When they got to 9th grade we got them an old fashion flip phone, actually hard to find and had to buy them off ebay. I think most parents give them smart phones because it is just easier. I can't imagine how impossible it would be for me personally as a teenager having the entire world, good and bad, in my hand as a teenager. It isn't worth the issues and problems. And if the kids no this is the way it is since they were little, it really isn't that big of a deal. I know we have saved ourselves and our kids from many issues with this one simple decision.