[iowemoretohim]

Do children buy devices and pay for internet service?

[ben_w]

Pocket money is a thing, PAYG is a thing, gift cards are a thing.

Skipping lunch and saving up the dinner money to spend on an ex-demo Performa 5200 and a 56k modem is how I got online back in the late 90s.

[jolmg]

Parents can still confiscate their children's belongings even if the child bought them. Imagine a child buys large speakers and puts them on blast with windows open in the middle of the night. Doesn't matter if the child bought them on their own, the parent should still be able to confiscate them.

[SubmarineClub]

What the heck is ‘dinner money’?

Your parents couldn’t be arsed to cook even a single meal for you?

[epolanski]

Good luck denying your 12 year olds a smartphone when every single of their friends has one and they are cut off from everything.

[s777]

My parents gave me really shitty smartphones that were barely powerful enough to do important things but was an awful experience for Instagram/games/etc until I bought a better one with my own money (similar specs to Pinephone Pro)

[jolmg]

No luck necessary. Not like you need permission from your child to deny them things.

You can get a dumb phone since having a phone (not necessarily smart) is a good idea. There's also parental controls on at least Android smartphones that let you control the apps and sites they get access to.