We’ve chosen in our family that it’s 13 where you get a phone: Bill Gates

Bill Gates has said that 13 is the appropriate age for a child’s first cell phone, adding that he has applied the rule to his family. The 57-year-old father-of-three revealed on the Today show that his children Jennifer and Rory were not allowed phones until their thirteenth birthday and his youngest daughter Phoebe is still waiting for one, the Daily Mail reported

“We’ve chosen in our family that it’s 13 where you get a phone,” he said, adding that as a result his brood often return home from school complaining that all other kids have it, except for them. Asked if he keeps passwords to his son and daughters’ email and Facebook accounts, Gates said that he doesn’t for 16-year-old daughter Jennifer, who he describes as “independent”. Gates, however, agreed that monitoring online activity is “a very tricky issue for parents nowadays.

Despite their vast wealth the Gates couple, who live in Lake Medina, just outside Seattle, Washington, have said they want to give their children as normal an upbringing as possible.