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Mine were each 12 when they got their first phones. That was around the age when they might be going somewhere with a friend whose parent I didn't know well and I wanted them to have their own phones in case something came up.
These were dumb phones, by the way. They got smart phones a little later, maybe when they were 14/going into high school? I don't remember, exactly.
In my opinion we probably don’t fully understand the impact of a society full of people immersed in the digital/connected world from birth basically. Almost makes me think parents might be better off homesteading or something, unplugged out in some small rural town somewhere. As sort of a first generation person raised digitally I think it sorta does something to your mind.
I'm an old fudster when it comes to our modern technology, striving to live at home as if I am in the 1950s Aussie Outback (Skippy the Kangaroo).
Never the less, about 2005, I got my first cell phone. Why? I was becoming a full dive leader then and if something went down and it went down badly, the court was not going to like to hear that I believed I could get through life depending on my CB radio and pay phones.
So let's reverse the scenario of not me calling for help for those who are down but the down who must call for help. What means are available to them for that? Well, there are no more pay phones and after this pandemic, there is a serious question to which stores are open, assuming they would let their phone be used.
Is there someone like me, a "civilian guardian" they will be with, that they can turn to, that you trust will have the means to get a signal out.
If the answers to all these questions are rather negative and they are out there on their own, then the answer is probably that they should have a phone, if only to answer that message from you, "Request you report your position IMMEDIATELY."
It would be better to make your son get involved in other physical activities rather than giving him a phone. I would like to suggest asking him to chit-chat with your family members or neighbors so that he can develop his social behavior. Ask him to join in physical activities, art & craft, music classes, etc which he likes.
My daughter is starting middle school and will have a phone with limited capabilities and no social media. I have no problems with her having one as long as it doesn't become a distraction at school. If it does, I'll take it away!!
11 but I purchased the gabb phone. Looks like a smart phone but no internet access, apps or picture messaging and it has a tracker so I know where my son is at all times.
mine will have a own cellphone when they are old enough to move to places in the neighbourhood to visit freinds or family alone with out parents, than will mine having a own cellphone for their own safety so that their can call for help when there is a problem
I will give them a non smart phone in middle school.
Then in high school, they can have a smart phone with parental controls so long as they make straight As.
Excellent.
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