Kids and cellphones...how young?

[RedneckReject]

Have you tried to find a WORKING payphone lately? Good luck with that!

I'm starting to wonder if I live in some kind of alternate dimension. There are working payphones all over the place here. I've actually had to use one more than once in the past couple weeks because the battery on my phone is crap and it keeps dying. They're really not hard to find.

 

[LANShark42]

I don't think young kids need cellphones mainly because they are almost always with an adult and have access to a phone, if they stay home alone without a house phone that is a different story. Personally my kids will not have a cell phone until they turn 16, when they can drive on their own, and even then it will be a basic phone, unless, they have a job and can pay the extra money for and upgraded phone. This was exactly how I was raised, and while I didn't like it at the time I realize now that it was a very fair situation.

Yeah, and I had walk to school, uphill, both ways, in 3 feet of snow. Times change. Welcome to 2013!

 

[LANShark42]

I'm starting to wonder if I live in some kind of alternate dimension. There are working payphones all over the place here. I've actually had to use one more than once in the past couple weeks because the battery on my phone is crap and it keeps dying. They're really not hard to find.

Could be my perception. I don't look for them any more.

 

[CathyInBlue]

Until 13, the child should still be spot-welded to a parent's hip for virtually everything they do. At 14 is when the child must begin to separate from their parents, even if just a little bit, to start developing their own independent sense of self, of self-reliance, but the phone would allow that pressure relief for when all that independence gets to be too much and mom or dad needs to come swooping in to rescue them. 13 and under, there's not enough legitimate independence to warrant such a remote control.

 

[RedneckReject]

Could be my perception. I don't look for them any more.

Could be. Makes sense that you really aren't going to look for something if you don't need it. I was kinda digging the thought that I might live in an alternate universe, though. Way to poop in my pudding, dude....

 

[IndyUSMC]

I have a Net10 phone for my 12 year old. I have an auto recharge of 200 minutes a month that roll over if not used. I can't remember how much I pay, it is either $10 or $15 a month. We don't have a land line so if the wife and I are both out my kid can still call us or 911. Also sometimes we are not home when she gets home from school and she can text us.

The phone is barely used and has well over 2000 minutes on it now. It is more of a cheap security blanket for me.

No way am I springing for an iPhone with a data plan for a 12 year old like some parents do.

 

[Sgtusmc]

Right now, my son has my old phone that has no service. Just localized things work on it like camera and video and music and a few games. It's specifically for dialing 911.

 

[MrsGungho]

Until 13, the child should still be spot-welded to a parent's hip for virtually everything they do. At 14 is when the child must begin to separate from their parents, even if just a little bit, to start developing their own independent sense of self, of self-reliance, but the phone would allow that pressure relief for when all that independence gets to be too much and mom or dad needs to come swooping in to rescue them. 13 and under, there's not enough legitimate independence to warrant such a remote control.

Like I said earlier, each situation is different, thus each child is different. Children mature at different ages. Parents have to work, no family in the area to help etc. I wouldn't want my son to be welded to my hip, he is an individual, thus I have to trust that the limits I have given him are not to much and he can handle them. So far he does.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

Yeah, and I had walk to school, uphill, both ways, in 3 feet of snow. Times change. Welcome to 2013!

I'm only 23...

 

[4evercoltsfan]

Most pay phones are out of service nowadays aren't they?

In my area the only pay phones around are in some "not so nice places" where Obama's voting base lives. Now a days I send my boys off to play in the neighborhood with 2-ways so I can randomly check in with them and tell them when the food is on the table. My boys are 8 and 9 and was wondering when it would be prudent to get their own cell's. Hey times are different now!

 

[LANShark42]

I'm only 23...

Like I said in an earlier post - What you say now at 23 might not be what you'll actually do when you're 30. Bottom line - Your kids - raise them as you see fit.

 

[winchester]

i gave my kids our old smart phones to use with free phone apps. as long as there is wifi they can text and call for free. now they have i pods and can do the same things on them.

 

[lordjackel]

My 10 year old has a phone (for emergencies and we don't have a house phone - we all have cell phones). He has had one since he was 8. I buy used ones off ebay for next to nothing and have H2O wireless service which is $10 a month. Never had an issue or lost phone - as its the one thing he is really careful with. After the first month he really lost interest in the coolness factor and now he barely uses it but always has it with him. I find nothing but positives from him having one.

 

[9mmfan]

My son is 16 (GOD, how did THAT happen?). He is on his 3rd phone, the first of which I got him at age 13. That one and the next one I got him were broke within 4 or 5 months of him getting them (one self destructed in the washer, the other he crushed when he stepped on it). My sister is paying for his current one.
I ask him this very question and he answer surprised me. He said at 14 or 15. He said he has saw too many younger kids screwing around on their phones.

I think it depends on the maturity level of the child and where they live and what they do in the 'off time'.

 

[RugerRog]

I think 10 is too young. We waited until High school, and they were in sports or other activities. Made picking up easier, as they would call/text they were done and needed a ride. Instead of us sitting in the parking lot waiting and waiting.

The kids seem to be younger and younger now when they get one. A buddy at work said there are some kids who have iPhones in his kids class and they are 8 and 9 year olds. Are you kidding me iPhones at 8...

 

[gunman41mag]

I gave my son a cell phone at 15 or 16, only cause he was going out on dates at night

 

[Caleb]

My kids will get a cellphone when they drive