Bithday Prenstents?

KidRetro64 · May 19, 2019

Hey Everyone

In 3 days, it’s going to be my Birthday! And I’m dying for a SIM Card. It’s quite a long story.. and I’m wondering if my parents behaviour does any good in this?

Well, back in February I decided that I really wanted a SIM. I brought my phone and my £1, but my Parents made me put it back. They said that “When I’m a bit older I can have one” but I’m trying to argue back that everyone that I know with phones has a SIM, and it’s unfair.

Fast forward 3 months, I’m still asking and wanting one. But my Sister and Auntie day it’s not a good idea, because my Data will run down really quick knowing me. But I do know how they work! I know how to turn it Of, and stuff like that.

But the other night, my Dad asked me what else I wanted for my birthday. I said nothing (Because I had already gotten a V3 and a Hatsune Mike Figure From Him) so there was a higher change of me getting one. But then he replied “Are you just doing this so you can get a SIM card?” And I say yes (looking back, I’m not sure if that was the best thing? Idk

) and he replies with one of my main questions. “Well, we’ve already decided about the whole SIM Thing” and didn’t say anything else. I’m not quite sure what he might be hinting!

But the good thing is that it’s not been a definite NO yet, it’s just a Not right now. So what does all of this mean? I really want one, but they were acting the same way when I got my Hamster saying “It’s a lot of responsibility” and “It’s not a toy” etc, etc. But then they ended up buying one! And We still have her today! I’m fact, my parents love my Hamster!

So, what does this all mean? Help is appreciated

Jhud · May 20, 2019

I don't understand why would you even have a phone without a SIM card? Back when I got my phone on the for the holy communion (so I was like 10) mom got me my phone SPECIFICALLY so I could call her in an emergency or something. These were the days before internet data plans or even phones with wifi were a thing though. Why don't you just tell them that you would use it specifically for this reason- to be able to call them or someone else in an emergency. They can choose what plan would suit a young person like you best and all that (a limit on data and calls, all that). I see no reason why would they not allow you to have one.

TamaMum · May 24, 2019

We don't know how old you are so it's difficult to tell what the right age is to get and use a mobile phone responsibly. It's different in different countries.  You say that you paid £1 for your SIM so I will base my answer on the guess that you live in the UK. (I live in the UK too).

In the UK if you are still in primary school and not yet in Year 5 or Year 6 I think it's probably not a great idea to have a phone - it's too easy to lose or accidentally break at school. Then it also comes down to cost.

The argument that "everyone else has one, so why can't I?" doesn't work well with parents who already have decided about "the whole SIM thing".  Your Aunt and Sister already said they think you'd just run out of data really quickly... so... find out how much a monthly phone contract will cost you (or more realistically, cost your parents) and what kind of use you will have.

If you only want to use the phone to send/receive texts/What's app or phone calls and take photos then it might be affordable - but other things use much more data - online games / downloading movies and music tracks will use up your data allowance really quickly.  If you don't have any kind of job that earns you pocket money (paper round / household help chores, etc) then think about how much a contract will cost your parents every month - and if they can afford it.

If you do get a certain amount of pocket money/allowance each week from your family maybe you could suggest that you can put that towards paying for a phone contract.

Tesco's offer some quite good deals for a monthly fee with limits on the number of texts / calls you can send/receive and how much data you have access to (like Jhud suggested) - but it's still going to be around £15 per month (at least) for a basic contract with a limited data allowance. £15 per month for 12 months - can you afford to pay that much for a whole year? Would your parents buy you a birthday present for (at least) £180? You said your Dad has already bought you 2 presents.

I know it's frustrating but I can understand that your family might just be worrying that if you go over your data limit (which is easy to do) they will be left having to pay the bill for the extra data used and it can get pretty expensive.

Anyway - hope you had a good birthday

leogames2012 · May 30, 2019

Get the Pirated instead. The original You need To buy.

Also IT is rpg Maker VX!

TM Edit; link removed: site rules - this is promoting game piracy and that is illegal. Our first Site rule includes no discussion of anything illegal on TamaTalk.

This post is also off topic and does not answer the question posted.

Jhud · May 31, 2019

leogames2012 said:
Get the Pirated instead. The original You need To buy.

Also IT is rpg Maker VX!

TM Edit; link removed: site rules - this is promoting game piracy and that is illegal. Our first Site rule includes no discussion of anything illegal on TamaTalk.

This post is also off topic and does not answer the question posted.

I'm pretty sure the talk is about Sim cards, not The Sims game.

Anyway, I still think it's not that bad of an idea for a young person to have a phone, as long as it's not a super expensive model. I got my first phone precisely for the reason as to call my mom when I needed. Though guess my case was somewhat special since I had to call my mom after school to take me home and I know other countries have school buses or people have less paranoid parents that let their children go home on their own (my mom never did

) But either way I think it's good to have one for emergencies. I have no idea how data plans work in the UK but in Poland we have things like data limits or that thing where you just pay the amount of money needed to make calls and other things and when it runs out you can't do anything until you replenish it (so there's no accidental extra bill paying).