I’d go for the 13 Pro, 14 Pro or 15 Pro. I’d argue most kids use their phones more than adults, and they’re most likely to use the cameras to the full extent. I shot many short films and vlogs throughout my high school career. And an iPhone is also a perfect accesible entry-point to photography — both in terms of cost and ease of use. While sure, you can save some money with a non-pro model or an even older model, I feel like these three newer generations offer the best camera systems. For a child, I think that invitation to explore is worth the extra buck. And even if they don’t get into photography and videography, they’re not going to have this much energy and free time ever again. A good camera to capture and record these moments is priceless in my opinion.

All that said, my opinion is biased as someone who did media throughout school, is still a hobbyist photographer, and has 58,000+ items in my Photos library.