At what age did your child get a cell phone

[E&Cmom]

My eldest is 13 and still doesn't have one. She has an ipad and and I touch. She skypes and facetimes but never calls anyone.

I myself only got a smart phone this past Summer when I went back to work. Was using a old flip phone before

 

[disney is my life]

The summer before starting high school so about 13/14.

 

[kellyjeanie]

ODS will be almost 12 at Christmas and he will probably get one this year for Christmas. He has a tablet that's getting old so rather than getting a new tablet figured we'd just go with a phone for the apps he likes to play and the stuff they do with it in class, plus he's starting to get into extracurricular activities and etc. I was going to get an older model but I might see what's available on Black Friday, Verizon might have a good deal on a nice phone.

 

[Poohlove]

DS got one at 10 because when he and his sister would go to their dad's for the weekend often times they were really late coming home and my ex would not answer my text messages or calls because he would be working on something and also because he did not have a house phone. I wanted to make sure that we had a reliable line of communication. DD got one when she was 12 because I gave her my old phone when I upgraded.

 

[wenrob]

When they started going places on their own without us. Oldest DD was 9 and I got her a Firefly. Remember those? She could call me, DH, my grandmother and 911. She never remembered to charge it or take it with her though. It literally fell apart in a year. When she was about 11 she got a passed down flip phone and then at about 13 a passed down iPhone. She didn't start getting the latest and greatest until she started paying for them herself at about 16.

Younger two, last year for their 10th birthday. Passed down iPhone 5s. Partly because like you, it's what we had and for me because like DLgal's quote below, I wanted to be able to see where they are. They can also see me so if we get separated or they're not sure where they are Siri can guide them to me (or DH and oldest DD.) Like your son, I've got them locked down tight.

Today's kids have grown up with this kind of technology and so getting it younger than previous generations makes sense to me.

12 and the start of middle school, and only so I could track him as he rides his bike every day and I want to make sure he arrives safely. He never calls or texts anyone but giving him my old phone and adding a line at $15/month was cheaper than using a GPS tracking device with monthly service.

This is the main reason I went with iPhones for my younger two. DH pushed for flip phones but I needed the security blanket of being able to see where they are when letting them go off on their own.

 

[Marchand63]

DS got one at 10 because when he and his sister would go to their dad's for the weekend often times they were really late coming home and my ex would not answer my text messages or calls because he would be working on something and also because he did not have a house phone. I wanted to make sure that we had a reliable line of communication. DD got one when she was 12 because I gave her my old phone when I upgraded.

I am so sorry you & your kids had to go through that. I do have a divorced good friend & her ex was the same. They had phones at 5 or 6. Stinks.

 

[Vijoge]

DGD (8) asked for One for Christmas Thankfully not my decision it's her parents the grandparents have offered to split the cost of the phone plan if they decide to get her one

Thankfully her father is a computer geek and he can lock it down really good

Just wondering at what age you let your child have a cell phone?

Cell phones didn't exist when my kids were young but my 11 year old granddaughter has had one since she was 8. She just got her first smartphone this year, though. Her other phone was just a basic cell-no camera, etc. I bought her sister a smartphone a few weeks ago and I will give it to her on her 9th birthday in February. The 5 year old has no phone-just an iPad.

 

[wenrob]

I am so sorry you & your kids had to go through that. I do have a divorced good friend & her ex was the same. They had phones at 5 or 6. Stinks.

This is the number one reason my divorced friends give their kids cellphones, so they're always able to call home.

 

[Klayfish]

I switched to Cricket Wireless two years ago when they had a 5 lines for $100/month deal going, so we got phones for our kids for Christmas 2014. They were 10, 8, 8 at the time. Their phones are the free Androids that were on promotion at the time.

 

[dotfurio]

We got my oldest a phone in 6th grade. She was starting to do more activities that we weren't attending so it was easier to reach her.

 

[VandVsmama]

In preschool. I mean, after all, you need to prepare them early. Right?

LOL.

ODD started asking when she was 7. She's in 5th grade now. We will consider it when she's 13. Right now, she regularly forgets homework and other stuff at school, so she's not ready for the responsibility. And the school knows how to reach us if there's a problem where they need to call us.

 

[Hikergirl]

It was different ages for each of my kids depending on when I felt they needed one. Yes I admit I got them phones because I wanted them to have them, not because they asked for them. The ages ranged from 9 to 12.

 

[gotomu212]

My son is getting an iPhone for his 9th birthday next month. He's in 3rd grade and in a lot of activities where he gets dropped off. We had 2 times over the summer where practice was called short and while there were other adults there and he asked to borrow their phone I would have felt better if he had the power to call without asking.

I will say about half the kids in his class have one and they do call and text each other already.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

When they started walking from the bus stop alone. 11 for DD. 9 for DD.

 

[Jaime4004]

11 - middle school - same reasons as above, staying after school, more freedom going to friends' houses, etc...plus honestly, even though we have a landline, his friends were calling my cell phone (bc that's the number the other parents had) and it was starting to get annoying! He texts his friends mostly, so the landline isn't too useful to him (DD is only 8, she uses it to call her friends). While the school assured us that kids didn't need it and they could go to the house office etc to call home as needed, I was warned by friends that the kids are actually discouraged from doing so (and a friend's daughter experienced that last week). He got my hand-me-down phone, which was DH's before I got it.

Sounds like my house! DS was 11 because his friends starting calling my cell phone all the time and it was really annoying. And I found it needed in middle school for afterschool things. Convenient to know when they needed a ride home. DD was 9 when she got a tracfone because she spent many hours at dance/gymnastics and it made me feel better. They both got iphones for their 11th birthdays. 3rd DS is 8 now, he doesn't need one. He facetimes his friends on wifi, has no desire to call. So he'll be waiting... I think it depends on the kid and their needs.

 

[bushdianee]

My brother gave my niece an old iphone last year when she was 9. She had just transferred from the neighborhood school to a focus school that means riding a bus that picks her up at 7:15AM and drops her off at about 5:00PM. One night she didn't get dropped off until after 7PM and he couldn't get a hold of anybody to tell him what was going on. He activated an old phone and buys her $10 -$20 worth of minutes at a time. He checks her history if she burns minutes too quickly. He texts her to come to my house if he has to work overtime. She will text me if the bus is running late or she has to run home before coming to my house. (we live on the same street). Of course she wants a modern phone with unlimited minute/texts but that isn't happening yet.

 

[Marchand63]

Sounds like my house! DS was 11 because his friends starting calling my cell phone all the time and it was really annoying. And I found it needed in middle school for afterschool things. Convenient to know when they needed a ride home. DD was 9 when she got a tracfone because she spent many hours at dance/gymnastics and it made me feel better. They both got iphones for their 11th birthdays. 3rd DS is 8 now, he doesn't need one. He facetimes his friends on wifi, has no desire to call. So he'll be waiting... I think it depends on the kid and their needs.

I think this is big reason they are considering it. She is always being called on DILs phone, I think more than DIL. I may suggest a tracfone as a trial run. Not a bad idea to see her actual usage. But their decision.

 

[ronandannette]

Jr. High kids mostly didn't have them "back in the day" when DS was that age (6 years ago - LOL). Pretty sure he didn't get his first one until he started grade 10, at age 15, and it would have been a hand-me-down of his DDad's when the cell contract came eligible for an upgrade. This is how DS has gotten all his phones; we've never gotten a brand new one for him.

 

[low-key]

It was Middle School, you know it was more for dad, I wanted that electronic leash on her

 

[PollyannaMom]

I think DS was in 4th grade? We got it because he and the other neighborhood kids were allowed quite a range in playing outside (walking trails and such) and I wanted -
a) them to have a phone in case of an emergency, and
b) to be able to call them in without searching and shouting.