Does your 8-year-old have a cellphone?

[cdrumm4448]

My neighbor just got her daughter a cellphone. She is in no after-school activities of any kind. When her parents aren't home (which is often) her older sisters babysit her and her little sister, so someone in her family is always with her and they have their own cellphones.

 

My son claims she has the internet on it, but I'm not sure on that one.

 

How many 8-year-olds have cellphones?

[Tap]

A lot. I see it all the time here.

 

 

I think it is the $10 add a phone plans, and if the kid wants it, the parent just gives in.

 

Some parents also don't want to actually have to walk to the neighbors to call a child home, it is easier to text. :glare:

[CroppinIt]

My neighbor just got her daughter a cellphone. She is in no after-school activities of any kind. When her parents aren't home (which is often) her older sisters babysit her and her little sister, so someone in her family is always with her and they have their own cellphones.

 

My son claims she has the internet on it, but I'm not sure on that one.

 

How many 8-year-olds have cellphones?

 

Our neighbors' 6yo has one. And uses it regularly to call her mom and dad on theirs. :glare:

 

We, otoh, don't. Not even the adults. There are times I miss them, but most of the time, nah. It's just something else to lose in the black hole in my purse.

[Debora R]

When my boys began excursions into the neighborhood on their own, I got them a cell phone - one phone for the two of them. They were 9 & 10 at the time. My niece got her first cell phone at 8, but again, she was walking home from school and has after school activities.

 

For us, it was a safety issue. We believe fostering independence is a good thing, but in today's world, we felt that line of communication was critically important should the worst happen.

[NanceXToo]

My daughter is 9 and she does not have a cell phone.

 

But she's always somewhere with an adult I know and if she needed to contact me from a friend's house, Girl Scouts, art camp, her cousins' house etc, they would get her in touch with me.

 

When she plays outside, it's only on our block where I can see her if I look outside, or in our backyard.

 

When she starts going off of our block by herself, to the park or wherever, where there isn't a phone and isn't necessarily a known adult with her, then I would like for her to have a cell phone. However, it would likely be one of those "firefly" type ones, where calls can only be made to and from a few select phone numbers, not some fancy phone with internet and cameras and where she can call anyone she wants. I don't think she needs one of those until she's much older- perhaps even paying her own cell phone bill ;)

[AK_Mom4]

No, but our youngest doesn't have any drop-off activities. If she did, I would probably issue one to her to use to call for a ride when she was done. We kept a really old one around for that purpose when the older kids were this age and we were running 3 kids around to sports.

[cdrumm4448]

A lot. I see it all the time here.

 

 

I think it is the $10 add a phone plans, and if the kid wants it, the parent just gives in.

 

Some parents also don't want to actually have to walk to the neighbors to call a child home, it is easier to text. :glare:

 

I understand the convenience thing, but I like to connect with my neighbors to see what they're up to. The only way you're gonna notice if your neighbor lives knee-deep in trash, or proudly displays Playboy magazines on their coffee table (both actually happened on my block!) is if you talk to them and visit their homes. That's actually why my kids aren't allowed to play with certain children.

 

And I've never texted. I'm old.

[Renthead Mommy]

My almost 8yo has a cell phone. It was the freebie with rebate. We had just moved back stateside and were getting phones for us and had no plan on getting a land line. I wanted a phone for the house for babysitters and such. (Granted every babysitter has given me THEIR cell phone number to reach them so I guess we didn't need to do that.) But he likes to be able to call his g'parents on it and they leave him voicemails and his dad will send him a text at times. He does not, however, carry it around. (Every load of laundry I pull an old play cell phone either out of a pocket, or out of the bottom of the washer!)

 

However we took two neighbor kids(different families, both only children) for lunch one school holiday. The newly turned 7yo first grader had pulled a phone out of her purse. My son has tons of play phones so I figured it was one of those. I asked her about it when I realized it was actually on. She told me it was her iphone and she could watch tv on the internet on it.

 

Sure enough, she was watching something, and it certainly looked like an iphone to me.

[fivetails]

Our dd13 just got her first one last week (I gave her my old BB Pearl when I upgraded) ~ but I do see kids a lot younger than her with cells here.

[Tidbits of Learning]

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that people are getting rid of their landlines. We have and the biggest problem with that was the kid's friends. If they didn't have a phone, I was getting calls for them. Your cell phone isn't attached to the house. You tote it every where. So if it was a number I didn't recognize, then I was answering it and it was a 3rd grader who just couldn't seem to understand why I couldn't search up my child that second or call back later meant 5 minutes later to them. I could be at family functions, scout meetings, and anywhere and trying to get kids to quit calling my cell phone. It is a pain.

So my dd9 has a cell phone and has had it for a year. She really doesn't talk much on it, but I don't have to field her phone calls either. There is a down side to this as well.

If I had to advise anyone with children about whether to ditch the land line, then I would say not until you are ready to start handing out phones to each of your kids.

The sole reason our child got a phone at 8 was b/c we got rid of our land line and it was a pain to field phone calls from children on our cell phones.

[Momling]

I can imagine getting my daughter a cell phone in the next few years - maybe around age 10? We just have pay-as-you-go cheapie phones and we'd do the same for her. There are times that she finishes her co-op classes and I'm running a few minutes late and would like to let her know not to panic. Or, in a year or two, I can imagine letting her walk a few blocks to the park and I'd like to have easy access to call her to come home. I don't know... she's not the kind of kid who talks on the phone with friends... (at least not yet).

[Desert Rat]

Mine don't. But I know a lot of kids who have divorced parents and live in our area carry cell phones as a safety precaution at that age. Most kids here get there own phone by around 12 here.

[Matryoshka]

Huh. My older two will be 12 next month, and it honestly hasn't crossed my mind yet. One of my dds went to Germany last year and rode to school alone on a city bus, and my cousin did lend her an old cell phone - I can see a use in that case, and I'm glad she had it. Can't see much of a necessity here, though.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

......my 4.5 year old has one....

 

Her and I are on a family plan and it was 10 dollars a month. Her phone was free.

 

Mostly she just uses it for the music player, but also to text and call her grandparents and me if I'm somewhere else.

 

There is no real reason she couldn't just use my phone, except it's a touch screen and she can't work it very well. But she really likes the music player, and my phone doesn't have much storage left. Plus I wasn't giving her my phone to listen to music, because I use it alot.

 

I always said I'd never give my child a cell phone until they were older, but.... well. It doesn't hurt anything. She can't get on the internet, and doesn't know how to call anyone except people on speed dial. And it makes my life a lot easier.

[Willow]

I worry about the radiation issue. I never speak on my cell, I only text, I am almost 50, and I am a very slow texter. I rarely text more than "Where are you?" and "on my way" ! :lol:

 

DD21 does not have a phone...she washed hers and never bothered replacing it. She does not live at home. Her flat has a landline, so does her place of work.

 

DD19 has a cell phone, also does not live at home. She is the one I tend to pick up a lot. She lives only 15 mins away in a student flat. She often comes home for good food and a decent bed......

 

DS13 does not have a phone but as he buses regularly, I give him mine and tell him to ring the home phone if there is a problem. He will get a phone of his own this year BUT ONLY FOR TEXTING. He is getting a phone of his own as he would have to do a proper call using mine if he had to call....sorry about the convoluted sentence! He will be getting the cheapest pre pay phone I can find.

 

Willow.

[Carrie12345]

My 8yo (tomorrow!) does not. However, ds had a pre-pay when he was 8, and in ps. Our bus stop is over a mile away, he'd been in a bus accident before we got the phone, and I felt better knowing he had one.

 

Honestly, if I had a $10 add-on plan, I might consider letting my 3 big kids get phones. As it is, I'm paying $32/mo for them to share the house phone. It'd be nearly the same price (plus tax), and I'd probably give them more freedom around the neighborhood and at baseball games.

Not that I LOVE the idea, but it does have benefits!

[Karis]

Mine only want one because everybody else has one. It's annoying. :glare:

 

 

They have no reason to need a phone. If they need to use a phone they can ask someone next to them. They can ask one of the 20 some odd people around them.

 

I also don't leave them in the care of other people.

 

Everybody is on my "watch list." dance instructors, sunday school leaders, neighbors down the block, the strange uncle/ cousin etc...

 

Don't intend to leave them at the mall with friends - no drop off nothin". For What??? If I'm at the mall you can hang. Synchronize your watches.

 

If I say meet me at x place at at x time - you should be there. If not, you've got a problem with accountability. "The line was long" does not hold water - manage your time.

 

If/When they do get a phone it'll be something basic like a Firefly. Dial's 4 numbers only. Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and 911.

 

Everything else is a non-essential.

 

This thing has gotten waaay out of hand.

 

I'll reconsider when they are teens but for now "heck no"

 

This is just another way to be busy and idle.

[TwinMominTX]

Yes. Both of my 8 year old daughters have cell phones.

[MamaT]

All of my children have cell phones. They all received one when they turned 10, except for my youngest dd who was probably 8. She is a competitive gymnast and I didn't feel comfortable leaving her for four hours a day away from us without a phone.

[nukeswife]

No way, No how! My oldest who is 11 doesn't have one either. It seems the kids that do have them are getting younger and younger.

[Jennifer in MI]

My oldest two want them. We're checking out the costs. Problem is, dh and I are currently on a plan that the company no longer offers. (750 combined minutes/1000 texts for $50/month.) We have a really good deal. So, for us to add one phone to our plan (we'd have to upgrade to the next plan), it would end up costing us an additional $90/month. NOT doing it!!!

 

Now we're looking in to Boost phones that would allow them to text and call, but be much cheaper than that!! (I'd rather they text, quite honestly.)

 

We've had a number of times this spring where I wanted them to have cell phones. They ride their bikes to baseball, jobs, and karate regularly.

 

I wouldn't get one for our 9 yo yet. He isn't without one of us or one of his brothers enough yet.

[lauracolumbus]

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that people are getting rid of their landlines. We have and the biggest problem with that was the kid's friends. If they didn't have a phone, I was getting calls for them. Your cell phone isn't attached to the house. You tote it every where. So if it was a number I didn't recognize, then I was answering it and it was a 3rd grader who just couldn't seem to understand why I couldn't search up my child that second or call back later meant 5 minutes later to them. I could be at family functions, scout meetings, and anywhere and trying to get kids to quit calling my cell phone. It is a pain.

So my dd9 has a cell phone and has had it for a year. She really doesn't talk much on it, but I don't have to field her phone calls either. There is a down side to this as well.

If I had to advise anyone with children about whether to ditch the land line, then I would say not until you are ready to start handing out phones to each of your kids.

The sole reason our child got a phone at 8 was b/c we got rid of our land line and it was a pain to field phone calls from children on our cell phones.

 

Interesting. I want to ditch our land line and dh wants to give dd10 his cell phone while he's deployed. I don't want to give it to her b/c it's just another expensive item that could get lost and would need to be replaced. DS12 got his at 11 1/2. DD6 is begging for one. Can't imagine whom she would call.

Edited May 29, 2010 by lauracolumbus

[Mommy22alyns]

Wow, my 7 yo can't even keep proper track of her own library card! :001_huh:

[hsmamainva]

Nope...my 8 year old doesn't have a cellphone.

 

Neither does my 10 year old.

 

My oldest two children have cellphones, but my 19 year old is in college and my 16 year old is on 3 different sports teams. It's a necessity! ;)

[EarleneW]

My 2 oldest have them and have had them for almost 3 years, so they were 9 and 6 at the time. My rd, just got one last week and he is 7. We got rid of our landline and quite frankly I got sick of their friends calling me. It's still cheaper then a land line and much more conveinent, bc I can always reach them when they are at a friends.

[AndyJoy]

We're about to buy our 8-MONTH-old a phone :D. We don't have a landline, so we're doing the $10 add-on to have a "family phone" that lives at the house for babysitters, emergencies, etc. We don't plan to let our kids have their own phones until they are driving or working, but we plan to have a "family phone" or 2 with limited capabilities that can go with them as necessary. I can see plenty of reasons to let an 8-year-old use a family cell phone, but I don't think I'll let him have one of his own.

[Tidbits of Learning]

We're about to buy our 8-MONTH-old a phone :D. We don't have a landline, so we're doing the $10 add-on to have a "family phone" that lives at the house for babysitters, emergencies, etc. We don't plan to let our kids have their own phones until they are driving or working, but we plan to have a "family phone" or 2 with limited capabilities that can go with them as necessary. I can see plenty of reasons to let an 8-year-old use a family cell phone, but I don't think I'll let him have one of his own.

 

This is what I wish we would have done instead of buying dd9 a phone and giving it as a gift. It is kind of hard to say ok now you have to share it with your younger siblings even though you got it for Christmas as a big gift.

:tongue_smilie:

[mcconnellboys]

Our neighbor, also. But not most I know and not mine, not ever. Not until he's in high school. That's plenty soon enough.....

[Paula in PA]

We hadn't planned on dd getting one yet, but when we decided to ditch the landline, dh and I got new phones and dd got my dh's "old" tracphone. It's actually just a few months old, has over 300 minutes on it, and is good date-wise for over 3 years. She's barely used it (mostly just playing around with it) so except for the rare need to add minutes, it costs us nothing. She'll have it for her dance classes, which makes me feel better, as I had been giving her mine before in case she needed to call us. The original plan was 12.

[cin]

Our DD got one when she was 6. BUT, she and little sis went to gramma's every Friday, and gramma has dementia. Half the time gramma's phone didn't work because it hadn't been put back on the charger correctly. Now that gramma's in assisted living, we are keeping the phone, it's an extra $5/mo. Our landline was $25/mo so we disconnected it and the babysitter carries our daughter's phone, around the house.

[Hedgehogs4]

we have a pay-as-you-go phone that we give our son in case we get separated in large crowds, for instance we went to Disney World on vacation last week and he got to carry it. He will have it when we go to hs convention in a couple of weeks because he spends much of his time running with his buddy in the convention hall. just in case.

 

otherwise, it's in the desk drawer.

[Daisy]

Uh, no. My nearly 11yo and my 8yo do not have a cell phone.

 

My kids wouldn't want one anyway.

 

Can't think when they would ever need one?

 

But we do pretty much everything together as a family. No drop-offs. No splitting and running in a million different directions. Doesn't jive with our family's priorities.

[gemrae]

My 8yo dd has a cell phone she uses when she goes to her dad's house. He lives 320 miles away and she texts me once a day, occasionally calls. She usually loses the phone in between visits (she only goes once a month) and we're always scrambling to find it when she leaves. I have chaperone on the phone so I can see where the phone is even when she doesn't call. This comes in handy when I go to pick her up. Also lets me know when she has arrived safely since she rarely calls when she gets up there.

 

The phone has a camera in it so she mostly uses it to take pictures.

[Renee in NC]

My 12yo will get one when he can drive.

 

My 17yo had one at 12yo, but it had to do with his being at his Dad's and not having a way to call us (phone turned off, not allowed to call, etc.)

 

We don't have a landline, so dh and I both have phones. The dc can use mine if they want to call someone, but they don't much. My 12yo wants to buy/pay for his own, but at this time we are saying no.

[momofkhm]

How many 8-year-olds have cellphones?

 

My 9 yo and 13 yo don't have cell phones. The only reason my 15 yo has one is because she has a few outside classes.

[Renee in NC]

BTW, I picked my 12yo up from an activity a couple of days ago and the organizers had a basket of cell phones. I think everyone except my ds had a phone and many of these were TOUCH SCREEN smart phones!!!! How do people afford this? That isn't as cheap as adding a $9.99 line. As soon as they got their phones back, everyone was bent over their phones texting away.

 

We can't add a $9.99 line because there are already 5 phones on our plan - we share with my Dad and stepmom so that we can share the cost. We have 1400 Nationwide minutes and 10 "My Circle" numbers. My 17yo pays for his unlimited texting (why in the world would I pay for it?:confused:)

[lynn]

No.

[HRAAB]

Mine didn't have one until they started driving alone. Even then at first, I just gave them mine if I was going to be home, but soon they got their own.

[Wheres Toto]

My oldest has one because she is at her dad's every other week and should be able to call me without having to ask to use his house phone. She's had it since she was 8 for that reason mainly. She's also a dancer and spends hours a week a the dance studio so I like that she can text and let me know if a class was cancelled and she's getting out early, etc.

 

We have only minimal local coverage on our house phone and use our cell phones for everything else. We kept some home coverage because we live in an area where signals can be iffy.

[H0MEFree]

We have no land line (house phone).

My husband & I each have our own cell and then we have an extra phone that we give my 15yrd old when we leave her with the younger children. Just in case. Or when she is at a function somewhere and we want her to have communication with us. The number is not given out. The phone is not for texting or chatty talking, just for UN-FUN talking.

[Lara in Colo]

I think another reason for the increase in children with cell phones is the lack of pay phones. When I was younger, every taco bell, mcDonalds and gas station had a pay phone--also businesses would allow you to use theirs and some had a phone just for people to use, but since cell phones-those are gone. Now we need more cell phones. Sort of a circle. We've been cellular only for about 6 years (the tree rats ate the phone lines and I was always having to call the repairman) This last year the cable company gave us a deal for bundling so we had a "house" phone. We liked that so now we're doing the 10$ month add a cell to our plan for when we leave the children alone (I'm at the neighbors for 30 min) and if we are ever separated at an event.

 

Lara

[Parrothead]

Nope, dd is 10 and got her phone two weeks ago.

 

I thought about it briefly this past winter when dd was left outside for 20 minutes in the cold and dark at dance lessons because class got out early and no one called me to come get her. :glare:

 

Now that she will run to the store for me on her bike and I want her to walk back and forth to dance this fall during decent weather I want her to have a phone.

 

She is a nervous child that does not have much confidence.

 

ETA: There is no texting and I don't let her take it with her to her friend's. If I tell her to be home at a certain time I expect her to be home without me having to call her to come home.

[Mrs Mungo]

My eldest got a cell phone at 13, that's when she really started doing lots of drop-off activities, sleepovers, etc. I imagine we'll stay with that age range, unless we have good reason to do one sooner for the youngers.

[AnitaMcC]

How many 8-year-olds have cellphones?

 

Not mine!!!

 

Dd, 15 yr old, didn't get a cell phone until she was in 7th grade (12yrs old) and that was because Dh and I wanted her to have one for when she was away at sports meets/games and could call us when she was almost back to the school for us to pick her up. Our public schools do not have pay phones and students do not have access to school phones except during normal school hours (and then they are only allowed to use the main office phones). She is homeschooled now, but she still needs the phone for our convenience. She is away at Kung Fu a lot and we just like her having the phone so we can reach her anytime, and for her to call us anytime.

 

Dd's twin brother didn't get one until he was 14 as he just didn't need one until this year. I am glad he has a phone just in case as he has severe asthma. He very rarely uses it. Just when he is away from home (which is when he is either at CC or Civil Air Patrol).

 

11yr old Ds and 9 yr old Ds will not get a cell phone until Dh and I feel it is needed for our convenience (not the kids), and so far that time isn't even coming close. Ds 11 is going into 6th grade this year at public school and he may join sports... so if he does we may consider a phone for him. But not yet.

[Penelope]

Not an 8 year old. Older, when they start drop off activities.

 

I have several concerns. I think the jury is still out on whether there might be some small increase in disease with these, especially in growing children. We just don't know yet. Second, I think there is a high risk of it getting lost, then the huge pain with changing numbers. Also, with kids not watching out over them as much, or having to be put down for activities, there are creeps out there that can put surveillance on a phone. I want to make sure my kids are old enough to talk about these things and that they are not likely to misplace or lose track of the phone.

 

When my oldest is old enough to need one at a drop off situation, I will let him have the phone only for activities. It will not be his phone to have on him all the time I don't think.

[fivetails]

I think the jury is still out on whether there might be some small increase in disease with these, especially in growing children.

 

"Increase in disease" with what? I think I'm missing something..

[Guest janainaz]

My ds10 bought one when he was 9. He paid for it with his own money and pays for his own minutes with his allowance. He does not really need one because he's always with dh or me, but I did not see a harm in him buying his own.

 

I don't see any big deal with kids having cell phones, but I don't like texting and the addiction to that part. I don't like the idea of having internet on a cell phone for a kid (let alone, an adult). I have an emergency phone that I pay for only if I use it. When I'm out, the last thing I want is to be on my phone or tracked down.

[Firefly]

My two will be 13 and 11 in the fall, and they've never had cell phones. There just hasn't been the need as of yet.

[MomtoCandJ]

DD doesn't have one yet, but she isn't talking either. She does have an old phone that we plug in for her so she can see the pictures and what not on it. I am sure she will be getting one once she hits school age just for the fact that I don't like how the schools are turning out now with all the violence. I don't have an option but to put her in to a school for k-4th grade for the fact that I am going to be in Pharmacy school and won't have the time to spend schooling her full time.

[simka2]

I'm thinking about it with my 9dd, but I know the 8teins would want one too!. She does get dropped off at the barn, a lot! I want one of the ones where I can program in the numbers she can call and recieve, and has gps locator :)