Cell phones for kids
April 20, 2008 by Sherry Osborne
Filed under Parenting
Image details: Boy text messaging in bedroom served by picapp.com
I was reading something, uh, somewhere this weekend (that right there is the danger of mindless surfing and link-clicking: If you read something interesting you may not remember where to find it later) about cell phones for kids. It seems like everyone in high school is getting a cell phone and texting their friends. I remember I felt pretty darn cool when I was in high school because I had my own phone in my room and then when I turned 16 I got my own phone line (my parents paid the first three months and after that I had to chip in). That was like the ultimate in phone freedom.
Of course, no one had cell phones at that time and the only people with pagers were doctors and dealers so I couldn’t have imagined the concept back then. Now it seems like everyone wants a cell phone earlier and earlier.
What age do you think is right for cells? For those of you who have already started in on the teen years, do your kids own one? What rules and guidelines would you set out? I used to leave with my friends in the morning all summer and only come home for meals, and no one could call me unless we were at another friend’s house – usually we were out somewhere and completely incommunicado but these days it seems no one wants that. What are your plans?
My daughter participates in lengthy sporting events, and I can’t always stay the entire time. Keeping that in mind:
My 11 yo got her first “phone” when she was 8. It was a firefly, and only programmed (by me) numbers could call in, and she could only call programmed numbers. She began encountering “dead” spots in a lot of local places (I checked, and she was honest), so, she got a “real” cell for her birthday last September. We did get unlimited texting for our entire family, so that isn’t an issue.
The Rules:
-Phone gets charged in the kitchen every night at 9 pm. (no secret calls)
-Friends can NEVER use it to make calls or texts.
-She can NOT use it at home without permission because we have a house phone for that.
-She must maintain First Honors at school. (Kind of like the Dean’s list. You have to have all A’s with at the most 1 B)
So far, so good. One time she used it to call me because she wasn’t comfortable with the situation at a park near her friend’s house and she wanted to come home. No other phones around, and I sure wouldn’t want her to go up to a stranger’s house.
We have unlimited nights and weekends, and tons of peak minutes, so that hasn’t become an issue, YET. We plan on adjusting our plan/minutes as our needs change.
I am currently writing an essay of cell phones and “Have you ever felt defeated before you began”? As I researched for my essay, I noticed many phones were created for kids use. I wanted to include these options as part of the indated information we receive while planning a simple feat of purchasing a cell phone. Do you have any input?
kids should have cell phones
I personally don’t think children should have cell phones until high school or unless their life becomes so busy that they spend alot of time away from home. 6th graders on on the bus teexting kids that sit right behind them, talking about their screen saver and teasing those who don’t have phones. It used to be drugs that I worried about my kids being pressured with, not it is cell phones. My 6th grader who used to love school, hates it now because he is the only one on the bus that doesn’t have one. We adults survived without one, so will they.
I know I made spelling errors! LOL