Right Age for Cellphone, Looking Back???

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Right Age for Cellphone, Looking Back???
13
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 6:25pm

Looking back, what do you think is the right age for a cellphone?

and why?

Any advice on that matter - agewise or servicewise or parentwise?

Thanks - I appreciate what I think may be freshly, more experienced opinions here!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-14-2006
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 6:44pm

The right age is when they *need* it. Need is not want. Need is not "all the other kids....". Need is there is some time during the day/week when they are away from you and either for their safety or your peace of mind, having a phone makes sense.

My DD travels an hour on the subway to get to school - she needs to have a cellphone to stay in touch with me. I guess she could get by without a cell - actually she does find a way to call me even when the battery is dead - but I feel better knowing she could call me or DH if she was in trouble.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 6:58pm

MIne got theirs a few months before they starting driving. We were going to make both wait until they had their licenses but there were pretty good specials running a month or two ahead so we went ahed and got them.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 7:10pm

My dd got her first cell phone in 8th grade. She is at dance classes many hours a week and its the best way to leave her messages regarding pick-up times, conflicts etc. It also coincided with her first serious trip away from home when she went to Montreal for 3 days with her class. It helped her stay in touch.

My son got one this year (he is 11) but only because I got it for free -- honestly. It was a free phone and it is pay-as-you go plan so I top it up with $10 or $20 every couple of months and it acts as an "extra" phone in the house. He takes it with him if he is going somewhere such as to a practice or a trip. But most of the time he doesn't really need it and if it weren't for the fact that it was free he wouldn't have one just yet.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2000
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 7:29pm
Oldest ds got his first cell phone when he started driving - age 16.
Pam
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2006
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 8:28am

Not sure there's a right age. Our DS23 got one for a HS graduation gift in 2001, and he ended up giving it away cuz he couldn't afford the monthly payment, and we were paying for a land line in his dorm room and refused to pay for two phones. When he moved to a house without a landline his junior year, he bought a cell phone.

DS17 got one around age 16, and I can't even remember why we ended up getting him one--probably was the result of a lot of begging. There are pros and cons. We call him regularly when he's out with his friends if he does not call us, just so we know where he is and what he is doing. Once in a while he'll say, "Why do you have to call me all the time? Other parents aren't calling all the time like you do." And we just tell him, "If you don't call us to tell us where you are, we will call you. It's our job as parents to know where you are." That's a pro.

A big con: When kids connect directly with their friends all the time via their cells, we parents lose contact with their friends. Before cells, when a friend would call, DH and I would sometimes chat briefly with them until DS got to the phone. Now that happens only when friends come to our house, and that is seldom. I think the less connection we have with their friends, the more likely they are to think they can get away with stuff and that they are invisible to us.

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Avatar for kel7col4
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 8:35am

Dd got her first cell phone at the end of 4th grade. Mainly due to a set of circumstances that scared me - she had spent the night at a friends house. The parents of the friend got in a huge fight - screaming, throwing things, etc. The friend was of course used to this but dd was scared, dd wanted to call us but the friend wouldn't let her use the phone (didn't want dd to leave her). Coincidentally, about a year later - this family started stalking my dd, so dd always had a phone. We lived in Germany at the time and lived on a military base and dd had all sorts of freedoms - walking just about everywhere. Ds is in the 5th grade and has had no purpose for a phone at this point. Dd is very social and always going somewhere - friends, mall, sporting events, movies.... she will always have a phone lol - ds is a home body and if he's not home he's with family that I can always get ahold of.

I don't think there is a "right" age - it's when circumstances require one.




Avatar for heartsandroses2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 9:46am

Never....okay, well, maybe not 'never'! lol-

I think when they can pay for it themselves and are over 18 so they can get their own contract. Really. They really do not need a cell phone. Life just isn't that complicated. You can make arrangements ahead of time. You can call another child's house if you need them, or they can use someone else's cell if they need you. A cell phone is simplu convenient and nothing more. I can say this now that dd17 has had her cell taken away from her 3 times, the last time permanently!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 9:48am

My older ones received cells when they began driving

The youngest just got one at 15 because he needs to stay after for help with schoolwork; pick up time, as well as my schedule, varies

I agree with kel that the time is when there is a reason-it doesnt have to be a reason other parents or extended family members agree with; but it should be a reason you believe in for your particular family

On the advice of this board, I did the Tracphone for ds3. I had done contracts for the other 2 and am now kicking myself for wasting money. This is soooo much better. Cheaper-by far. And Virgin Mobile would have been even cheaper but he didnt like their phones as much so I agreed(not that big a difference). There was a special on buying a card for a year for 99 dollars and then they doubled the minutes to 500.

Now, I have boys so there isnt a lot of talking going on for any of them. DS2, who has a contract, texts back and forth with GF a lot and uses his text package fully but doesnt come near his monthly minutes

I would be shocked if the 500 min didnt last DS3 for a full year; a talkative kid might be different.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-15-2007
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 1:53pm
It depends on the maturity of the child and what the phone would be used for. I got my son his first phone when he was 14 and its worked out fine. he had sports practices that ended at various times and had a job that sometimes let him out early, so the phone was used primarily to call us for a ride.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 2:00pm
I think the right age for a cellphone will vary, depending on the child and their level of responsibility.

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