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my 14yr old has had one for 2 yrs now. We got it primarily for when she goes for visitations to her fathers, since she is not allowed to use their phone except VERY brief moments that are monitored and few/far inbetween. They would also leave the house, w/her w/a/ sitter or whatever and remove the phone. Very bothersome.....she does have unlimited text, so i am able to talk w/her a bit while she is there w/o their interference. she can text and erase quick enough or take it to the bathroom for some privacy.
Otherwise, when she is home, shes definatly not allowed to take it to school. I do have her take it when she goes for sleepovers, for ease of reaching her. Also, if she goes to the mall w/friends. But her calls are limited, and she knows we get a printout of her inbound/outbound calls w/time diration and all. She's only allowed calls/text w/people we know and approve of. and time limits on all. And if shes out w/us, the phone stays at home.
so for us, its a very good thing. Two years now, and she hasn't abused it.
my 10yr old and 7yr old on the other hand, no phone. no reasons to.
i about flipped once, i coach competitive gymnastics, and once, at a meet, i saw one of my girls pull something out of her gym bag and get all secretive....so, I went over to see whats going on, and shes sitting there, texting her scores and line up to her folks. Needless to say, I kept the phone the rest of the meet. rudeness!
If I ever have kids, they will get a cell phone the same way I did. I was 16 had a job and had just used my money to buy a car, so that I could take a second part time job in another town that paid more. I was given a prepaid phone by my mother. She paid the start up cost of the phone and the first block of minutes. After that I had to pay for my minutes each month. I learned real quick that you don't talk on the phone very long, you just meet for coffee or food somewhere, so you weren't using all your minutes. It did come in handy once when my car just died on the side of the road for no reason. (electrical shortage)
Being that I work in the wireless industry I think it's absolutely RIDICULOUS the age of these children getting these phones. And I'm talking phones like the iPhone and Blackberrys, and what not. And then the parents come in yelling at ME when the kids run up a high bill downloading crap or text messaging like crazy.
When I was 15 (and started to hang out with friends and be out and about a lot more) my mom bought me a cell phone (RIGHT when they started coming on the scene) and I HATED IT!!!!!!! It was a way for my parents to track me down and I HATED THAT! :P
I had a mom freak out on me once because her dear son had lost his phone, and before I could even try and help her and give her some options she said "What am I suppose to do when they're trying to get ahold of me and they're at school???"........ I wanted to be like "The same thing Iiiii did when I was that age, use the office phone!" :P
I don't think kids really need a phone until they're like 16 and starting to drive. There's such a thing as house phones and public pay phones and even stopping into a gas station or some business and ASKING to use the phone still works in a dire emergency! Sheesh!
My 10 year old grand daughter has one and her first months texting bill was $240.00, 400 text messages.. You can say her mother wasn't to happy, but she didn't yell at her. And yes she still has the phone.
My 10 year old grand daughter has one and her first months texting bill was $240.00, 400 text messages.. You can say her mother wasn't to happy, but she didn't yell at her. And yes she still has the phone.
400 messages???? Thats it???
thats nuthin....... it's when I see 2000+ that I start to question the sanity of the child.
No they don't NEED a cell phone but that doesn't mean they don't want one. If a parent can afford it, heck why not? My son will probably get one when he is 9 or 10 for the simple fact that I live in a neighborhood where he can roam relatively safely at that age but i want him to be able to contact me in an emergency or I be able to contact him if needed. In my case he'll probably get the hand me down phone and I can add him on for $9.99 extra or whatever it might be in a couple of years.
It is the same as everything. Do they really need that new TV, or game system, or name your favorite toy, or new bike, etc.?
It's really not NECESSARY for anyone to have a cellphone. Convenient? Absolutely! A life or death issue? No.
I personally won't give my own young kids cellphones, especially since they are with me most of the time. If they're not with me, they're with an adult who has MY cellphone number, so I can be reached in case of emergency.
We had an exchange student who was in high school, and I appreciated her having a cellphone. It was very convenient to reach her to let her know that we'd be going out and that she'd need to fix herself dinner, or for her to call and let us know she'd be late so we wouldn't worry about her. I think it's a good idea for a teen.
Being that I work in the wireless industry I think it's absolutely RIDICULOUS the age of these children getting these phones. And I'm talking phones like the iPhone and Blackberrys, and what not. And then the parents come in yelling at ME when the kids run up a high bill downloading crap or text messaging like crazy.
When I was 15 (and started to hang out with friends and be out and about a lot more) my mom bought me a cell phone (RIGHT when they started coming on the scene) and I HATED IT!!!!!!! It was a way for my parents to track me down and I HATED THAT! :P
I had a mom freak out on me once because her dear son had lost his phone, and before I could even try and help her and give her some options she said "What am I suppose to do when they're trying to get ahold of me and they're at school???"........ I wanted to be like "The same thing Iiiii did when I was that age, use the office phone!" :P
I don't think kids really need a phone until they're like 16 and starting to drive. There's such a thing as house phones and public pay phones and even stopping into a gas station or some business and ASKING to use the phone still works in a dire emergency! Sheesh!
Kind of off topic, but I used to answer the phones for Sears Repair. I would get people calling and freaking out because their dishwasher broke and a repairman could not come for 2 or 3 days. One man said "what am I supposed to do, sit on my dirty dishes until then?" A woman once said "so are you going to reimburse me for the paper plates I'll have to buy because the dishwasher doesn't work?"
Uhhhh... you can't wash by hand??
Okay, sorry for the derailment, your post made me remember that and laugh!
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