Cell phones and children.

[Phantom1]

I remember back when I was little cellphones were a rare thing to have, almost anywhere. But I had a pager my parents gave me so they could contact me when I was playing in the neighborhood. I was the first kid in my class to have a cell phone, sixth grade. And I was the ONLY one to have a phone until eight grade. Thing is I was involved in school activities and sports, and I walked home, so it was a safety thing, and the only people I called were my parents. It wasn't like back then I had friends I could call (why use minutes) and texting didn't even exist as a thing back then.

I think now getting a cell phone has become something like a coming of age thing. It's one step closer to being more of an adult. But I think that parents still need to have control over their childs account. I know people who have their kid get a pre-pay plan that they pay out of their allowance.

I think strict rules need to be enforced. I also don't think phones should be allowed in grade schools. (Like in class)

 

[Nakala Pri]

Not until they're like, eighteen. O.O 'Cos let's say you leave your kid alone for a second in a store while you make a phone call, then a rock spider asks the kid if he wants his phone number. Seeing as the kid want's to have tons of contacts and be 'cool', he'll accept, the parent won't know and the rock spider will phone when the kid is in bed or somewhere private and leech information.

You can't trust the world these days.

 

[acatfrommars]

I received my first cell phone at 12 I believe. That was only because I had after school activities like every day after school and needed one starting middle school. It was just a cheap flip phone too, but I thought it was awesome at the time.

I think children in 4th. grade or lower do not need phones. Unless you need to call some one or text some one, then a phone is not necessary. What do kids in 3rd. grade need phones for!? It baffles me when I see an 8 year old with an Instagram! One doesn't need a cell phone until they are socially mature enough.

 

[Creme]

I don't really see any reason for them to have one before late elementary school/early middle school. And that's mainly just for safety reasons.

But as long as a kid is able to handle it properly, then I don't see the big deal with younger kids having their own phones/computers/etc. I would rather kids just be taught to be safe and responsible, rather than either coddle them, or treat them like irresponsible idiots instead.

The majority of the time, if a kid is an idiot, it's because their parent is also an idiot. Meaning that if you're a decent parent, you usually don't have to worry about your child turning out the opposite. (ignoring the inevitable issues during puberty and the occasional bad eggs, of course)

 

[Evanlyn]

It would vary. I'd say, when they actually need it. Around 15 would be a good age, but if you're 13ish and are going out a lot to practices or whatever, and you need to contact your parents, then you'd need one, so you'd get one.

For me, I was homeschooled my entire life, I didn't need a phone until this year, when I started going to a study institution. So, at 17 years of age, I got a phone.

When you are mature not to go absolutely crazy on it and/or need it to contact people, then get one. But if you're 10 or other, then I don't you'd need one.

 

[jamessullivan96]

i think that 12 is a good age to get a phone,i have seen alot of 5 year olds getting the newest phones too much,i got my first one when i was 12 and it was a simple nokia phone that would just make phone calls and send text messages and i would use it for when i was out of school and i had to catch up on homework.

 

[mayuyu]

I don't think you can put an age on it.
I knew a girl that had had after-school programs since she was 7 and had to stay at school until 6 every day. If that was my child, you'd bet I'd give them a phone. Now I don't know if I'd get them an iPhone, but an old Nokia would be just fine.

 

[MKGirlism]

When I was a child, I didn't get a Phone, until I was 13 years old, same with any other child.
All I could do on it, was making Phone Calls, writing SMS, and play some Snake.
Even the Gameboy Pocket was way more advanced than any Mobile Phone available, back then.
Children could only have PrePaid, because parents understood a Subscription would be way to risky for their children.

Today? Today even 6 year olds carry an iPhone 5S, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, or some random BlackBerry with them, preferably with the most expensive Subscription for 2 years.
Phones these days will even surpass the PS4 soon, in terms of power!

I actually have a mixed opinion about all this.
Giving your children a Smartphone on an early age will distract them in class, and will 'zombify' while you look at it.

At the other hand, it does give a better communication with your child.
Did he/she get lost in the woods? Just call, SMS, Email, etc. him/her, and you know it. Simple!
Besides, giving your children an old Phone to start with might seem like a better idea, but they tend to throw it in a corner, making you have no contact with them at all.
Besides, children get jealous quick, especially when they tell you something like, "Everything from my class has an iPhone, why can't I have one?!".
Them being the only ones with an old Phone does hurt them, and it probably hurts you too (depending on what kind of mother/father you are).

 

[Livewire]

I would say that 15 or 16 would be a good age for a phone, say an iPhone or something to that effect. You're old enough now to drive and have a job, and probably an 8th grader or a freshman in High School, right about the age you begin to 'grow up', so to speak. It's a good age to begin to learn more responsibility. And at that age, you'd probably actually need one, for said job, driving, socializing, etc, more so than just "wanting" one.

 

[LoudSilence]

"Necessary?" I have a degree in computer science and work in IT and I don't have one of the darn things. They're never necessary and anyone who suggests otherwise is being silly.

No cell phone even in IT? Wow, respect.

I think it's funny how a lot of us use the word "necessary" when once upon a time the item didn't even exist...we managed then, didn't we? I know people might cite concerns about child safety and needing to have a communication device at the ready but lets face it: children can get lost/abducted today the same way they did 30 years ago. It's hardly a fail-safe.

That's not even taking radiation concerns into account and device addiction: we've created a rather abhorrent culture of using phones all day every day, and the majority of the time it's not even for calling. There's a serious social disconnect nowadays because children are more accustomed to screens rather than faces, text rather than spoken words.

If I felt it were absolutely "necessary" (I don't know if/how I would), I'd give my kid a brick Nokia that can literally only make calls and put a minute limit on it for exclusive emergencies only (911 bypasses this anyway).

 

[MKGirlism]

"Help! This School is on fire, and hundreds of children are still inside"!

"Then why don't you call 112"?

"Well, you're the one who said it's never necessary to have a Phone, right"?

 

[LoudSilence]

"Help! This School is on fire, and hundreds of children are still inside"!

"Then why don't you call 112"?

"Well, you're the one who said it's never necessary to have a Phone, right"?

Because only that one 10 year old student has a phone and can save the day? This scenario has many possible solutions. Also, what do you think happened back when cell phones didn't exist and schools caught on fire?

This extends to any other "dangerous" situation you can think of, really. There's really no common scenario where a phone in a child's hands will truly prevent or help avert a crisis.

 

[Kanzler]

This extends to any other "dangerous" situation you can think of, really. There's really no common scenario where a phone in a child's hands will truly prevent or help avert a crisis.

I think that's just the case, phones are your last-ditch option in those 1% or 0.1% occurrence moments. It's hard to call anything necessary and that's mostly an argument about semantics so I won't go into that. However, I do think that phones provide a lot of utility, so much that I'd probably give my own child one at 12 or 13.

That being said my sister is horribly addicted to her phone with youtube and games and all. In the future it seems more and more difficult to find a phone without all the bells and whistles, that only do talk and text. However, I'll say that the extra communication wins out over whatever distractions might come out of it. If my kid isn't stuck to a phone, he'll probably be on something else anyways.

 

[Lunarose]

I think it really depends on what their situation is. I've known of kids as young as like 9 who would have to take public transportation to get to school and for safety reasons needed a cell phone just in case.

I got a simple flip phone when I was 10 due to my school being far away from home. Phones were never really a thing and the only social media we had was email, lol. Once we all got to middle school it began with texting friends but that's pretty much it.

I really don't see why a young kid would need an iphone though, I feel like that's a waste of money and it'd probably break anyway. I see that a lot more often nowadays.

 

[LoudSilence]

I think that's just the case, phones are your last-ditch option in those 1% or 0.1% occurrence moments. It's hard to call anything necessary and that's mostly an argument about semantics so I won't go into that. However, I do think that phones provide a lot of utility, so much that I'd probably give my own child one at 12 or 13.

That being said my sister is horribly addicted to her phone with youtube and games and all. In the future it seems more and more difficult to find a phone without all the bells and whistles, that only do talk and text. However, I'll say that the extra communication wins out over whatever distractions might come out of it. If my kid isn't stuck to a phone, he'll probably be on something else anyways.

I can see that 1%, but as we both touched upon, (smart) phone addiction is a serious issue and I think the cons outweigh the pros by a mile. Phones with only basic capabilities are definitely being phased out and it's going to be harder to offset this issue by just buying our children obsolete devices. And I'd much rather they be stuck on books or something educational than 99 cent time-wasters and social media apps.

And again about that radiation...I'd really like to find some solid studies on it because that is serious enough to consider when introducing kids to anything.

 

[obZen]

I got my first cell phone when I was 14, right before I graduated 8th grade.
But things have changed a lot since then.
Nowadays, with the smart phone revolution, I'm not sure if 14 is early enough.
I would feel bad that a 3rd grader may feel out of the loop, but there has to come a point where one draws the line.
Ipod touches and whatnot are ok to start with.
If anything, a younger child should have a phone like The Disney phone iirc so that the parents can keep track of where he/she is.
So... Junior High imo for a smart phone

 

[Toutebelle]

I got my first cell phone at 18. Outside of school, I rarely leave the house by myself, so I really didn't need one until college. (I dropped out of college last year, and I'm in a day program now.)

 

[Karinmo]

I only got one when I was young because I walked to school allot, and due to this, I needed something to call my Mama if anything went wrong.

But outside of a reason similar to mine (which i think is a valid reason) children do not need cell phones. Until you are maybe in Jr. high (in this day and age) cell phones are completely unneccesary to children.

 

[Banz]

I got my first phone when I was 17. It was actually 4 years ago, on this day. I'd always wanted one since I was 13-14 mostly for playing games, since I didn't have a computer or back then. Back then I used to come home in the late evenings (9-10 pm) but I did fine without one. Payphones were common back then so I could make urgent calls if I wanted.
Even today most of my calls are the "Where are you?, I'm here" type and last less than 10 seconds.

14-15 seems to be an appropriate age for giving someone a phone and I think they should be given a cheaper phone like a Galaxy Y or something. A lot of kids don't understand the value of their expensive smartphones and end up losing them or breaking them.

 

[LaVida]

Well, I personally think that basic cell phones such as the ones which don't have a camera and Internet are very useful, especially in case of emergency. I think every child above 8 should have one of these because they can come in handy... But when it comes to the "advanced" smart phones... I wouldn't give one to my child until age 15 or 16 or so. Well, I don't have a smart phone myself and I'm completely fine with a "normal" phone, so I don't see a point why my child should get a smart phone anyway.

I think it's bad that children nowadays are exposed to so much phones, Internet etc. Children should be playing outside most of the time and not stare on screens.