Do your kids have their own cellphone and

[MUFFYCAT]

how old were they when you gave it to them.....

Seems everyone has a cellphone but my daughters....trying to hold out for high school like I did with their brothers!!! Now I am seeing elementary kids with them......HELP!!! Am I out of mind to think that this is unnecessary?

And if you dont agree with me - FINE - just tell me how to go about getting an affordable family plan for SIX!! NOT happening.....

thanks for letting me vent

it seems every year, kids are getting younger & younger.
Christmas 2003 my older got hers. She was in the 7th grade.
at the time 75% of kids had phones.

I got my younger DD hers last summer right before she started middle school.(6th grade)
90% of the kids in her grade have them now.

But as you said a plan for six is awfully expensive!

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I am surprised at how many schools don't allow cell phones. Does that mean they can't have them at school at all or they just can't have them on? I know in our district now and in the one we are moving to they both encourage kids to BRING phones to school but they are not allowed to have them on during the day. What they have found is that parents can leave kids messages on their phone during the day if needed and the kids can pick up the messages after school. They are taking a lot fewer messages in the office and there are a lot fewer mix-ups for rides, appointments, etc. This is for the middle and high schools, not the elementary schools.

That exactly why I want my kids to take theirs to school.
I've left messages that the office would be annoyed with if they had to relay it.

 

[challada]

From a school perspective, the issue is not messages...we would LOVE for you to take care of messages a different way than call the office, LOL! The real problem is two fold: students not paying attention to schoolwork/lectures and sitting there text messaging instead of doing school AND the cheating that occurs w/cell phones (picture phones and text messaging).


On my own kids, neither has a phone. DS (11) keeps telling me he needs one like his friends, but when I ask him who he would call, he says "I don't know". His little sister (just 6) is the one who NEEDS a phone, but I refuse to give a 6 year old a cell phone. She is active in so many things that it would be good to have a cell in case of emergencies...but she is my one that would spend $100/week on calling all her friends, so she's NOT getting one.
We have my in-laws on our family plan right now w/Verizon, but we may need to boot them off soon to make room for the kids phones...LOL.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

The real problem is two fold: students not paying attention to schoolwork/lectures and sitting there text messaging instead of doing school AND the cheating that occurs w/cell phones (picture phones and text messaging).

True, but at my kid's school they are not allowed to have their phones turned on, or even out of their pockets or backpacks inside the school building. If a teacher catches sight of a phone, it gets confiscated and returned ONLY to a parent that comes in for a conference.

 

[funhouse8]

True, but at my kid's school they are not allowed to have their phones turned on, or even out of their pockets or backpacks inside the school building. If a teacher catches sight of a phone, it gets confiscated and returned ONLY to a parent that comes in for a conference.

We have this rule too for the students and teachers. I didn't think any school would allow a student to take calls during class. Does anyone know of schools that allow this? sorry if i went off topic

 

[camreesmom]

True, but at my kid's school they are not allowed to have their phones turned on, or even out of their pockets or backpacks inside the school building. If a teacher catches sight of a phone, it gets confiscated and returned ONLY to a parent that comes in for a conference.

In our school district, not only does a parent have to come in for a conference but you also have to pay $15 to get the phone back.

I have 14yo twin sons and their grandmother (ex-MIL) bought them prepaid phones for Christmas last year. She doesn't pay to refill their minutes though and they run out pretty regularly. I'm planning on adding them to our Sprint family plan before school starts again though. They're going to HS and are very involved in athletics and for some reason, the coaches never let them out at the same time. We usually go to all of the games, including the ones out of town, but the bus never gets back at the same time since they usually go out to eat afterwards so a cell phone comes in handy then. They are VERY social so I am definitely worried about them going over their minutes. We'll have to figure out how we're going to handle that situation if it comes up. I already told them if they come home with anything less than a B on their report cards, the phone belongs to me until the next progress report comes out (every 3 weeks).

Of course, DD10 wants one also but she's going to have to wait a couple of years still. 90% of the Jr. High kids have cell phones now and a surprisingly high number of elementary kids all the way down to 1st grade but not at our house.

 

[Blondie]

I am surprised at how many schools don't allow cell phones. Does that mean they can't have them at school at all or they just can't have them on?

If my sons are caught with their cell phones on or off the teacher will take it and I'll have to go to the school to get it back.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

For us, it gives us a little security. My DH and I both work in Manhattan and live in the suburbs. I talk to them on my way home to see what their plans are.


If I was a stay at home, i think I might wait until high school.

 

[Anewman]

Without Reading much of this thread after first post.

My kids got cell phones in the 6th and 8th grade(about 2.5 years ago) ONLY because both of us(parents) were working and kids were tranferred to schools about 10 miles away for academic reasons.

We needed to keep in touch with them about who/when/where they were going to get picked up and needed to know if they had after school practices etc...

If they went to the regular school down the street and could walk home they would not have gotten phones that early.

 

[simba928]

I personally think 9 or 10 is a little young. I got mine when I was 13. That was only because both my parents had work phones and they had an extra one laying around. They were paying for the phone because they got it when cell phones first came out through the fire department. It was an amazing plan and when they both got work phones, they kept the plan because they figured eventually I would get a phone and they wouldn't be able to find one anywhere near as good as that one was. That plan was, unfortunately, with AT&T, so I kept my phone for as long as I could when they went out. Eventually, it died and I got a new one just recently. My cousin, who is 6 months younger than me didn't have one for a long time. She just got one that is hers and her brothers' to use when they go to football/cheerleading/the mall/whatever.

And, about the cell phones in school...At the middle school, you are absolutely not allowed to have cell phones, whatsoever. However, if you keep them in your locker or in a bag or whatever, they will not know. I kept mine in my purse no matter what. In high school, you are allowed to have them, but they are *supposed* to stay in your locker, turned off. Noone follows that rule. Most people even keep them in their pocket, turned on. It depends on the teacher, too. Some teachers will take the phone and report it to the principal, no matter what, some will just tell you to put it away unless they've had to tell you that MULTIPLE times, then they will keep it in their desk until the end of the period and not bother reporting it. I also have a teacher, and there are several others that I know of, that don't care. In my one class, this guy as a picture phone. One day, he took out the phone, and started playing with it, showing the teacher his ringtones and taking random pictures and stuff.

 

[Disneynut25]

My 9 year old has a cell phone to take to B-D parties, sleepovers, cheer practice, ect.

 

[makinorlando]

My 10 year old dd has a cell phone, and she's had it since she was nine. She rides her bike to and from school, has activities that require her to stay after school several times a week, and she also stays home alone every now and then. We feel more comfortable with her doing these things on her own knowing that she always has a way to contact us if she has to. She lets me know when she's leaving her school, her friends house or if it's later in the day and something makes her nervous, she'll call me to come pick her up. If she's ever home alone and the power goes out, she has a way to get a hold of us (and yes this has happened). She never uses it to call friends or random chit-chat. It stays in her backpack, and she only turns it on when school lets out. I don't see what the fuss is all about! It makes her feel safer, and me feel better about her being a little more independant. So many parents these days won't even let their kids out of their front yard or sight, and the reasoning is that "times are different". Well, perhaps they are. Technology is different too, and my dd carrying a cell phone is keeping up with the times and providing her with a sense of security. I don't see a thing wrong with it.

- I agree!

DD has had her phone so long that to her it is not a status type things... it's just the norm. When the chit chat stages comes it will be nice to use some of those ROLLOVER minutes that I never seem to use up!

 

[Chicago526]

DH and I just got married, so no kids yet! But we've decided that when the time comes (I'm thinking 12 years old or so) we'll just get the kid(s) pre-paid cell phones. That way they can't run up the bill, once they are out of minutes they're done until we decide to refill it (or until they can refill themselves).

I picked 12 because I remember when I was that age, that was when I started to really need use a pay phone (remember those? ) on a regular basis to call home for a ride, or check in with the parental units, or whatever. I always had to have change on me. I figure a cell phone is better, because then I can call my kid and find out what they are up to, as well as them being able to call us.

 

[vellamint]

I have looked into prepaid plans to use along with our Cingular accounts so phone to phone would be free for them but they are more expensive than a regular plan!! It is, I think, 25 cents a minute which doesnt seem like much except that everyday they actually use the phone it is $1.00....so right there it would be $30.00 a month because they will use it everyday...I KNOW it!!

Thanks!

 

[DISUNC]

YUP..11 years old...for all the reasons already listed. Use Verizon, so he is only allowed to call family members on Verizon. Never had a problem with the Bill.
Also, a kid having a cell phone takes a little ANGST off the parents. They can reach you/You can reach them if needed.
He likes to play the games on it too!

One more thing.....There are hardly any pay phones around anymore for kids to use!