He's 11. Friends at school have phones, we don't. He's been asking since last year. I know the research says 14+ but that feels increasingly unrealistic. What's the actual age kids have phones in 2024? And when you did get yours a phone, what was your setup - like, what restrictions/agreements did you put in place?
The friends at school argument is tough because yeah, they probably do have phones, but that doesn't mean your son needs one right now. I know it sucks to be the parent with the 'no' answer though.
Honestly we held out until 13 and my son survived just fine. He wasn't thrilled about being the last one but we compromised with a basic phone that only called and texted for a while. Now at 14 he has full access and it's going okay.
11 feels early to me but every kid is different. What matters more than the age is having a solid plan in place first. Are you going to use parental controls? Screen time limits? That stuff matters way more than whether it's 11 or 12.
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We got our oldest one at 12 after he demonstrated he could be responsible with our iPad for a few months. The peer pressure is real though, I get why you're feeling it. The research on 11 is kind of a mixed bag depending on which study you read.
We did 11 with our daughter because she was begging constantly and honestly it was easier to just give in. No ragrets so far. Just make sure you have the conversations about how to use it responsibly because that's where a lot of parents drop the ball.