Age for cellphones? (should children have cell phones?)

My thought is if they cannot drive the only cell they should have is the firefly type that pre programs to certain numbers and auto dials

I think I got my first cell phone when I was 12 - I felt it was too young now but looking back I wanted one much sooner.

My cousin (who is 10 now) got his first one when he was 6 and has had 3 more in between then and now because he lost them.

I think 13-14 is a good age for getting a cell phone. I also think parents should be able to see what numbers are stored in the phone.

Hm that's a good point about accidents. Adults are not mature either unfrotunately, look at people driving and textinig...
I dunno, I was a spoiled child and had everything, all kinds of electronic toys I carried to school...I got my first cell phone at 13, and that was in 2002.. My parents always got me things, like I didn't even ask for a cell phone because not a lot of my friends had any at the time, just one day they handed me a phone..And yes it was somewhat of a distraction but my parents were extremely strict, like they would force me to do homework at night no matter what I say, they would email my teachers saying please let me know if you see anything my daughter is doing wrong, even if it's something small lol and if I committed some kind of transgression there would always be consequences..so I was under constant fear of using my phone and earlier my little game boys and w/e other stuff i'd used in front of teachers or during class, and somehow i feel like I learned that there is a place and time for everything through that whole experience...So IMO it all depends on how you feel ...If you think it's possible to make sure it doesn't cause distractions through discipline measures, I think it's okay for kids to have them...

LOL I thought that was for kids who can't read yet

Kids should not have them IMO. Our daughter got an older friend to co-sign for her for a cell phone when she was 16. She ran the bill up thousands of $, lost a friend and got a lot of grief. The cell phone company came to us, her parents to try to get money. We told them if they were stupid enough to give a 16 year old a cell phone, then they were on their own for collecting.

When they are old enough and working to be able to afford their own cell phone, then they can get one IMO.

We all survived childhood and our teenage years without cell phones and it didn't hurt or kill any of us.

This may sound hypocritical since I bought a cell phone at the end of November last year. I only use the phone to call out for transportation purposes. I use a special transportation that if they are late require you to call within 10 minutes, however, there isn't always a phone in the area where I am being picked up. I haven't given the number to anyone, not even my brother and the phone is turned off between uses. Since I got the phone I have used less than 10 minutes of the minutes that are being given to me.

IMHO I find that cell phones have bred a whole new generation of rude people. Phones ringing in restaurants, galleries, theaters. People sitting on a bus, or walking down the street, or sitting in a restaurant having LOUD one sided conversations. My brother made a video of my nursing graduation. Right in the middle of it you hear someone's cell phone ringing...not once, or twice or even 3 times... it rang a whopping 6 times before they managed to locate it and answer it.

Not to mention the danger that they put people in because some people can't be away from a phone for a second and choose to drive and talk on a phone at the same time. It will take a horrendous accident involving deaths before laws are passed prohibiting people from using cell phones while driving!

I don't think kids need to have a cell phone either. For hundreds of years people got along fine without them. Before there was cell phones there were only land lines and people managed just fine. If they needed to call someone they stopped at a pay phone and called that way.

Cell phones were originally meant for emergency purposes, and that's not how people are treating them. If I could afford one of those jamming devices, I'd have one in my purse all of the time and jam the signals of everyone around me

They have no need of them at all until they are old enough to drive and be out of the house alone. Then they should have one for emergencies only.

I think you'll find a lot of people agree with you Linda. I have been in restaurants and seen (and heard) people having loud conversations while their dining partner just sits there. That's downright rude and I don't believe any call is so important that it cannot wait until one is finished dinner.

I also have almost been hit by a car merging onto the 401 while the driver was talking on a cell phone - 3 nights in a row!

As for laws against driving and using cell phones, some states in the US have already done so and some Provinces have also gotten on board (I think Ontario is one of them - but I'm not exactly sure). I should know since I live here and have a cell phone, but, like you, I rarely use it. I have it for emergency use pretty much or if I want to call hubby to ask him to pick up something or run an errand. We don't call one another just to talk. My carrier (Bell Canada) was surprised recently when I asked if I were eligible to upgrade my phone that I used hardly any of the minutes I pay for, but I have the cheapest plan I can get.

When I worked at pizza hut, so many people would try to order their food while having a full conversation with someone on their phone...It drove me nuts. I thought it was incredibly rude..

I didn't receive my first cell phone until I was 18 and it was because I was going away to college. I had a pager when I was in high school, but that was before cell phones became HUGE (I graduated HS in 2000). It'll be quite a few years before I have children in the age group that you're talking about, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of someone so young having that much technology in their hands. Something that is JUST a phone, that can't do anything but make calls (even better if you can control which numbers the child could call) would be more ideal.

As for cell phone etiquette:

I try to remember to put my phone on silent when I'm out having dinner or when I'm someplace that's typically quiet. I don't like it when my husband answers his phone when we're out (and I don't give a d*mn if it's his parents or not) but he does it.

But nothing, NOTHING, embarrasses me more than when I'm out with my mother and she answers her phone. Here is how it tends to go:

*ring*
"Oh, hold on a sec Jade. HELLO? YEAH? I DON'T KNOW. YOU SHOULD CALL HIM AND ASK HIM. I LOVE YOU TOO! BYE! That was your father."

GAH! I've given up shooshing her to quiet her down when she answers her phone. I've tried asking her not to answer it, and I really really fight telling her to lower her volume directly. My mom isn't one for constructive criticism (and I've attempted to politely discuss things with her in the past...no go). So, I just put up with it and hope the conversation is short. And I resist the urge to hide when people start staring.

What's disappointing is that she's the one who taught my brothers and me such
outstanding manners.

I think its acceptable for children to have cell phones and a way to show and teach them to be responsible. We have had this topic before on here and I said then and will say now, all of my nieces and nephews have cell phones. They have been taught what is acceptable usage, the reason why they have a phone and none of them, to this point have abused that privledge.

People with cell phones doesnt automatically make them have bad etiquette. Etiquette with children can also be taught.

I have 9 nieces and nephews, ranging in age from 17 on down. The times that I have been so grateful that they have had a phone is numerous. Practices that were over early, someones parent who didnt show up to pick the kids up. Another kid they were suppose to meet isnt there, calling to ask if they can go do something else.

I am very active in their lives and to be able to reach them at any given time, is comforting to me, they are always just a phone call away. (or text)

I think its about teaching them how to be responsible.

You can get cell phones programmed to only reach certain numbers of your choosing, and 911. Unless you personally accompany your child everywhere, he or she is safer with a cell phone to use in an emergency.

A local middle school was the scene of a massacre yesterday. The gunman targeted 9th and 10th grade classes (14 -16-year-olds). He started shooting at 9:30, and the first emergency call, from a student using his cell phone, was recorded at 9:33. The first police officers reached the school at 9:35, causing the gunman to flee, and that almost certainly prevented him from killing further kids. The first calls in Erfurt (2002) and Columbine (1999) were from students using cell phones.

I got my daughter a cell phone when she was 16. She has some special needs, She also suffers from severe anxiety. I bought it to give her some security. She was afraid to go any where alone. Knowing that I was only a phone call away, She began doing things independently. She now goes where she wants. She still phones me to say where she is. I we are on a family plan, she has never rang upa bill. She is now 18. My son is almost 12 he wants one. Most of his friends have them. I will not get him one for several reasons, He doesn't need it. He will probalby lose it. I can't trust him to be responsible in using it.

I haven't read this thread, but have this to share.
A good friend of mine got her grand daughter a cell phone. Guess how old she was. Come on, guess


4 YEARS OLD


I told her she was nuts.

It is a good teaching tool, as long as parents are willing to set limits.

Like Tricia said - the first calls from many of the school shooting incidents were from students with their cell phones. They botched the whole thing in Columbine, but years later when there was a gunman in Platte Canyon High School (in Bailey, Colorado, about 40 minutes from Littleton), the students were able to tell the police exactly where he was and that he had hostages. They were able to get to that classroom fast and because of that, just one girl died before the gunman took his own life. (You probably remember a tidbit from it...when he was holding the students hostage she used her cell phone to text her family "I luv U guys." and that was the last communication they had with their daughter and sister.)

The other reason - when we grew up without cell phones, there were payphones on every corner, and even if you didn't have a dime or quarter you could call collect. My mother told me how her mom would sew dimes into her bra when she was in high school so if she was out and needed a ride she could call home. This was in the 1950s. There are no pay phones anymore. Seriously. Look around for one next time you're out at the mall or in a downtown area. The only place I see them anymore is in airports. Pay phones lost money once everyone started getting cell phones, so they took them out. If your child was left on the street because they had a fight with their friend who was supposed to be their ride home, how would they get ahold of you?

The world has changed a lot. Frankly, I see a lot of grown ups who should be grounded from their cell phones on a regular basis. But some of the reasons that we didn't have to have cell phones when we were growing up just don't work anymore.

on another note: I freak out when I'm on the road and I realize that i've forgotten my phone. I start to think: what if my car stops and I need a ride from someone? I wouldn't be able to even call a cab. I drive on a major highway every single day, there is nowhere to go on foot on a highway there is literally nothing to do..
So definitely we cannot do without cell phones even if they are a bad thing for adults too...I mean yes they give rise to rudeness and people misuse them a lot but there is just nothing to do about that..the only thing to do is for each one of us to make sure that we are not misusing them...getting a phone for a kid and teaching kids from an early age not to misuse them is a good way to make sure they will not misuse them when they become adults.

I previously said they should not have one until they are old enough and able to pay for it themselves.

After reading others' responses here, I am going to change my mind. Trish and Heidi, you are right about them being used to contact the authorities for quick response to emergencies - excellent point.

For the poster whose daughter didn't go out anywhere before getting a phone, again, good reason to have a phone.

For emergency use should our car break down on a highway - again, good reason to have one and that is actually why I have one.

I believe the reason we need cell phones today when we didn't before is that there are fewer (and in a lot of cases none) public phone booths. They used to have them every so many yards on the freeways here in the Toronto area but I do not believe they are still active.

In cases like Alabama, Columbine and Germany and the shootings by sick individuals, cell phones probably saved many lives.

I draw the line at Cindy's friend's grandmother who gave her granddaughter a cell phone at age 4 though.

So to sum up, I rescind what I said earlier. If a teen has a phone and doesn't use it respectfully in public or proves they cannot be trusted to run up a huge phone bill, then further measures would have to be taken with that individual but as you say, not all young people are irresponsible.

This is a very good example of a child who SHOULD have one. Same with your son NOT being ready to have one.

A child/teen can have a cell phone when THEY are paying the bills and not mom/dad paying the bills. Until then its not necessary for them to have a phone, unless its a special case - not in general because everyone else owns one. We all grew up with NO cell phones/portable phones and survived quite well.

Good grief Linda, I was just thinking the same thing, I was going to post that this thread has been very enlightening and has caused me to re-evaluate my opinion.

Honestly, with the prepaid options that are out there, there's no reason for a teen to run up a huge bill either. Now losing it...that's a different issue.

OK Cindy, this agreeing so much is starting to scare me!

I think that it is absurd to consider a cell phone necessary for safety. Places that are so devoid of people that you can't get help in an emergency are usually also devoid of cell phone towers. Paying attention to the world around you makes you safe. The presence of cell phones in a few school tragedies does not mean that land lines in classrooms wouldn't have been used to the exact same effect if there were no cell phones.

Although I don't consider the safety argument convincing, I think that any child can have a cell phone if the parents feel like paying for it. Parents should understand the responsibility of their individual children and arrange to have cell phones that don't work when the kids are out of minutes if necessary.

Cell phones are certainly convenient: it is much easier to tell people that you are going to be late or to organize things at the last minute with cell phones. Society is moving towards long-distance last-minute planning and plan changing, and children are doing so just as much (or more than) adults are. We are moving towards a society where everyone has a personal computer attached to a network with them at all times, with which that person can read (See spot run or the New York Times, depending on interest and reading skill), contact people via voice or text or email, check their online grades, and look up trivia that come up in a conversation. I don't have any problem with including children in the leading edge of technological change. It will make sense to give a 4 year old a "cell phone" when no-one has land lines, and the "cell phone" is a baby-monitor and learning toy, and also allows grandma to talk to granddaughter in the park while mom (also in the park) price compares groceries at nearby stores. In other words, it doesn't make sense to expect the kid to just borrow someone else's cell phone when there is no land line and that someone else needs her cell phone.

I would agree that if any of those students had been able to get near the school office they could have used a land line but that may not have been possible if they were locked down and isolated in an area away from the school office where the only phones would be situated.

There are fewer and fewer public phones in public spaces so it would be very difficult to find one in an emergency.

I stopped for a lady whose car had broken down on one of our country roads and it was over 20 below zero. I let her call her son on my phone and then I drove her home. That was one instance I was very happy to have a cell phone.

I didn't get a chance to read through this whole thread, but what about the potential health effects from these phones in young children? I think I'd be more concerned about health issues than running up a large phone bill. We don't know what the long term effects are, especially for children. Do we want convenience to maybe outweigh our health?

Here's a recent lengthy report from the Medical Officer of Health (City of Toronto):

Cell Phone Use by Children and Youth

I was a teacher in a high school, so I also student taught and was a teacher's aid in multiple high schools. Not one of them had land lines in any classroom. There were phones that were basically connected to an intercom type system that was connected to the main office. It only worked if there were people on both ends. There was no way to connect to the outside, even in an emergency.

In the two school shooting incidents that I have good knowledge of, the teachers would have only been able to contact police via the same means as the students - via cell phones, which the faculty have to stow in locked areas with their personal effects (coats, purses, etc.). That's why the students made the calls, not the faculty, with the exception of the Librarian at Columbine.

that's becoming less & less common, most likely due [in part] to those tragedies. this year [my 12th year w/the district] we all got land lines installed in our classrooms. new schools are built w/the phones already ready to go [well, not built with the phones there, but you get my meaning!] altho it's quite likely any students would know placement of the phones, etc. most [if not all] of those acts were perpetrated by students.
my cell is always in my pocket, even at school. it's also always turned on. i silence it sometimes, but not always.