Kids and cell phones...

[Mama_Mia08]

Ok parents what are your thoughts? We have very mixed feelings about this and I would like your opinions as well. I've always been one to think cell phones are a little more appropriate for kids walking to and from school or kids who live in cities. Also, if the kids are older and are involved in extra circular activities where the parents drop them off and leave.

I know kids now have all these gadgets and it is common for kids to have cell phones. I am not a techie, it's sad I don't even have an MP3. LOL! Do you think it is spoiling them? We did survive at one time w/out them.

Our daughter will be 8 in 2 weeks and has been asking for one. Her bio dad and grandparents live in PA. She wants to call them and maybe friends as she makes them here. Of course us as well if need be. She does do cheer and I do drop her off to take the baby to my husband then I go back with her. If your kids have cells, what age did you get them one?

I feel old school....at the ripe age of 26...

 

[kalmd]

We just recently got our son one. He's 13 and in high school now. I didn't see the need to getting him one before now and I still don't really see the need for him to have one now, but we had told him he could have one when he got to high school.

He has a blackberry curve and uses it more for the apps and internet access than as a phone.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

Do a quick search about this subject. You'll find lots of opinions, both for and against.

 

[Mama_Mia08]

Do a quick search about this subject. You'll find lots of opinions, both for and against.

I guess I could have done that. Sometimes when I do searches I find threads that people are just arguing about something unrelated so it takes forever to find what I want. I'll try it now though. Thanks!

 

[Mama_Mia08]

We just recently got our son one. He's 13 and in high school now. I didn't see the need to getting him one before now and I still don't really see the need for him to have one now, but we had told him he could have one when he got to high school.

He has a blackberry curve and uses it more for the apps and internet access than as a phone.

High School is a good age. I think most kids use the phones for apps. and texting.

 

[sanchezf]

I guess I could have done that. Sometimes when I do searches I find threads that people are just arguing about something unrelated so it takes forever to find what I want. I'll try it now though. Thanks!

My son got one at age 11 when he started standing at the bus stop alone. I don't think any 8 year old needs one. If she needed to use the phone, hand her the house phone.

 

[goldielocks7]

My youngest son soon to be twelve and entering middle school just bought his own cell phone. he was proud of it and takes really good care of it too. it's on my line so the rule is only verizon calls in/out.
I do like the fact that he has one now. makes life easier when we have family events, go to games etc etc etc.. texting is great-
but honestly my thoughts about children at a young age to receive a phone will want bigger things before they hit preteen. What will they get at age 12-17?
at age 8 i was just listening to music on my alarm clock.. funny...
so yes my opinion... age 8 in my book is way to young to have a cell phone:

 

[vbailey]

8yrs old seems a bit young to me...but each situtation is different..my son has had a cell phone since 7th grade....once we are home in the evenings we take his phone from him so that he is not texting his friends all night...while in church service or other times when it may be inapropraite for him to use it..we take it from him..only because he abused those privlages, texting when he should be respecting ... be sure to be aware of their use, we keep a very close eye and have told a friend or two of his if they text him with things we do not approve we will tell their parents....it seems to work..

 

[SoccerMom2]

When my kids are 16 and it will prepaid. They have to have a part time job and good grades. I didn't have one at 16 and i did just fine!

 

[Chasey_Lane]

prepaid

Expensive.

 

[SoccerMom2]

Expensive.

Ya but if i add them to my plan and they can't pay there half im stuck paying theirs. This way they can learn some responsibility in having one.

 

[libertytyranny]

Expensive.

ooh yeah. agreed. an extra line is about 20 bucks..... Those things get you with those cards can be hundreds for a month or two worth of minutes, plus when my bf had one he had run out of minutes talking to his boss on the way home...and car broke down...phone no good

 

[LusbyMom]

My kids have been asking for cell phones for years. They are 11, 9 & 8.

We just got our oldest her own line yesterday. She just started middle school and she is staying after school for activities and sports. Their might also be times she will need to come home by herself. We feel better with her having one now.

For the past 2 year we have had an extra one that is shared by all 3 on the rare occasion that they have needed it.

 

[Radargod]

15, 8 & 7. My kids are welcome to have cell phones when they get the money, get an account and provide for themselves. Until then there is a perfectly good phone on the wall here in the kitchen that seems to communicate just fine with the outside world. Put the money toward college every month.

 

[poster]

15, 8 & 7. My kids are welcome to have cell phones when they get the money, get an account and provide for themselves. Until then there is a perfectly good phone on the wall here in the kitchen that seems to communicate just fine with the outside world. Put the money toward college every month.

Daughter is 9 and doesn't have one.
She's never left alone so doesn't need one.

In your situation (traveling from home) I'd consider it.
But if there's always an adult with them there's probably a phone to use.
Activities last 1-2 hours or so and they're supposed to be engaged in the activity not on the phone. If I felt they've ever been denied calling me I'd get the phone.

 

[Ibelieve]

Ok parents what are your thoughts? We have very mixed feelings about this and I would like your opinions as well. I've always been one to think cell phones are a little more appropriate for kids walking to and from school or kids who live in cities. Also, if the kids are older and are involved in extra circular activities where the parents drop them off and leave.

I know kids now have all these gadgets and it is common for kids to have cell phones. I am not a techie, it's sad I don't even have an MP3. LOL! Do you think it is spoiling them? We did survive at one time w/out them.

Our daughter will be 8 in 2 weeks and has been asking for one. Her bio dad and grandparents live in PA. She wants to call them and maybe friends as she makes them here. Of course us as well if need be. She does do cheer and I do drop her off to take the baby to my husband then I go back with her. If your kids have cells, what age did you get them one?

I feel old school....at the ripe age of 26...

I did get my youngest one at age 8 but only because it was only like $10 to add it to the plan. Her (at the time) 10-year old brother and 13-year old sister had them as well. Because my kids would travel 1,000's of miles away to stay with their dad in the Summer, I wanted to be sure to be able to keep in touch with them. But there's also a lot of peer pressure out there. I caved! :shrug: You could just get her one of those Firefly phones or something simple. You can program the numbers they can call and receive and it has the "911" freature pre-programmed.

That said, unless your 8-year old is going around alone a lot, I wouldn't do it. And if you do, CERTAINLY hold off on the texting for as long as possible. That part drives me crazy!!! We never go above the minutes for our family plan (and we have the bottom tier with 5 phones on it), but the number of texts each month is upwards of 50K!!! I finally had to pay for the restriction times option. Doesn't let them text during school or after a certain time, etc.

 

[Mama_Mia08]

I did get my youngest one at age 8 but only because it was only like $10 to add it to the plan. Her (at the time) 10-year old brother and 13-year old sister had them as well. Because my kids would travel 1,000's of miles away to stay with their dad in the Summer, I wanted to be sure to be able to keep in touch with them. But there's also a lot of peer pressure out there. I caved! :shrug: You could just get her one of those Firefly phones or something simple. You can program the numbers they can call and receive and it has the "911" freature pre-programmed.

That said, unless your 8-year old is going around alone a lot, I wouldn't do it. And if you do, CERTAINLY hold off on the texting for as long as possible. That part drives me crazy!!! We never go above the minutes for our family plan (and we have the bottom tier with 5 phones on it), but the number of texts each month is upwards of 50K!!! I finally had to pay for the restriction times option. Doesn't let them text during school or after a certain time, etc.

She definitely doesn't go any where by her self. If for some reason cheerleading was to end before I get back to her the coaches all have phones anyway. We were considering the cell phone for her so we can call her or vice versa when she goes with her dad. Normally her dad and step mother have a phone with them. Although there was a couple times that they didn't put minutes on their phones and I couldn't reach them right away. They did call me later that day. We were looking at either the firefly or just giving her one of our old phones and she would go on our plan. Either way the phones can be restricted. Plus, the people she would call are all AT&T so we wouldn't pay for her usage anyway. She has been asking for a phone for a year now and even offered to pay for it, lol. She's had about $100 that she has been wanting to spend. (birthdays, good report card, etc. money)

The thing that does scare me about getting her a phone now is I am afraid she will want more and more stuff later. For example, she wants a dsi, wii, guitar, and the list goes on. We tell her she will not likely get a wii and dsi and those are things to put on her x-mas list or b-day list. We keep things real with her. We show her how much the stuff costs and how many dollars she would need to buy them. I have younger siblings so she grew up around them getting spoiled by my parents. My husband and I refuse to raise her in the same way. (they don't have responsibilities) My husband actually almost let her use her own money to buy her phone awhile ago but I didn't think that was appropriate at the time. After thinking about it, it may not have been such a bad idea.

I basically wanted to find out if the 7-10 yr. old kids I see at the parks walking around with phones is the norm. I guess I'm not completely out of touch, Thanks everyone!

 

[Sweet 16]

I basically wanted to find out if the 7-10 yr. old kids I see at the parks walking around with phones is the norm. I guess I'm not completely out of touch, Thanks everyone!

You are not alone on this one. Everyone has their own reasons but personally, I think 8 is too young. At that age, they are (hopefully) not ever without an adult or older relative, so there is no need for them to have their own phone other than to socialize and be "cool". Plenty of time for that later. Good luck!