Do your small children have cell phones?

[nooskye]

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-technology/20080729/Parenting.Cell.Phones/

The hubby & I have been discussing this ourselves ... so ... Do your kids have cell phones? How old were they when they got them? What age is too young to have one?

The hubby says that our 8 year old should have one, but I disagree ... my arguement is that she's always with an adult that has a phone so she just simply doesn't NEED one ... then I throw out the arguement that she's ONLY 8! ... She doesn't have any BUSINESS having one ...

What do y'all think????

[hendrixfreak70]

8 years old? Neah. 12 years old, neah. When they start working, probably. But not a minute before.

[nooskye]

Lol! That's what gets said to her :laugh: When you can work & pay for it ... sure ... but until then, uuummmm ... no.

[Fire Extinguisher]

My 14 year old has had one for over a year. We got it when there became days on occasion when neither one of us would be able to be at the school to pick her up at 3.

[Expat in Korea]

I think 8 is a little young for a phone.


I don't know if they are available in the States yet, but a lot of my students here in Korea have "Mom" phones. They are specially designed phones that can only dial and receive calls from certain numbers. They are not able to call anyone else.

Edit: They are in the states. Check out Firefly (http://www.fireflymobile.com/store/firefly/)

[JMC]

i agree with you, 8 year old does not need a cell phone.

[jojobeans1120]

My 11 year old has one, and my 9 year old has one as well. They only use them when they go to their dads, or they're out playing with friends. I like being able to get in touch with them at ANY moment. Also, it allows them to call me no matter what's going on.

[Fish-Bait]

No phones till they get a job.

[Chichiguita]

(sorry, Fishy)

I am considering it. With single-parenting on the horizon, I want to know that he can reach me if he needs to. I also want to ensure that he and his father have access to one another at all times--especially given the distance between them. It won't make everything all better--but it may help some. :smt102 I just need to get on my feet and discern what I can afford. With both of us having cell phones, I probably won't pop for a land line.

My son is 12.

[onlyme]

Both of our kids have had pre-paid phones for about a year now. The youngest was 10 when he got his first phone. He is out and about in the neighborhood and I like to be able to keep in touch with him since I don't know exactly where he runs around. The other one is 16 and, of course, also constantly on the run. Now that he has his driver's license, I make him call me as soon as he arrives at his destination and also when he leaves to come back home. For us it's more an emergency issue and the pre-paid plans are sufficient for our needs.

[Rainey]

I think I got a phone when I was 14 or 15 (So yeah yesterday smartasses). I only had it for emergencies. I see nothing wrong with children having cell phones for emergencies or even just talking with their friends. Cell phones should just be treated like the internet for small children. Know what your kid is doing and everything should be ok.

[Rainey]

Both of our kids have had pre-paid phones for about a year now. The youngest was 10 when he got his first phone. He is out and about in the neighborhood and I like to be able to keep in touch with him since I don't know exactly where he runs around. The other one is 16 and, of course, also constantly on the run. Now that he has his driver's license, I make him call me as soon as he arrives at his destination and also when he leaves to come back home. For us it's more an emergency issue and the pre-paid plans are sufficient for our needs.

My mom made me do that too. Man I hated that! However, I know why parents do it.

[onlyme]

My mom made me do that too. Man I hated that! However, I know why parents do it.

I am sure our son hates it as well but he knows that there will be more no more car privileges if he does not follow orders. My car, my rules :evil:

[proudtobefrompetal]

my oldest got a phone right before she turned 13. it has proven to be a lifesaver. we haven't regretted purchasing the phone a single day. 13 is about the age they start going more.

my youngest would love for us to cave in and buy a phone for her, too, but it's not going to happen. that's just too young.

[jbrack]

We got our daughter one this month. She is starting high school and we felt like she needed one.:smt001

[thornton04]

I would get them the Mom Phones so that they could call me only. I think when they start driving then they should have a normal cell phone.

[HorseWhisperer]

I did not get a cell phone until I was 14.

[marion]

I don't have a child but I was thinking about this the other day so take it as you will.

I don't necessarily think I would allow a child to have her own personal cell phone at 8, although I do think I would have a phone for my child to take with her anytime she is going somewhere where I wouldn't be. I disagree with the parent in the article who said "I always know where my kids are" therefore they don't need a phone.

This is the story I was thinking about the other day, granted I was a teenager at the time, probably about 14 or 15 and this was before cell phones became easily available. I once went to babysit for a couple. My parents didn't know them well but they knew people they trusted who knew them and said they were good people. So, I went, did the babysitting thing, everything went well, until it was time to go home. The husband had told my parents he would bring me home. (The more I type this the more I realize how waay too trusting my parents were.) We get in the car, me, the husband, and one of his children. He has an OPEN bottle of beer in his hand. Granted, he wasn't fall down slobbering drunk, and seemed ok, but it's still unsafe, illegal, and looking back on it now, he'd probably had at least one more that night.

I knew it was wrong, my parents had told me over and over not to get in the car with someone who had been drinking and they knew EXACTLY where I was, but this was an adult who was supposed to know better, I was still a kid, and had no idea what to do. Had I had a phone, I could've just said, that's okay, I'm going to call my mom to come get me. However, by the time I realize he had a beer, there was no phone. Looking back, I should've insisted I call my parents on the couples landline phone but at that age I wasn't thinking like that.

I never told my mom about it and thankfully we got home okay even though I was incredibly uneasy about it, but I never want my child put in that situation. That's why, whenever I have children, I want them to have a phone near anytime I'm not there, even if they are spending the night at a friends house that I've known for years, you never know what's going to happen. Plus, as a pre-teen/teenager, I would've killed for a phone just because I was ALWAYS the last one waiting after church, school events, etc. As far as using the phone for socializing, that would be different.

[LEGS]

All three of my children have a cell phone. Ages 13, 11, and 6...yes, 6. I am not responsible for the 6 yr old having hers. Her father felt that she needed to have one. He's an idiot. Btw, we are divorced so I can say that.

[nooskye]

Thanks for all the responses guys! I appreciate it :) You all sound like y'all have very busy lives ... I'm kinda jealous! ;) lol! But I do enjoy my less stress one here :)

As for the cell phone for my big girl though ... I'm afraid that I may have to eat my words on this one ... I'd like to say that she won't be getting one any time soon. But she probably will ...

Our idea, well, the hubby's idea ... was to give her a cell phone, so she can have all of her numbers and stuff she wants and the games ... and I agreed not to put any money on it until she proved she was in fact a "big girl" and could take care of it ... right? Sounds logical ... so I agreed ... Well ...

LoL! That'll teach ME :laugh: ... she takes better care of hers than I do of mine :bowrofl:

I'm going to give it a week or so or whatever, to see if it's a trick and she's just doing it to show she can or if that's going to be a habit, ya know? But either way, I'm sure ... it won't be long. :smt086 They grow up wwwway to fast now a days :smt086

So ... I guess the true test right now is if she gets caught taking it to school or not ... she's suppose to leave it in the car when she's dropped off ... or at home ... if she doesn't ... it's a deal breaker, so ... we'll see I guess :laugh:

[Honey]

I think anytime my child leaves my sight they should have a phone. In today's world it is a safety issue above all else. Remember it is not the evil stranger that is from out of town that I worried so much about with my daughter and my son. It is the ones that we put trust in that we have to watch out for too. And I found comfort in the fact that I could call at any moment and have a conversation with my kids and vise versa. And yes once they arrived somewhere and when they left that area I was to be notified. Because of that they were allowed more freedom. And more than once I was delayed in traffic and would be late in picking my kids up from somewhere and it helped to be able to notify the child. Even if they are just walking down the street to a friend's house things could happen.

[blessedmom]

None of our kids have them. When oldest is old enough to drive and work he will have one. But before then I just don't see a reason for a phone. He is always with an adult that has one. The little ones are always with us.

[nooskye]

None of our kids have them. When oldest is old enough to drive and work he will have one. But before then I just don't see a reason for a phone. He is always with an adult that has one. The little ones are always with us.


See, that was originally one of my arguements too ... but now that she's talking about Girl Scouts and extending her Karate class and helping with the Animal Shelter ... sigh ... long story short ... she's gonna end up with a phone by Christmas :smt086

how old is your oldest? If you don't mind me asking ...

[JMC]

It's a wonder civilization was able to progress prior to the freaking cell phone being invented isn't it.

[BelieveInHim]

Our oldest got a cell phone when she started driving. That was when they were not cheap. When they came out with Family plans our youngest got one around 12 I think. No text messaging though, me checking the minutes and numbers she was calling. The reason we chose to get her one was she was at karate 6 days a week and sometime there was never a set time to pick her up. Also, I always picked her up from school and if I couldn't her dad would. One day he forgot to go get her, from then on, she had a phone so she could call me if he didn't come as I was working at the time....and no, I'm not a single mom, just sometime hubby gets a brain fart.