Cell phone ??

[minnie04]

My DS (9) is driving me crazy!!!! He thinks he needs a CELL PHONE. Not just any cell phone and IPHONE. At what age did your kids get their first phones? My two older kids got theirs when they hit Middle School (11/12). Now they are 17/21 and he thinks he needs it now. He says "all his friends have them" I know that's not a reason to have one. And I won't be giving in to that. I told him some kids that young have them because they have parents that are divorced and it's just easier for dad's or mom's to get a hold of them when they are with the other parent. :mickey:

[AgentC]

My son is 7 (almost 8) and he has asked for one. In his case I really think it is to play the apps.

My children are dropped off at school by me and picked up by my mom. Since they are always either with an adult who will have a phone or supervised at school, I do not see a need for him to have one. I suppose if he started some type of after school activity where he might not have access to a phone, I might reconsider but as of now I don't plan on allowing it until middle school.

[Strmchsr]

I set 12 as the age for mine as a sign of his growing independence. My youngest is now 7 and would like one, but it's mostly for the apps and he has a Kindle Fire so doesn't need anything else. But, even at 12 I got my son a texting/calling phone. No way am I spending that much money on an iPhone (or any smartphone) for a teenager. My son is very responsible, but I don't trust any kid to not possibly break/lose their phone. He got a basic phone and he's quite happy. When he's old enough to get a job and wants a smartphone, he can buy it then (and pay for the extra dataplan).

[caryrae]

I wouldn't, I just don't think kids that young are responsible enough yet. We bought our Niece an iPod touch when she was maybe 10 and several months later she left it sitting while she was at a playground and someone stole it. iPhone's or any smartphone are just to tempting for some to try to take it.

When I was a kid I would never imagine my Parents ever buying me something like a smartphone then pay the monthly plan. I would have to wait until I had a job and could afford myself.

[tinkwest]

My kids got phones when personal cell phones were relatively new. No games, Facebook app, or the like. So DS never even asked for one. We gave him one when he was in high school, probably around 16. DD, being the social butterfly, was excited to get one in middle school at 13. Our main reason was because she had a longer walk home at the end of the day and we wanted to be able to contact her if she was running late. We found out the hard way that she liked it for texting. Before the days of unlimited texting, the first bill was a hefty one. To her credit once she found out how the billing system worked she never went over the limit again.

[Kenny1113]

DS12 had been asking for an phone/iPhone since 1st grade. :( I refused to let him have one. We gave him an iPhone(our old one) when he finished 5th grade and was going into middle school. Even then I have it set up with a go phone prepaid plan because I do not want him to have unlimited access to the Internet unsupervised. Even though I know his friends do. :(

Yes lots of kids have them, younger and younger it seems. :(

[Strmchsr]

Back in my day we didn't have all these new fangled flashy light smartphones. We had tin cans attached with a string and we liked it! Or we just yelled really loud until our vocal cords were so messed up we couldn't talk for a week and we loved it. :old:

[DVC2004]

Well, I will preface this by saying my kids really are homebodies and communicate with their friends mostly on Xbox Live. However, I just gave my younger son (14) my husband's old cell phone about 6 months ago. Husband ended up getting a phone through his work and I just continued the cheapy Virgin Mobile plan and older android phone. He barely uses it. So, I am glad I didn't give in earlier when he was younger. Most of the time it is dead because he forgets to charge it. It's a pay as you go plan, so I don't have to worry about him going over minutes and being charged $$$. My oldest just turned 16 and he actually doesn't want a phone. He asked for a iPod Touch for Christmas last year and he uses it to text and FaceTime chat with others. So, if he's happy with that so are we.

I don't know, I know kids seem to get these younger and younger and you know your child best. I know my youngest is a tad irresponsible so I certainly would not have bought him one when he was 8 or 9 or even 12 because he absolutely would have lost it.

[AgentC]

Back in my day we didn't have all these new fangled flashy light smartphones. We had tin cans attached with a string and we liked it! Or we just yelled really loud until our vocal cords were so messed up we couldn't talk for a week and we loved it. :old:

:rotfl:

Sometime last year on the way to our car from MK my kids noticed the pay phones. They had no idea what they were and were shocked to find out you had to put money in them to make a call.

[Dulcee]

I got my first cell at 13. This was well before any smart phones.

My nephew got an iPhone at 10. He uses it mostly for apps and instagram. If you do consider getting him one look into a refurbished phone, he'll likely be just as happy with an older model and it will cost you a fraction of the price of a new one.

[joonyer]

Well, I guess I'm really an old school, old fogey. We didn't get our boys cell phones until they were sixteen and driving. They got texting when they could pay for it with their part-time jobs. They got smart-phones (iphones) for Christmas presents, but they pay for the service and data plans. They are 20 & 17 now. I'll probably cave in for my grandchildren when they come along though. ;)

[Kenny1113]

:rotfl:

Sometime last year on the way to our car from MK my kids noticed the pay phones. They had no idea what they were and were shocked to find out you had to put money in them to make a call.

When we were in DC last year I pointed out pay phones to my kids as well. (They are pretty much all gone here).They were shocked at the thought that you had to stop what you were doing to find a phone to go call some one.

[Ian]

My oldest has an iPhone. She got an iPod touch for her 9th birthday because she wanted to play with the apps. The iPhone was a gift for her 11th birthday.

She's very active in dance and cheerleading, gets great grades, is very responsible and helps out with her younger siblings ... it's a reward she understands is special in recognition of special accomplishment. If she slips in any of these areas, she knows the phone goes. ;)

[Mrs Bus Driver]

Back in my day we didn't have all these new fangled flashy light smartphones. We had tin cans attached with a string and we liked it! Or we just yelled really loud until our vocal cords were so messed up we couldn't talk for a week and we loved it. :old:


:rotfl:

Sometime last year on the way to our car from MK my kids noticed the pay phones. They had no idea what they were and were shocked to find out you had to put money in them to make a call.


When we were in DC last year I pointed out pay phones to my kids as well. (They are pretty much all gone here).They were shocked at the thought that you had to stop what you were doing to find a phone to go call some one.

Try telling them that back in the day a local call cost a nickel. And once there was the gas war between 3 stations the price got down to 10 cents a gallon :funny::mickey:

[vizsla]

Our DD has had a cell phone since she was 8 years old. The only reason we gave it to her at that young of an age was because of her gymnastics training. There was never a set time when training was over so instead of sitting there for hours she would call us when pracice was almost over to come get her since the gym was only 15 minutes away.

[Arielfan98]

I am by no means a parent, but a teenager who is constantly texting. Quite frankly there were no iPhones when I was 9 and at that age no one had a cell phone. I asked my parents for one when I was in 6th grade. Looking back on that I feel guilty because I didn't need a phone till late middle school (mid 8th grade) going into high school. This is a tough one because phones now are used for Facebook and other websites not just for communication like texting or calls. As your son gets older he will branch out and meet new people in High School that don't go to his school. Then he will need to text his long distance friends. Not to mention when he's in high school most of his friends should have cell phones making it more worth your money knowing he will have more people to talk/text to. I would compensate him however by perhaps buying him an iPod touch or an iPad which offers pretty much the same thing as an iPhone and probably has the games he wants to play on it.

In conclusion, coming from your son's place only 7 years ago I don't believe buying him a cell phone is worth it until middle school. I didn't even use it till 8th grade. But that's just me and my opinion. It's up to you!

[brownie]

High school for us. Our youngest still has a year to go.

[buzznwoodysmom]

My boys both have iphones, they are 13 and 11, and have had them for about a year.

They had been asking for them for years. We finally allowed them to get phones since both were very active in various sports and school activities. They also roam all over our neighborhood and it's nice for me to be able to call them if I need them home.

They both have several household/yard chores that they are completely responsible for in order to "pay" for their service on their phones. And we hold them accountable for these chores. No chores, bad grades, any kind of misbehavior (including fighting/arguing among each other) and the phones are turned in for the remainder of the day, week, and so on depending on what the issue is. I've only had to take them away for the rest of the day so far for minor issues like arguing with each other, and have taken it away from oldest DS for the remainder of a grading period for grades. I know this sounds awful, but it's a great item to use against them for punishments. They DO NOT want these phones taken away.

They are also well aware that these phones belong to DH and I, the phones do not belong to them and we have every right to check each and every app on their phone anytime we see fit. They can't have any passwords that we aren't aware of and we can look at anything on their phone anytime we want. I feel as long as my kids know we are consistently checking in on them, they will be less likely to stray from what we've taught them with these electronic devices. They are also very responsible with their phones. A year later and neither one of them has even a scratch on the phones, and they have not left them anywhere. Me on the other hand, my phone has so many cracks it's pathetic, and I am always looking for my "lost" phone. LOL.

We are completely comfortable with our decision to give our kids phones at the ages we did. However, kids are all so different, situation are also so different, that only you know when's the right time for your kids.

[Kenny1113]

I know this sounds awful, but it's a great item to use against them for punishments. They DO NOT want these phones taken away.

They are also well aware that these phones belong to DH and I, the phones do not belong to them and we have every right to check each and every app on their phone anytime we see fit. They can't have any passwords that we aren't aware of and we can look at anything on their phone anytime we want. I feel as long as my kids know we are consistently checking in on them, they will be less likely to stray from what we've taught them with these electronic devices.
.
:ditto:
We do this as well. We know their pass lock codes and anything they add that requires a password they know must be given to us.

[MNNHFLTX]

Our son was 14 when he got his first cell (dumb) phone, in college when he got his iPhone. We recently gave him an upgrade to an iPhone 5 as a birthday gift; I, however, am perfectly happy with my 4s, at least for a while longer.

The iPhone 5 is the last phone we will be buying for him. Next up, adulthood!! :clappy:

[Janmac]

My niece's 9 yr old daughter is asking for a cell phone - probably for the apps.

I found a blog at a website for pre-teen phones that was discussing how to deal with a phone request from this age group. I thought the blogger had a very good strategy which would work very well for practically anything kids want.

The strategy is that the child has to make a strong case for his/her request. Because other kids have one is not good enough. Because a pay phone can't be found to call home when your activity is over is a good reason.

Denise's policy of its being the parents' phone and they have control over the phone and its apps is awesome. Good for you!

Jan

[buzznwoodysmom]

Denise's policy of its being the parents' phone and they have control over the phone and its apps is awesome. Good for you!

Jan

Thanks Jan. This is actually DH's policy across the board. When the kids were younger and fought over a toy or something DH always pointed out that the toy was his and mine since we paid for it, and if they wanted either one of them to be able to continue playing with it they stop fighting or he would take it back. He tells them at least once a week, that everything in our house is on "loan" to them, and if they want to continue using it they better "act right". It's all ours! LOL. It works tho!

On a side note, as they've gotten older they've also gotten wiser. LOL. Now at the ever so great preteen/teen years they love to say "this was a birthday present from so and so, so technically it's mine", or "Santa brought this". LOL. Gotta love kids!