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My son starts high school after the holidays

People and behaviour2 min readSam Page

My son starts high school after the holidays, and Gemma and I have been working through whether he should get a smartphone, a flip phone, or have no phone at all.

The problem isn't the device itself. Every study linking smartphones to poor mental health points to behaviour, not hardware.

And from a practical standpoint, for a 12-year-old heading to a new school that's quite a journey away, a smartphone does have real value:

  • Maps to navigate his way there and back
  • The ability to call or message us
  • Location sharing when we're worried (not something I'd normally condone, but 12 and new school - I'll make an exception)

The issues come when you just hand it over with no limits.

WhatsApp groups, social media, games, videos - yes, all potentially damaging. But both Apple and Android make it surprisingly easy to lock this down:

  • Block or approve apps individually
  • Set screen time limits per app
  • Remove browser access entirely if you want

And rumour has it the next big Apple iOS release makes it even easier.

Gem and I have talked it through and we've agreed - a restricted smartphone is the way forward. We can limit it to just messaging, calls, maps and payments, and even restrict the hours for each of those. In fact, it gives us far more control, and therefore flexibility, than a brick phone ever would.

The plan is to give him a restricted smartphone, explain exactly why it's restricted, and set him up to use technology intentionally rather than hand him something that can only do certain things by design.

Avoiding the smartphone doesn't help him learn. It just delays the conversation.

Other parents and caregivers, at what age did you give your kids a smartphone?

First published on LinkedIn.

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GEThttps://sam-page.com/thinking/my-son-starts-high-school-after-the-holidays.mdtext/markdown; charset=utf-8

---
title: "My son starts high school after the holidays"
url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/my-son-starts-high-school-after-the-holidays
date: 2026-08-05
author: Sam Page
type: Post or article
categories: [People and behaviour]
reading_time: 2 min
summary: "My son starts high school after the holidays, and Gemma and I have been working through whether he should get a smartphone, a flip phone, or have no phone at all."
first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A7490709664024829952
---

# My son starts high school after the holidays

My son starts high school after the holidays, and Gemma and I have been working through whether he should get a smartphone, a flip phone, or have no phone at all.

![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/my-son-starts-high-school-after-the-holidays-li1.webp)

The problem isn't the device itself. Every study linking smartphones to poor mental health points to behaviour, not hardware.

And from a practical standpoint, for a 12-year-old heading to a new school that's quite a journey away, a smartphone does have real value:

- Maps to navigate his way there and back  
- The ability to call or message us  
- Location sharing when we're worried (not something I'd normally condone, but 12 and new school - I'll make an exception)

The issues come when you just hand it over with no limits.

WhatsApp groups, social media, games, videos - yes, all potentially damaging. But both Apple and Android make it surprisingly easy to lock this down:

- Block or approve apps individually  
- Set screen time limits per app  
- Remove browser access entirely if you want

And rumour has it the next big Apple iOS release makes it even easier.

Gem and I have talked it through and we've agreed - a restricted smartphone is the way forward. We can limit it to just messaging, calls, maps and payments, and even restrict the hours for each of those. In fact, it gives us far more control, and therefore flexibility, than a brick phone ever would.

The plan is to give him a restricted smartphone, explain exactly why it's restricted, and set him up to use technology intentionally rather than hand him something that can only do certain things by design.

Avoiding the smartphone doesn't help him learn. It just delays the conversation.

Other parents and caregivers, at what age did you give your kids a smartphone?