Hi Gabriela,
Where are you finding these prices? Cheapest Pixel 9a I can find is 440 USD, but even 350 is way too steep for a phone for a child, to be honest. While it maybe be possible to get a second hand Pixel 8a for the price you mention, I don’t think you’ll get a refurbished phone (checked, with at least one year warranty) for that low a price.
I think the key to making this strategy work is your kids need to feel like you’re letting them have fun rather than getting in their way. Keep them occupied by engaging with and supporting their existing interests. Which I think you should be doing regardless!
I’d have spent less time playing video games if I didn’t feel like the little freedom I had was so precious that I couldn’t afford to waste it trying new things.
Hi!
I think it’s the only option. With cheaper phones, you end up paying the difference through data collection / lack of security patches.
The 9a can be found on Amazon Germany (for example) for €350. And second-hand is a good option, there’s no need to go for refurbished ones.
Ah, ok, but that’s something like 400 USD. As a parent, that feels to steep to spend on a first phone, especially when you have several children to raise. The second hand market can work but is also risky; I have ended up with duds in the past, and I don’t have a lot of faith in the reimbursement procedures on online second hand marketplaces, to be honest.
I have bought second hand Pixels (for GrapheneOS) for my older teenage kids, but always with a warranty. Unfortunately, the affordable range here always has just a few more years of security updates.
I am not a parent nor do I plan to be a parent at any point in my life but I was once a chronically online child so I do have a take on this . So I’m going to agree with the consensus here that unfortunately for better or for worse parental controls and restrictions are best applied through the iPhone (and using a stock Pixel with family link as a runner-up) Depending on how strict you wanna be you can even use Apple configurator or imazing to supervise the device so they have no way of real bypassing any of the restrictions. However this does not mean Apple is the end all when it comes to parental controls either, for macs Screen Time control is much less effective and pretty much can be bypassed with a VPN if we were talking laptops here i’d go full Chromebook. It’s still maximizes security and the best you could probably do is apply some enterprise level policies to make it not suck as much privacy wise.
only extension allowed would be ublock origin lite and I would configure a nextDNS Because no human most especially children should be exposed to advertisements As you can see I’m prioritizing security over privacy because for better or for worse privacy technologies tend to bypass these restrictions no point in applying all these restrictions if they can just install TOR or a VPN
I chose iPhones. At the time I wasn’t that deep in my privacy journey, but after being a long time LG then Samsung user, the options for Android seemed convoluted and far more complicated than the built in mechanisms in iOS. I also heard my coworkers with older kids complain about all the issues they had with giving their kids phones they didn’t have any control over, and I didn’t want that.
Both my kids have an iPhone SE 2nd edition and have them connected to my account with Family Sharing and Screen Time. I have the pin codes to unlock both their phones and they understand I can inspect them at any time, for any reason. This remains in place until they choose to pay for their own phone or they turn 18, whichever comes first. I’ve told them the internet and apps are a complex place that can be dangerous (I have had a couple of issues with my oldest one finding things, despite the controls, that have brought up serious conversations about safety). Their minds are still forming and they need to learn how to navigate more safely and with critical thinking.
I personally do not participate on any social media, and I’ve had many conversations with my kids as to why. I can only hope that if they choose to participate when they are old enough, they take my skepticism with them and engage more safely than these parents who have handed their kid a completely unrestricted phone as soon as they could read.
The SE 2nd ed. may not enjoy security support for that much longer: Apple iPhone | endoflife.date
Thanks for pointing that out. I double checked and they’re actually SE 3rd edition so I have a while yet before I have to look at replacement.