When should kids get a cell phone?

[bud_2005]

I'm at the mall right now and I see kids as young as like 8-9 years old walking around with cell phones. I realize there are a lot of overprotective parents out there and they see it as a safety issue because they feel like they ALWAYS need to know where there kids are at. I never got a cell phone until I was 16. To me it seems like the younger they get a cell phone the earlier they alienate themselves from their parents because they turn into zombies always texting on their phones. What do you they is the right age?

 

[Upside]

I hate parents who spoil their kids like that. I didn't get my first cell until I got a part time job when I payed for the phone + plan. Kids should not be getting cell phones until they have a job. At that age they really don't need it.

 

[mpimpin]

I think no earlier then high school. I got mine when I entered high school at age 14. Not my idea either I could have cared less at the time. I was the only one my age at that time to have one. My parents wanted me to because I worked, played sports, and was highly involved in school clubs everyday and needed to stay in contact with them.

I think somewhere between 14-16 is a good age.

on another note I didn't get texting until I was 16 and bought my own prepaid phone

 

[Joe The Homophobe]

when should kids get a cell phone? WHEN THEY CAN PAY FOR IT THEMSELVES! let them get a job first and learn the value of money. We have a whole generation of spoiled brats on the streets and when the coming 2nd great depression hits the street you know these slackers are just not going to survive.

 

[I'm Charming]

I got mine at 14 and I've topped it up about 6 or 7 times in three years.

I dont really like the things, it cost less money for Nasa to get data from the Hubble space telescope than to send a text per mb, they're a waste.

 

[PRMoon]

I'm divided on this issue. On one hand I think young children the age of 6 or so should have cell phones but NOT the ones you're likely thinking of. There are certian brands of cell phones availible for children that their parent program via computer to have no more then 4 regular numbers (that are accessed by pressing of course buttons labeled 1,2,3, and 4) and two emergency numbers, Police and Fire. I think taking stabs against child abduction and lost using modern resources is a good thing.

Conversely a standard cell phone with open acess should not be given to anyone under the age of 15. It's a good way to teach responsibility and gives most children a sense of freedom. It's likely that within a year they'll be driving so keeping track of your kids is kind of an important thing for them as well as understanding social responsibility of going out alone. There will be significant bumps and set backs but overall the experience is almost necessary in your current social society.

 

[Desdinova]

when should kids get a cell phone? WHEN THEY CAN PAY FOR IT THEMSELVES!

Agreed. If mom & dad don't know where their kids are, they're doing a 5hit job of parenting.

I've NEVER owned a cell phone. I don't want one unless I need it for work. Nobody's that fvcking important that they can't wait until I get home an check the answering machine.

 

[Smack]

I don't care. Most kids here get them at around 10 or something, and I really don't see why this is a bad thing.

 

[penkitten]

my kids can have them when they grow up and get jobs to pay for them.

if i want them for something i just holler "kids" and they say "yes mam" or "what?"

see problem solved, no need for a monthly bill.

 

[immrtlwun]

I didn't get one until I started driving and at that point it was an emergency only phone. I finally got one of my own about halfway through my senior year of high school. I really do feel like some people spoil their kids getting them at age 9 or 10. Where are these kids going that their parents don't know where they are at? My parents or someone else's parents drove my friends and I anywhere that we had to go.

 

[penkitten]

Where are these kids going that their parents don't know where they are at? .

yah , where are they going unsupervised ?

 

[3countriesPlan]

I didn't get a cellphone until I was 19. Back in middle school everyone had pockets full of quarters and pagers. I guess this is just the evolution of pagers.