We gave my nephew our old iPhone to use as an iPod Touch for Christmas. We gave him a ton of other stuff, too. My nephew is seven years old and we did not want to give him a brand new iPod Touch until he reached the age that would take better care off his belongings. I remember when I was his age. Anyways, tonight while we were celebrating birthdays at my mom's house, we found out that my sister and her husband took the iPhone away from him and replaced it with an mp3 player. They stated that they were afraid he would call 911 on the phone.

Were we wrong to ask for it back? I told my sister I would replace it with an iPod touch. I think that my sister husband is using it.

As for asking for it back, seems that it is already in use. A gift is a gift, and parents should be the ones to decide if it is good for the kids. They should have said something at the time he got it.
I wouldn't ask for it back. But seven years old is just a little bit too young, to my way of thinking. All he should have, if anything, is a plain vanilla cell phone, if that. There's no reason for a small child to have all that expensive electronic equipment.
Is he in a school so bad that he has to walk past dangerous neighborhoods? Does he have to call 911 often? Or do his parents just want him to keep up with the Jones family?

Depends if you want to keep peace in the family.Sometimes it's just easier to let it go.

We did not give it as a phone, nor do we think that a seven year old needs or should have a phone. And yes, his parents should make that decision, not his uncles. When we see him he plays games on our phone and really enjoys it. Our thought was when he travels, going to grandmas house, it is a two hour car ride, thus giving him something to keep him occupied in the car.

Did you have the SIM card deactivated? If you did it would make the phone unusable. At least until they got another card for it.
You can call your phone company and ask if it is being used.

Game boys are great for playing games while traveling. Kept my boys busy for their 5 hour drives.

They should have discussed it with you first. You had every right to ask for it back.

I understand your intent. I would ask for it back and not feel quilty at all. You didn't give it to the parent and since the child is not allowed to use it I feel it should be returned to you. If they won't let you replace it with a more suitable hand held game then don't feel bad for asking for it back.

In my family my mother was notorious for giving us things, then asking for them back, it got to be a family joke between my brother and I and probably why we both feel - if you give a gift, it now belongs to the recipient and whatever happens from there - you are out of the loop. Just let it go.

If you're not happy with the outcome, you'll know what not to give in the future.

If the phone is not activated, i dont understand why they took it.