s/o At what age will you want your child to have a cell phone?

[rafiki]

.

[mom2att]

For me the answer was when it was more convenient for ME. We got a cellphone for dd last summer. She was 13 and at an age where she was old enough to be dropped off at church events, was regularly babysitting her brothers even at places like the ballpark, etc., and I liked the fact that she could reach me or I could reach her at anytime via cell. She really doesn't use it for much other than that. Of course if we had texting that might be different, but oh well!

[Jennifer in MI]

:iagree:

For me the answer was when it was more convenient for ME. We got a cellphone for dd last summer. She was 13 and at an age where she was old enough to be dropped off at church events, was regularly babysitting her brothers even at places like the ballpark, etc., and I liked the fact that she could reach me or I could reach her at anytime via cell. She really doesn't use it for much other than that. Of course if we had texting that might be different, but oh well!

:iagree::iagree:

 

We're just getting to that point now. My oldest really could use one as he's riding his bike places and I'd like him to have one. My second one wants one. WE'll see. So far it's really expensive!!

[Wheres Toto]

My oldest got one around 8 but we had a joint custody arrangement and drop-off activities.

 

For the others, it will depend on what age they are doing drop-off activities. I would rather they have their own way to contact me rather than relying on borrowing someone else's phone. My oldest will sometimes text me just because she's upset over something, wants to talk or wants to ask about something minor. I wouldn't want my kids to have to borrow a phone unless it was an emergency.

[Mynyel]

Mine will have one when they start attending functions alone and/or start driving. Until then... well they can use mine! :)

[AHASRADA]

For me the answer was when it was more convenient for ME.

 

:iagree: We have always had one primary cell as a family (dh's), because he is the one who is usually away from home. I used to have a cheap pay-as-you-go model which I only had for emergencies. I have not had my own cell for the past 3 years, and although it would be convenient on the rare occasion that both dh and I are out of the house, that does not justify the expense for us.

 

Currently, if the kids want to go to the park, the supermarket, etc., we send them either with dh's cell or walkie talkies.

 

If they were going to be on their own for longer periods of time or farther distances, our first step would be to have a 2nd cell in the family. At this point, it is not likely that dh, myself, and our ds would all be gone, in different directions, at the same time, so 2 cells in the family would be more than sufficient. I suppose we would have to add more cells as this became more common.

 

I doubt that I would get each child their "own" cell before the age of 16. Something about electronics being community property tends to mean they are used more responsibly, and are not relied upon to the same extent as when they have their "own".

[Desert Rat]

Probably around 12. This is the age that I will feel more comfortable dropping him off at activities/sports.

[fivetails]

Our dd13 just got her first one a few weeks ago ~ I was upgrading mine and my old Pearl was just gonna sit in a drawer anyway, so I set it up for her. I didn't put a data package on it though, just a plan with decent minutes and unlimited texting. Good thing ~ she sent over 300 texts in her first week. :laugh:

[BamaTanya]

and her bus stop was several blocks away. Twice her bus was earlier than I got there to pick her up and she was frightened. It was a pay as you go and costs us less than $10 per mo.

 

At 15 she decided she wanted to upgrade and she used her Christmas money. I like knowing she has it when she goes on youth outings or her volunteer job.

[Sophia]

Mine get it at 14/15.

 

The oldest wanted an iphone and he's working now and can pay for it on his own (we give him $10 a month toward it.)

Dd was willing to take whatever we gave her, so we pay for hers completely.

 

Both are busy enough that we need them to have phones to communicate pick-up/drop-off times and I hated them having to constantly ask their friends to borrow their phone.

[Parrothead]

Dd is in several drop-off activities-3 dance lessons, karate, girl scouts, Sunday school. This past winter she got left outside the building in the dark when dance ended early. No one called me. Nothing on her legs but a pair of tights with snow on the ground. Needless to say I was ticked.

 

But we did not feel that she needed a phone right away. We made arrangements to make sure it didn't happen again. This coming year we don't have any special arrangements though.

 

Two weeks ago when we started letting her ride her bike 4 blocks to the store, we decided to get her a phone. So now she has one of her own for times that she has lessons. She thinks it is super expensive to talk and the only time she is to use it is when she is away from home.

[AngieW in Texas]

In the long ago before time, I wanted my kids to get cell phones at 15yo. Then my oldest started taking art classes at 14yo that were a 10 minute bike ride from our house. I wanted her to call me when she got there, but she didn't have a cell phone, so I had to give her mine and have her call me on the home phone. But I often had somewhere I had to go while she was en route, so I wasn't home to answer the phone and I wanted her to be able to call me, so I had to keep my cell phone with me and have her borrow someone's cell phone to call me and let me know that she had made it okay. I finally convinced my dd that she needed to have a cell phone when she was 15.5yo.

 

Then my middle dd at 13yo wanted to go to the local park to swing every day. It was just a 5 minute bike ride away. I didn't want to go with her and sit there for an hour or two while she got her swinging done. I wanted her to have a cell phone to take with her. I gave her my cell phone and had her call me on the home phone when she got there. At that point, I wanted to be able to phone everybody at 12yo or 13yo.

 

Last year, we went to Disneyworld for vacation. I was able to talk my dh into getting cell phones for everybody at that point.

 

I love having all of us phoned. Adding two more cell phones to our plan, doubling our minutes, getting all of us unlimited texting, and dropping our home phone costs us $10/month less than having just 3 cell phones (instead of 5) without texting and having a home phone.

 

Now I would recommend phoning everybody around 10yo or 11yo. It has made things much more convenient for me. My two older girls don't like talking on the phone or texting. They use less than 1 hour of phone time each month. My middle dd never texts. My oldest sends 3 or 4 texts each month, nearly always to me. My youngest has sent/received 2500 texts in just the past 11 days. She has one friend she communicates with primarily by text because she lives 30 minutes away. We're actually going to go pick her up for a playdate later.

[newbie]

16 b/c she is off to college. I would also like to send her w/ a gps wrist tracker, but those are expensive.

 

Can you say hello to the worlds greatest helicopter mom.

[alpidarkomama]

MAYBE when she's off to college.

[Sophia]

16 b/c she is off to college. I would also like to send her w/ a gps wrist tracker, but those are expensive.

 

Can you say hello to the worlds greatest helicopter mom.

 

:lol: A GPS wrist tracker?

I didn't know there was such a thing, but sounds good!

[creekland]

Mine are getting their own when they go to college. Until then they can take the family cell phone with them when they go places where they might want to call home. We don't have texting on our phone (it's turned off and can't be used). We also don't have the internet on them. They are just for communication or emergencies.

 

When they go to college they'll probably have one with all the bells and whistles, but hopefully, won't get as addicted to them as most young people I see. I've had them read the articles on how computers/cell phones/technology are rewiring our brains. But... it'll be their choice at that point.

[Samiam]

Mine got one at age 9. This was around the age where, depending on the location/situation, I might be dropping him at the door for certain activities. Because I am a bit of a freak, I would sit there for 5 minutes to make sure he didn't come back out/need me. After about five minutes, then I would figure "okay, he must be in the room now". I wanted him to be able to call me and say, I am in the classroom (or wherever it was). I would like to add that I was NEVER dropping him off at the door at a place that was unsafe, but I still worried.

 

I also liked that if he were to go to a friend's house, he would be able to get a hold of me. Or anywhere, for that matter, that he is and I am not.

 

Now that he's a bit older (about to be 12) and able to stay home alone, of course it's great to be able to get ahold of each other, since we don't have a landline.

 

He rarely uses it for anything else besides these things. We don't have texting on our phones.

 

It's worth the $15 a month I pay for his line.

[ereks mom]

Our dd13 just got her first one a few weeks ago ~ I was upgrading mine and my old Pearl was just gonna sit in a drawer anyway, so I set it up for her. I didn't put a data package on it though, just a plan with decent minutes and unlimited texting. Good thing ~ she sent over 300 texts in her first week. :laugh:

 

ER was about 14yo and when dh upgraded, he passed his old phone to ER. That was about 6 years ago. Almost none of his friends had cellphones then. Since then, more and more kids of younger and younger ages are getting phones.

 

The way we handled it with EK was that when she was 12, we bought a pay-as-you-go phone from Virgin Mobile for $15. We told her that we wanted to see how she would handle the responsibility of conserving her minutes, etc. She did beautifully with it, and the next year, she also reaped the benefit of getting dh's old phone when he got an upgrade.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

:bigear:

 

 

We will get dd a phone at age 14, when she goes to high school. She is 13 now, and can't wait. She hasn't needed it at all so far.

[mom2jjka]

Originally I had said 16 (when she started driving) but last winter she got locked out of the school where she has orchestra practice...in the cold and dark...she got a cell phone the next day ( she is 12)

[LMA]

I don't own one so I won't be getting any for my children.

[mom31257]

I think when they start driving. I want it to be a cell phone only, if such a thing exists then.

[mcconnellboys]

"Want"? Never, actually..... But in the world in which we live he will be getting one once he's in high school.....

[Mommyfaithe]

:bigear:

 

My kids get cell phones when they get their drivers license. I like to keep tabs on them, and if they break down somewhere i don't want them stranded or knocking on doors like we had to do when we were teens.

 

My younger kids take my cell when they ride their bikes or go for a run or out with their friends so i can get in touch with them if I need to or visa versa.

Faithe

[MamaT]

My two older boys didn't get cell phones until they were driving, but then someone got a new one and it was pretty easy to give the old one to third ds at 13. Then my youngest dd was spending hours at the gym (gymnastics) every day without one of us, so I decided I wanted her to have a phone at 8. The two in-between thought that was terribly unfair, so daddy caved and now they all have one and have for a while. :001_smile:

[MariannNOVA]

I haven't read the other responses, but DD11 will be given a cell phone to use when she goes away (:w00t: for the first time) to Lacrosse Camp. We will stay in town while she is there (4 days) but we will drop her off and pick her up four days later.

 

She will also use the phone when she is dropped off for practices as sometimes there has been a change in ending time and she might need to get hold of us.

 

It's only since she has been playing lax and the other two children are playing as well and practices are all over the place that dh and I see the wisdom in her having a way to contact us.

[Mejane]

Mine got them when I started dropping them at activities where I didn't stay. I think they were around 12.

[phathui5]

Probably when they start working or volunteering outside of the home.

[Peela]

It was about age 12 here. The kids have to have enough income to pay for their calls themselves.

However, ds pretty soon tired of his and its been sitting in a drawer for 2 years. It would be convenient if he used it- for us- but he doesnt want to spend the money.

Dd16 however is a textaholic and has plenty of money to pay for her plan. She doesnt know how she would survive without her phone, and it has been convenient many times.

[Melissa in Australia]

I don't own one so I won't be getting any for my children.

same here.

[dragons in the flower bed]

For me the answer was when it was more convenient for ME.

 

:iagree: Our twelve-year-old got one just a month ago when he was doing a convention in NYC with the daddio. It was the easiest way to keep track of him. He doesn't use it for anything except contacting us when he's ready to be picked up, locating us across the park, stuff like that. It's not a social engine in any way.

[jld]

Dd got one when she was starting to go to the gym on her own. I just thought it was safer than her going alone without having any way of contacting me. Then, was ds was in the hospital, we gave her phone to him.

 

I guess this is a long way of saying they'll get phones when they need them.:)