Basic phone or the smartphone she wants, for evening class travel at 12?

gentle_compass_3574 Oct 2026

From November my daughter (12) will go to an evening class twice a week, sometimes dropped by her grandparents and sometimes on her own in a booked cab. We want her reachable on the way. She wants a proper smartphone like her brother, who got one at 15. I am not against a phone. I would like us to agree what it is for before deciding which one, otherwise every rule later becomes a negotiation. Her position is that a basic phone will be "embarrassing". For those who started with a basic phone or a limited smartphone at this age, did it last, or did you upgrade within months?

2 comments

juniper_violin_63784 Oct 2026
We gave our son a basic phone at 12 for exactly this reason. It lasted about eight months. What ended it wasn't peer pressure so much as school. Once class groups started sharing homework on chat, he genuinely needed something more. So a basic phone is fine as long as you both know it's a first step and not the final answer. If she knows there's a review date she may complain less.
- gentle_compass_3575 Oct 2026
  We sat with her this morning and agreed on a review at the end of the school year. She still finds the basic phone embarrassing, but she has stopped bringing it up every evening.
rose_notebook_18794 Oct 2026
Ours got a smartphone at 13 with location sharing on. The location was what we really wanted, calls she rarely answers even now. Check if the basic phone you're looking at can share location, some can't.