What age for cell phones

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Survillas on November 2, 2008 at 3:10pm

I am not sure there is an age per say, but a need or a level of responsibility that has been met. My 9 year old has had a phone for 2 years now, but not until this year was she allowed to use it for anything more than emergencies. I drop her off at dance 3 nights a week and she is there 4 hours a night. I wanted her to be able to get a hold of us if there was a need. Sometimes adults can be not so nice to kids when they want to use the phone. I didn't want her to have to explain why she wanted to make a call if she wasn't comfortable doing so. But I always want her to be able to call me when she wants to. I just let her start texting me and a couple of her friends. I think they are great if your child is responsible. =)

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Cox/Lipsticktocrayons on November 2, 2008 at 3:19pm

I think it depends on the kid. We bought our 10 year old daughter a cell phone because of her extracurricular activities. She's a competitive dancer and spends a lot of time up at her dancing school. I also had a bad experience with not being able to get a hold of her when she was spending the night with a friend. She's my social butterfly and I like being able to get a hold of her easily with as much as she's away from me. The rule is that she can only use her phone to call me or her dad unless she clears it with us first. We also blocked text messaging on her phone.

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Permalink Reply by Sara Addington on November 2, 2008 at 3:20pm

We got one for our son 2 years ago when he was 12. Turns out it's way more for me! He's very responsible with it, we share minutes and texts and it's fine. His friends call only occasionally, he just started giving it out to a couple of his trusted friends. They barely use it. And I can keep in touch with him much better. :) He doesn't take it to school much and when he does, he leaves it in his locker. Now, I remember myself at his age, though--a total phone hog in the days long before cell phones--and I think it could easily be a little different for some kids. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Bonnie on November 2, 2008 at 9:27pm

We got a "kid" phone to be shared between them, oldest was 12 when we got it. We have been deemed the sucky parents because we also had the phone disabled from text messaging. When they are more responsible we will add it in. Right now, sharing the phone works because they mostly are not at separate venues at the same time.

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Permalink Reply by Paisley on November 2, 2008 at 10:56pm

Our daughter had a cell @ 12. She was heading into middle school and wanted a cell phone. We told her if she could earn 20.00 a month over the summer we would add a line for her to our plan.
She had 25 bux in her purse when we ordered her phone.
Times turned -as they have for everyone- and we lost our phones. When we get them back, I'm reasonably sure she'll get hers back too.
Next year we'll have 2 kids in HS, one in MS and one in elementary. Our teeny one is prepping for Headstart.
Our Tribe is so large, we'd need 2 family plans to accommodate us all. Still haven't figured that part of it out, but it may be in our best interest. Ms Ma'am has the house phone grafted to her ear 80hrs a day ;)

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Permalink Reply by Mary on November 3, 2008 at 5:25am

I think it depends on how mature your child is and why you need him/her to have it. I bought my 10 y/o son and my 8 y/o daughter cell phones though I'm always around but since we are a military family and move a lot, the cell phone provide them and me a way to help us through all the changes. It also worked wonders the day a teacher grounded my daughter because she "didn't want" to (actually she couldn't) communicate in Spanish (we're overseas) and my son called me, let me know what was happening and I got there in 5 mins. I talked to the principal and the teacher got fired (she had done similar things several times before). Or the time when my daughter was accused of stealing a Crayola pencil from the teacher, she was brought to the principal's office and nobody wanted to call me until it was time for them to leave, she called, I went to school and after a very ugly discussion another boy confessed to have stolen the pencil from the teacher (after three of his friends told what happened to the principal). BUT because she was the only latina in the classroom it HAD to be her! SOOOOOO as long as they are a minority or/and as long as there racism in US they are going to have their cell phones with them. Am I harsh? Not as harsh as the people we have found in our way.

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Permalink Reply by Cara on November 3, 2008 at 6:08am

I think it is deemed on how social, and responsible each individual kid is. My son is only 2, so we won't have this problem for a few more years at least, but I didn't get a cell phone until I was 15. I never was really a social butterfly or anything like that, though, so if I went out, my parents knew exactly who it was with (most of the time the same person) and when I would be back, so I had no reason for one until I started driving.

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Permalink Reply by Tara Burner on November 3, 2008 at 7:04am

My DD has had one since she was 8, she's almost 13
it's the only way she's allowed to go to anyone's house or anywhere w/o me.
Has it on her at school too..

my son though didnt get one til he was like 14 or something.

I wouldn't have them without it, course I get lectured all time by others who dont get that life in big city is different than rural areas and others I see who have no clue where their kids are and well that's not an option.

So for $50/month per phone I know exactly where my kids are and we have constant communication, text, etc.
Tara

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Permalink Reply by Amy Platt on November 3, 2008 at 7:05am

My kids are little so I don't have to worry about it, but I do own a website that's a resource for parents of kids of all ages, so this is an interesting topic. I'm definitely interested to know from you moms who did get your kids cell phones if you had one added on to your own plans or got them their own? Do you know about cell phone companies for kids only, such as kajeet? What features did you look for on the plan (safety, etc)? Any other critera would be helpful too. I think it is a topic that is of interest to parents because so many of us are so dependent on our cell phones but tell our kids no. I'd be interested in potentially writing about the topic with some help from my twittermoms!

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on November 3, 2008 at 7:16am

Our boys are not even 2 years old yet, but when they are older, maybe when they start high school, or if they have a lot of extra activities etc, i would be willing to get them a cell phone that they can only dial 3 numbers from it. Home, 911 and 1 other number. I cant remember what those phones are called, but i know you can get them. I just dont like seeing young kids with cell phones and racking up the bill.

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Permalink Reply by TheBag Lady on November 3, 2008 at 7:37am

I think with the way our society is today that our kids need cell phones. As soon as you think your child is responsible enough to have one. By 9 or 10 it would be a good time ot try it out.

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Permalink Reply by Tonya on November 3, 2008 at 7:45am

My 12 year old has had one since he was 9. It's been more for me than for him. He's very responsible and doesn't use it very often to call his friends. However it gave me peace of mind when he was off on a playdate, or at an extra curricular activity, or just sitting in the car while I ran into the pharmacy etc that I knew he could call me if he needed me. He also skateboards to school and I worry endlessly that he will have an accident and wanted to make sure he could always call me. 2 weeks ago he was rounding a corner on his skateboard at 6:30 in the morning when he went through a puddle, skidded and went flying. He was scraped up and very sore. There was nobody around at that time to come to his rescue so I thank goodness he was able to call me and I could go and pick him up.

Let's just say that he's not very responsible when it comes to not losing his phone and he's had 2 stolen from his bag at school while he was in PE class but at least I know that in an emergency he can call me.

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