A poll about children and cell phones

[texasmama]

Only the teenager has a phone here. The three littles do not.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

We have a spare cell phone that is used by the 12 & almost 11 yos when they are out without us. Easier to keep in touch. But the cell phone is parental property and not used about the house nor is it used to call friends for chatting or for texting.

[Jamee]

I voted other. DS used to have a phone that we got him when he was 9, but we canceled the contract and since he's homeschooled now, doesn't need one so we didn't get him a new phone when we changed plans and got ours. We got it since for 4th grade he'd be going to the other base for school and wanted to make sure he could communicate with us if needed. It came in handy and was needed several times. I think now, if we decide to get him a phone it would just be a pay-as-you-go because he's NOT getting the iPhone he wants--he can buy himself a touch.

[Once]

My dd at 11 yrs has one and she is the only one to use it. It is one of our old ones when we upgraded but it is mostly for an alternative to a land line since our home phone is my cell. When she is home alone for a bit she has a way to get in touch with me. My eight yr old doesn't even know how to use it. So it is hers. It happened only because we do not have a land line and she is starting to be alone while I run errands with my youngers or she is waiting at the pool for me to pick her up.

[sheryl]

I really don't see the need for my dd to get a cell phone for quite some time. So, perhaps further on down the road than what I originally answered.

 

Also, I'm not into the texting thing. Never have been. Is it just me? I wouldn't have a cell phone myself if it wasn't mostly for safety for when we drive long distances.

 

Thanks for reading my clarification....:D

[LibraryLover]

I prefer texting. I love texting. I never have to talk to anyone. ;) and I can send my dh lists of what to pick up at the market.

 

Texting is the answer to the horror that is the phone. Alexander G Bell- you wish you'd thought of it. :tongue_smilie:

[cindergretta]

I prefer texting. I love texting. I never have to talk to anyone. ;) and I can send my dh lists of what to pick up at the market.

 

Texting is the answer to the horror that is the phone. Alexander G Bell- you wish you'd thought of it. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh my! :iagree::iagree::iagree: :lol:

[Lara in Colo]

Cell phone ownership is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy. Once people started using them, less and less pay phones were used. Now you have to have a cell because there aren't any pay phones around and a store clerk will look at you like a crazy person if you ask to use theirs. When I was a teen, there was a phone wherever I was, not so much now.

 

To answer the question, we just added an extra phone to our plan yesterday for the house/children/babysitter. We don't have a landline (the squirrels eat the cables) and if the children are separated from us I wan them to be able to call (although this never happens).

 

Lara

[Jilly]

We have an extra cell phone that is given to whatever child is out alone (usually dd) and surrendered back at the end of the outing.

 

This is what we do too. I find it very reassuring to know they have a phone and can call me if they need to.

[Ibbygirl]

I answered other because my child is not 11 or younger, she's 13 and a half but she's never had a cell phone.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

I'm almost scared to say that my almost 5 year old has one, and has since the summer... :tongue_smilie:

 

BUT. In my defense.... I am on a family plan with my parents, and at one point my aunt was also on the plan with us. She switched providers. Instead of cancelling the phone, we gave it to DD.

Mostly she just uses it for listening to music, I loaded some of her favorite songs on there. She also uses it to call her grandparents, and her great aunts and uncles, who all love to hear from her and will sit on the phone with her forever, but (selfish alert!) I don't like giving my phone up for that long!

 

Plus, she is with a babysitter while I'm at school, and I like knowing that she can get ahold of me if something should happen.

[Guest CarolineUK]

I was very surprised at the results of your poll as I would say that pretty much all of DS11's friends here have mobile (cell) phones - he's at school and has never been homeschooled - I wonder if schoolchildren are more likely to have them than homeschooled children. I know schoolchildren as young as six who have them.

 

Both DS9 and DS11 have them, we live in a small, very safe city and they like to go out and about a lot, which I think is good for them, but I do like to know that they can get in touch with me if need be.

 

DS11 also has an Ipod Touch, but given the risk of losing it while out I prefer him to have a (cheapish) mobile phone - he has already lost one phone while playing in the snow with friends and my niece, aged 14, has lost three phones in the past six months.

[LibraryLover]

Oh my! :iagree::iagree::iagree: :lol:

 

It's really just like having your own Telegram Office in your pocket. :D

[Renee in NC]

Mine do not, but I get the same "everyone else has one" from my 9yo 3rd grader. He is in school, though, so that may make a difference. I told him that even if I could afford it I wouldn't get him one, so he will have to get over it.:tongue_smilie:

[Crissy]

Because my boys seem to have jobs/volunteering/activites at the same times and at different ends of town, I often leave one or both of them at some location while I am juggling schedules.

I need them to feel safe, and I need to know that they can contact my husband or me if they have any problems.

They have both had phones since around age 9.

[Trish]

My kids 9 and 11, don't have them. A lot of their friends do. If/when they get them, it will be for practical reasons (for us) not because they want them. There will be no data plan -- don't want to have to worry about people sending inappropriate images on phones! Or surfing etc.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Mine don't and probably won't for quite a long while. But, I can understand why having of phone for some children that age would be useful. Its use would have to be strictly controlled by me, though.

[Leav97]

My DD (6) doesn't yet but will long before she turns 11. She sometimes gets dropped off for activities or left home alone (for 15-20 min). I'd like her to have the ability to call us if needed.

[Once Again]

Funny, I was just discussing cell phones with my son. He said his cousins and the other kids his age at church already have them. I was surprised, because they are all about 11 or 12. Seems kind of young to me.

[prairie rose]

I voted other.

 

Not only do my 11 and unders not have a cell phone but neither does my 12.5yo.

 

Dh and I don't have cell phones either. We have had them in the past but for us they were a luxury, not a necessity. And we had to cut luxuries. ;)

 

Dh will be getting a cheap, pay-as-you-go phone here soon though. Right now he can't call home from work because due to a funny set of circumstances and the unavailability of Google Voice in our area our phone number is long distance from his work (even though his work is only 2.5 miles away). It won't strictly be his phone though. It will be a family phone that will be carried by whoever is not at home at the time and needs it.

[Scarlett]

I appreciate the poll results and the comments.

 

My feeling on it is not whether I can afford it...or even the 'need' for one (because I could have skipped the landline and got him a cell phone for less money---and could have justified the cell for him as a need) but rather about kids getting too much too soon.

 

I bought his ITouch (32 gig) a year ago to make myself feel better because of the divorce and my X introducing our son to homewrecker. I knew at the time I was doing it for wrong reasons...but figured there were worse things I could do. And my dh let his ds9 get a phone for pretty much the same reason. Now that we are out of that fog that comes with traumatic divorce, I am determined to not give him stuff just because everyone else has one. We have a landline and he has an Itouch. He can use the landline, his Itouch or MY droid to call anyone pretty much anytime. There is absolutely NO need for this kid to have a phone of ANY kind...he simple wants it for status.

 

I admit it is hard to find a balance. Parenting is not for wimps. :tongue_smilie:

[Audrey]

How many of you have children 11 years old or younger who have their own cell phone?

 

Edited to add that I was in a hurry when I posted this but I assume you all can get why I am posting this poll. A certain almost 11 year old in my house wants a phone of his own so bad it is all he can think of day and night. Even though he has an Itouch which he can make calls with if he is in Wifi area! I have tried to make him understand that his 32 gig ITouch does MORE than a phone would do because he is NOT getting a smart phone with data plan like he wants.

 

He claims 'everyone' else has one. While this is far from true (and I hope this poll will prove!) it is a situation not made easier by the fact that both of his step brothers have phones--the younger one is only 9.

 

Sigh.

 

 

Umm.... no way. My 11 yo is not getting a phone. Maybe (and that's a biiiiiiggggg maybe) I might let him have one when he's 16 and starting to drive. Before then, sorry, but there's absolutely no compelling reason for a kid to have one. "Other kids have them" is simply not a compelling reason in my book.