What age would you/did you get your child a cell phone?

[Halcyon]

See poll...

[Joker]

Oldest received one at 11 before starting ps middle school and so will youngest this fall.

[Catwoman]

My ds was 4.

[Excelsior! Academy]

When they need one. I voted 16-17. In our case driving is what created the need.

[Snow]

Depends on the kid and situation but if it was the one thing he needed socially to help keep him at home, your ds's age sounds good ;-)

 

No texting or media package though. I don't even have those!

[somo_chickenlady]

Our son is not allowed to have a cell phone until he can drive alone, so 16.

[tabrizia]

Other. When there is a need for one. Could be as young as 8 or as old as 16, it really depends on when DH and I feel that one of the small people needs it.

[Karen in CO]

I gave my dd12 one this year. Her friends text her and call her. It is how they keep in touch on the weekends and in the evenings. She doesn't have a smart phone, just a phone for texting and calling.

[Melissa in Australia]

e just got ds17 one. he needs one because he is just about to start Advanced-TAFE ( community collage) it is about an hour drive away, and the only bus that goes by is 3 hours after he finished class. you cannot get your licence in Vic until 18.

 

DS18 got one when he left home for uni.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My kids were 14 and 16, I think. Kinda hard to vote with that being the case.

[bolt.]

I'd like to do it shortly before the end of elementary school (currently, I'm only after-schooling) so she can maintain those relationships in a "cool" way as she begins full time learning at home.

 

What kind of phone they get will probably be the nicest one that I am 'done' with myself in the few years prior. We'll save it for her whenever I upgrade.

[catz]

I think this could vary wildly. I know 8-9 year olds that have them because both their parents work full time and they're in many activities. Neither of my kids have them at 8 and 12 and I'm not seeing a huge need yet. I really don't get giving a kid unlimited texting at all, but DH and I don't having smart phones or texting plans either. We do both have iPads and can skype or e-mail for free anywhere we can get wireless, so we use that quite a bit.

 

I would like my oldest to have his own e-mail and skype account at this point, but DH isn't quite on board yet. Meh.

[Starr]

Dd got one at 14 when she started classes on a college campus. Ds might have been a little younger. Whenever he started to be places without dd or myself and needed to reach me. I rather like the idea of a family phone. A cheap track phone that you give to the child who is going to be out. Then it doesn't matter how young they are because they are just using it to reach you.

[Pawz4me]

We don't have a land line, so our boys got cell phones when they were old enough to start staying home alone, even for short periods of time. That was when they were around 10-11.

[acablue]

7. Stepkids got them at 11 and 13.

[DragonFaerie]

DD got one when she was 7, but only because she was in gymnastics 4 hours a day and the gym was 40 minutes from home. DS is 10 and still doesn't have one, though he's been asking.

[QueenCat]

When I was dropping them off at places where they'd need to reach me. Not everyone is willing to let other people use their phones so we felt they needed their own. They were both around 13-14 when they got them.

[Just Kate]

My Ds got one at age 8 because he gets dropped off several times a week at swim team practice. It is for talking and texting. I actually like that he can text because it is easier for us to communicate when he's at the pool (it is loud!). He really only uses his phone when he is at the pool. Occasionally, he texts his daddy from home, as his daddy works out of town.

[Amber in SJ]

A plain utilitarian cell phone has been the birthday gift of choice for both of my older children when they turned 15. It seems like at that are they want to ride their bikes to activities or they are taking public transportation to outside classes. This is also the time when mine felt the need to be in constant contact with their friends :glare: At our house it has become a milestone thing. At 14 they can go to dances, 15 they get a cell phone, 16 they can date, drive and take classes at the community college. Maybe we just picked 15 because it was stuck there between 14 & 16 as big birthdays. Other milestones are 12 for your own e-mail and 14 for facebook with parents having all passwords. We even have makeup milestones. At 12 you may wear powder, mascara & colored lip gloss. At 14 you can add other makeup. Apparently we are big on milestones :001_smile:

 

Amber in SJ

[Stayseeliz]

DS It's 11 1/2 and just got a cheapo tracfone. Like a ten dollar phone. I drop him off at co-op and go to the other side of town for DD's OT. He took his own money and bought a slightly nicer phone but I told him that I will not replace it if he loses it. He will go back to the ten dollar phone. It's pretty much for emergencies only.

[MomtoCandJ]

I voted under 8 but it will depend on dd's activities. We don't have a landline anyways so she would probably get a cheap Verizon prepaid phone (most of the family has Verizon)

[Cinder]

Ds1 got one at 13yo. He started refereeing for the Y soccer league and was on his own for several hours at a time. Once he stopped ref'ing he stopped using his phone. He restarted once he started driving himself to school.

[Caitilin]

Dds were given a pay as you go phone by a friend of mine who got a plan. They use it about 3 times a month. ;)

[swellmomma]

My kids will get a pay as you go cell phone when they have a job to pay for the minutes. ds14 has a job now but he has some debts to tend to first then he will have enough money if he chooses to get one. Before that, no, just no. *I* don't even have a cell phone, they certainly don't need one.

[Impish]

My kids won't get one til they can afford one.

 

However, we have a pay as you go that they will be allowed to use on occasion, as needed. but not one of 'their own'.

[sheryl]

one of us had this conversation a couple of years ago, I think. after that thread I reflected on it for sometime. for us, I believe dd will "probably" get a phone around 16-17, but it will be based on need/safety and not to reach status with peers.

[Miss Marple]

Age wasn't so much the issue for us. The issue was whether the child would be left in places where he might need to contact us. That seemed to be around age 14 for the youngest. For my oldest it was closer to 16. We bought a cheap phone or they got our old ones when we upgraded. Eventually they got jobs and earned enough money to pay for their data plans. At that point, they purchase their own phones as well. We pay for the family plan.

[Parrothead]

Dd received hers at 10. We removed the landline so she needed a way to call while away from home. I had been letting her borrow mine when she went places.

[Donna]

Mine got cell phones when they went into public school and participated in sports and I'd have to come pick them up when they called. Also convenient when I allowed them to start going to friend's homes by themselves (one was 14 and younger was 13). Dd is 10 and doesn't have a cell phone.

[Tammi K]

Our kids got cell phones when they were in a position to need to reach us. For most of them the age depended on when they were involved in extra-curriculars that required pick-ups for a trip home. It became far more equitable for them to have their own phone to contact us instead of borrowing from a friend. For a long while we only had two phone lines: Mom/Dad and Kids. Then we added a third - Mom, Dad, Kids. Once kid1 got a job it became M,D, Kid1, kids. This pattern continued on until we maxed out at 5 allowed lines on our plan. Then the older ones started to move out and got their own plans and then the phone lines moved down the ranks. Our 15 year old just got her own phone in January. The 12 year old will get one when he's doing activities independent of dd and needs to contact us.

[K&Rs Mom]

When we got rid of the landline about a year ago, we added a cheap cell phone on our family plan, for when the kids are home alone or had a sports practice or something that they'd walk home from. So they were 7 & 9 when we got it, but it's not really either of theirs.

[bobbeym]

One was 11, the other 10. Both had just finished elementary school and were going into jr high.

[4kidlets4me]

My DD will be 15 in 2 months and it's just recently that she has had occasions where I would have liked her to have a phone. So I voted 14-15.

[Guest submarines]

I'd get one if I felt the need. So far I haven't. My oldest is 11. Although I'd only go with the cheapest pre paid thing I could find and no texting and stuff like that. It would only be for a situation where he needed to call me for a ride, etc.

 

Just strikes me as a major waste of money at this point.

 

Same here. I voted 12-13, because she's already spending more time away from home at various activities, and if this increases, I'd want her to be able to call me without relying on borrowing a phone.

[Swimtaxi234]

When I upgraded my phone, they gave me a phone for free to give my son, plus they waived all of the registration, etc. fees and I only pay $9.50 a month for his phone. My son was almost 12 when we gave him the phone.

 

I don't think either of our children would have had a phone at age 12 if they weren't away from us so much at practice, etc. I was at ease (and still am) that they could call or text me if they needed me to return to the pool early. I also love that they can connect with me when they travel with my husband and/or with my husband when my children and I travel.

[TechWife]

My ds has a go phone. We got it when he started going far afield on his bike & taking classes with outside instructors. I think he was 14. It's a basic phone w/texting turned off.

[LucyStoner]

Once he is going to classes or places alone. Right now, at the homeschool center he attends a parent or other adult needs to be there the whole time for kids under 12. Once I am dropping him off places, or he is getting on the bus to get places, we will get him a cell phone.

[Cinder]

As an ETA to my post above, I wanted to mention that although ds1 got a phone at 13yo ds2, who is nearly 15yo, isn't getting a phone anytime soon. He doesn't have outside commitments right now to where I feel he ought to have a phone. And he probably won't be driving soon. And he has no interest in having a phone. Yet.

[Audrey]

When they need one. I voted 16-17. In our case driving is what created the need.

 

 

 

This is where my thinking is. Ds is 13. When he starts driving, I think I may want him to have one for my own sanity's sake. :laugh: However, I don't see any need for him to have a phone right now. He is almost always with us. We drive him where he needs to go. Sometimes, he will be with a friend and the friends' parents, but they have phones, so he shouldn't really "need" one, kwim?

 

I can't justify the expense of another phone when he has next to no need for one, and I really can't justify having a phone just because others have them, or because it's cool or whatever.

 

ETA: There have been 2 times in the last year where we let ds borrow his dad's phone. It was mostly so he wouldn't have to ask someone else to text us when it was time to pick him up. I don't think twice in a year constitutes a need to have one's own phone, though.

[LibraryLover]

As soon as they attend hsing or other classes without me. My oldest was 14 before he got his first cell phone, but my youngest (a dancer who spends many hours in the studio) was 11. That dc recently got a bells & whistles phone, and I ask that it is kept on and checked frequently. Not that I am a worrier. ;) Or anything. lol

 

Phones are tools. If you need them, get them. If you don't need them, don't waste your money.

 

Fwiw, in a significant emergency, texts are more likely to get through than phone calls.

 

Go with your needs.

[Elinor Everywhere]

I originally planned for 12-ish, but my kids were 9-10 when we lived in Hong Kong and we gave my dd one to keep in touch because they were allowed a lot more freedom than here. We moved back to the states when she was 10 but by then the can of worms was open.

[LMV]

I think our oldest daughter was eight when her dad felt she really needed one just for the security/safety issue. He felt better that she had a phone. Her first cell phone was very basic and had some built in parental restrictions. As I recall adding it onto our plan was pretty cheap as well maybe an additional ten or fifteen dollars a month.

 

Now all of our kids except for the baby, the three year old, and the four year old do have phones. Our eight year old's phone has a lot of programmed restrictions and she gets it from us and returns it to us when she leaves/returns.

[Tita Gidge]

For us it's when one can finance the bill him- or herself.

 

But I have enough kids that there's always someone with the younger ones, so it's not an issue of anyone "needing" one IMO.

 

And everyone plus their dogs have smartphones these days, so if my kids need to get ahold of me or someone else in the family ... phones abound. They can borrow.

 

All kids have pretty much free access to my cell phone, though, and the cell phones of the adults and older kids in our family.

 

We're not very private about our phones. Plus we have two house lines.

[LibraryLover]

And everyone plus their dogs have smartphones these days, so if my kids need to get ahold of me or someone else in the family ... phones abound. They can borrow.

 

 

 

I did consider this. But in the case of trouble (storms etc), I do not want to worry about whether other young children have charged phones etc. I know we charge (almost always ;)) our phones, and pay our cell bills.

 

I understand people not wanting to spend money on cells. I was a young person who grew up in a time when there were actual pay phones on corners. Dad used to make sure I always had change! That is a nice memory. :)

[Tita Gidge]

I was a young person who grew up in a time when there were actual pay phones on corners. Dad used to make sure I always had change! That is a nice memory. :)

 

I remember those :)

 

We saw some at an airport overseas just a few months ago, and I was explaining to the kids what they were LOL. That segued into card catalogs at the library, car windows you had to roll down yourself, and having to run to the bathroom during commercials because there was no pause button on the remote!!

[Desert Rat]

My ds was 12. However, he probably wouldn't have gotten one that early if it weren't for extenuating circumstances.

 

We have a family plan with 5 phones, mine, dh's, mom's, dad's and my brother. My dad passed away in September. My mom's phone died a few days later. She *had* to have a phone. So, while she was getting hers replaced, she took the opportunity to shut off my dad's and we had a line available. So, ds12 got one with the agreement that he had to share with his brother if the need arose. It hasn't yet and it's really pretty much his phone.

 

I have to say that I really love him having his own phone. He does lots of stuff with his brother, like Pokemon league and going to neighborhood friends' houses. It's so nice to leave them there and not have to be without my own phone (which is what dh and I would do). It's comforting to know I can get ahold of him. It makes me wonder how my parents could bear to let me walk out the door when I was younger!

[DaffodilDreams]

I can't vote because we don't fit into a category. Dd received hers when she was 9.

[Mom in High Heels]

 

 

I remember those :)

 

We saw some at an airport overseas just a few months ago, and I was explaining to the kids what they were LOL. That segued into card catalogs at the library, car windows you had to roll down yourself, and having to run to the bathroom during commercials because there was no pause button on the remote!!

 

LOL. Indy saw his first pay phone when we were in Malta. He had no idea what it was! The first time he ever saw a rotary phone he didn't know how it worked. When I showed him, he told me you'd be dead before you could dial 911(or in our case 117).

 

Indy got a prepaid phone when we moved, because the playground was no longer next to our apt building. I use it to call him in (and check up on him every now and then) and he calls me if he needs me or wants to know if he can go to a friend's house (with the approval of said friend's parents). He can only call me, James Bond or home. Those are the only numbers programed.

[Luckymama]

Oldest: 16 when he started driving

 

Middle: 14 when she started at a different high school than her brother

 

Youngest: almost 12 when dh and I went away for a weekend. She now texts her ballet friends (one is homeschooled---we allow them to text at lunchtime), a friend who moved away, her aunties, and us. I don't know if she's ever talked on the phone :lol:

 

The kids are added to our family plan at $10/month each. Their phones are all family hand-me-downs.

[Heather in Neverland]

I have a cell phone and dh has a cell phone. We also have a very cheap, pay as you go cell phone that is an "extra" in the house. Either of my boys may use it if they are going somewhere without us and need it to contact us. Other than that, it stays in the desk drawer.

 

So at this point, none of my children need or have their own cell phone. Considering that my ds will not get a driver's license until he is 18, I don't see this changing any time soon.