just need a cheap one for when we use a Vodaphone SIM (if I don't pay to unlock the phone).

      • OzBozo on 01/11/2016 - 09:58
        +1

        Do they still make pagers?

    • OzBozo on 01/11/2016 - 09:55
      +1

      Even those 9 dollar dumb phones can get on YouTube,
      What you need is a 90s phone or maybe those phones made for old people with the big buttons and a black and orange monochrome screen like a calculator

  • fruit on 31/10/2016 - 20:15
    +1

    How bad is their social media usage?

    • Maltopia on 31/10/2016 - 20:54

      If left uninterrupted/unsupervised (easy to do at times with 3 kids) she will be on there for hours, chatting or watching Youtube and other video sites of K Pop groups, and it is giving her an unrealistic expectation of what beautiful/attractive is (when the K Pop stars are super skinny/lean and had lots of plastic.surgery).

      She does her homework and is doing well at school in most subjects, but her body image and self esteeem is all skewed because of what she is seeing online all the time and chatting with other fans of K Pop who have similar views of what is beautiful/attractive/normal.

      • scrimshaw on 31/10/2016 - 21:11
        +3

        She sounds like she has internet addiction. It's what I had as a kid, although not as bad because I had very limited internet then and Youtube was not possible (in a boarding school in the country, 100 megabytes per month was all the IT department could provision per each user!)

        Usually if someone feels socially withdrawn, internet communities become more attractive because the individual has difficulties in FtF (face to face) communication. Read this excerp from a book called "The Development of Shyness and Social Withdrawal"
        https://books.google.com.au/books?id=FDu7Y9tTbpYC&pg=PA238&l…

        It might be a good idea to talk to her and see if she has any underlying issues, whether it's body image, self esteem or her relationships with friends at school

        Try to limit internet usage and probably get her interested in some other kinds of activities. For example, voluntary work (or Xmas casual)

      • Diji1 on 31/10/2016 - 21:45
        +2

        Yeah I don't think removing access to social media is going to fix that.

        • Maltopia on 31/10/2016 - 21:57
          +1

          That's not the only thing we are doing with her, this is only part of the the strategy.

  • [Deactivated] on 31/10/2016 - 21:04
    +2

    Switch off data and change your Wi-Fi passwords. To get rid if data, change the apn in network settings, I'd be surprised if she could figure out how to turn it back on.

    • Findo on 31/10/2016 - 22:53
      +2

      With severely hindered internet access, she can't even google it!

  • JepunK on 31/10/2016 - 21:33
    +5

    Nokia 3310…tell her the snake game opens up a portal to facebook

  • trustnoone on 31/10/2016 - 22:03

    I couldn't resist not posting this: http://imgur.com/a/jftZf :p

    Seriously though, good luck.

    Ironically I think you're actually looking for a "candy bar phone" (its an actual type of phone), the cheaper ones are basically like the old skool Nokias.

  • ItsNotMe on 01/11/2016 - 07:56

    Windows Phone's Kids Corner is ideal for this. You choose which apps she has access to.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2016 - 09:14

    Use a Kiosk mode app on her android phone.
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.promobitec…

    You can then limit her phone to being used as a phone.

    Worked for my daughter, who would watch youtube movies all night.

    I set up a second wifi access point (wired to the main router) on a timer so that she had internet at specific times of the day, but she couldn't change any settings on her phone (ie - change networks) or install any apps and her usage was restricted to only the apps that I allowed her to use.

    For me it was important that she was still able to send text messages easily and snapchat/skype her friends for a short time each day.
    I found they often arranged stuff before school in the morning. Her phone data allowance was negligible, so she ran out quickly on her prepaid account.

    If you are worried, you can also install an SMS forwarding app, so that any SMS messages she gets will be emailed to you.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2016 - 22:41

    Simply get her a budget nokia either 2nd hand or new.
    Its not hard to set net access points and by simply removing them it will be disabled easily.

    I know the data part of the deal is critical but how about not having a data enabled on the sim if possible is better? Or doable.

    Im not too keen on getting a smart phone that is bound by control from an app where if tech savy herself or friends can simply bypass it without too much effort.

    I am a father of a daughter and this story haunts me just reading it. The big problem is that in todays society technology is it and unfortunately the way forward is by using technology.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2016 - 17:31

    I reached an agreement with my daughter regarding what I would pay for. If she went over then she paid from her part-time job.
    She only did it once.
    Giving kids responsibility for their own actions is the only way to resolve these issues.

    • Maltopia on 03/11/2016 - 19:30

      I've tried that pathway and it has failed, she has previously made agreements with me that she then broke as she admits that she doesn't have the willpower to resist (at this stage).

      • [Deactivated] on 04/11/2016 - 10:37
        +1

        The solution is easy-no phone!

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