Is my child ready for a phone?
A practical way to talk about smartphone readiness without treating it as a test your child can pass or fail.
Readiness is a family conversation
A first smartphone asks a child to handle messages, boredom, friends, and mistakes when you are not in the room. Looking at responsibility, communication, and privacy is more useful than asking whether they are old enough. Families often start this conversation when after-school logistics change, not on a birthday.
What to notice at home
Useful signals are ordinary. Do they bring borrowed things back? Can they pause a game when you ask? Do they tell you when a group chat feels uncomfortable? None of those questions produce a verdict. They help you decide how much of the phone to turn on at the beginning.
Start with the free check
FirstPhone’s readiness check takes about five minutes. Answer from what you see at home. It is a planning tool, not a clinical assessment, and it does not diagnose anyone. The result is a planning score and a suggested Independence Level. You can choose a different level.
A score is a starting point
A lower score usually means a narrower first setup: calling, texting approved people, and the tools that help them get home. A higher score can still keep social apps off. The parent decides. FirstPhone will not change a restriction unless you do.
What to do with the result
Talk through the strengths and the topics to discuss. Write a short family phone agreement, match iPhone settings to that plan, and pick a date to review it. The 30- and 90-day check-ins exist so the first setup does not have to last forever.