Do your kids have their own cellphone and

[vellamint]

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

 

[Mimi Q]

I think my 14 yo got her cell phone in 5th grade. She was going to gymnastics out of town at the time and riding in a car pool. I wanted her to have one so she could call me if they were going to be late getting back to our town.

 

[MorganLeFey]

mine were in 6th grade -- middle school -- and needed the phones to arange for rides home.

 

[MoniqueU]

My 8 and 9 year old have one courtesy of my aunt for a christmas gift. My son who is 13 has one that I bought him went he went to Jr high. None of them use them much. Trying to get my son to use his is like pulling teeth. I also have ipods for both my girls, the video kind and only one uses hers. I keep trying to buy one for my son and he wants none of it. I think I over spoiled them they just don't want any more stuff LOL.

 

[momof2inPA]

I'll probably have my 8 year old added to my plan this summer so he can call me from his day camps.

 

[lucyanna girl]

DD got hers when she was twelve. She has been very responsible with it. We have nine cell phones split between two family plans with Cingular. The first phone pays a fee determined by how many minutes you choose, up to four more are 9.99 each. That's why we have two plans. All of ours have nation wide no long distance and free nights and weekends. Hope this helps.

Penny

 

[Nite0wl71]

My Dd got hers when she was 12. Day camps and schools where I live don't allow the kids to bring phones. They are allowed to use the office phones for any calls needed.

 

[Improv_Scarf]

My mom just let me have one last year, and I'm 15.(I'm not complaining) But then again, I never really needed one until then. Guess I'm different from my teenage counterparts nowadays.

 

[Ladybugsy]

Wow, looks like I'm late...lol. I just bought my dd and ds one this week. They are 14 and 16 respectively. My ds doesn't really need one, but my dd is a type one diabetic and I like to have a way to reach her. My dd, 7 is begging for one and I told her she'd have to wait till she was 14.
But I'm old fashioned...lol.

 

[Feralpeg]

DD was 15 when she got her cellphone. She was involved in things after school and I wanted her to always have a way to contact me. I have been very happy with my decision to give it to her.

 

[jmlaw]

My ds just got one this year and he is 14. He doesn't use it a ton, just when he's out and needs a ride or when he goes camping or something and needs to be picked up when he gets back with his Boy Scout troop.

 

[soccerfreak_08]

If you get Verizon after you get the main line you can add extra phones for $10 a month and you can call anyone on verizon for free, you don't use your minutes. Then your kids can always call you with no charge. We also get free nights and weekends. If you get cingular you get rollover where all unused minutes go over to the next month. I am not sure about what all you get with cingular though.

 

[babytrees]

My oldest just got it for her 14th birthday. I decided since she will be actively involved at school when it starts back up I want her to be able to get ahold of us. Our schools don't even have payphones anymore.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

My DD was 14 and starting HS and my DS was 13 and reffing lots of soccer games so needed to get in touch with me if a game was cancelled. I tried to hold out till they were 16 but I'm glad they have the phones.

My DS hasn't figured out that the phone is way for me to keep track of him too

 

[clh2]

Our DD has a cell phone, she has had it since she was 10. She is now 12. We got the phone so that she could call us at work when she got home from school. It was actually cheaper to do this than have her use our regular house phone - which would have been long distance from our house to my work.

She HATES it. Absolutely has a fit when we MAKE her take it for OUR convenience and peace of mind.

There are times thought - no phone = no go. So, if there is something she really wants to do, she very reluctantly takes the phone.

 

[PixieDust32]

My Son got his when he went to High School, my DD 12 is going to 7th grade and of course she wants one and my little one 9 year old also wants one.

We might get one for my 12 year old, but not for my younger, she just doesn't need one, she's going to 4th grade, we drop her off and pick her up from school, we go with her to all her activities, I'm the Mom that stays there and watch all her practices and games, so I don't see the need for her.

Also for us to give them stuff like this, phones, ipods, computers etc, they need to earn them, not only with their grades (b/c this is their responsibility) but with their school activities, home chores, discipline at home and at school, we don't have a boot camp of course, but we work really hard and they need to earn their stuff too.

 

[funhouse8]

If you get Verizon after you get the main line you can add extra phones for $10 a month and you can call anyone on verizon for free, you don't use your minutes. Then your kids can always call you with no charge. We also get free nights and weekends. If you get cingular you get rollover where all unused minutes go over to the next month. I am not sure about what all you get with cingular though.

Hi Diane, your kids aren't the only ones without phones my younger two don't have them either. I do let them use mine when I know they will be out & about and might need to call or me find them. They usually call me from their friends home phones when they need a ride home. We have verizon for the other four lines. I just called verizon because kristi is going to be a counselor at camp this summer and will be away for 7 weeks and I want to get her a phone (she is turning 17 in the summer.) They told me you can only have five lines on their family plan which costs so much for the first two lines depending on how many minutes you get and each added phone $9.99. You can add text message to only verizon customers for $5.00. The older two have this because this is mostly what they use. If you have verizon phone for your house and combine the bill you get another 5.00 discount. Good Luck, Gina

 

[Stacerita]

The sweetpea has had one for the last year. It was a necessary thing, not a treat. She spends a lot of time with nana and needs it for emergencies. If I am picking her up from school, traffic from my job sometimes keeps me, so she needs it for me to let her know. I dont think the majority of kids her age should have a phone. In her case, it works. Also, she is an extremely responsible child and has yet to abuse the phone. She uses it to call only myself, her grandma, and one or two other people, but she always asks first. Plus, she never takes a call unless she knows who it is from. I would steer most other parents away from getting a cell for kids her age though. I did, but that doesn't mean everyone else should.

 

[PixieDust32]

We have verizon too, and yes it was $9.99 for the extra line for my Son, we have the family share plan, so we might add DD next fall.

 

[joha]

My daughter just got one (she will be starting HS later this year), she is 14, and hers is just a prepaid ($100.00 a year for 1000 minutes with T-mobile to go, plus the cost of the phone). I stated that I'm only allowing $100.00, after that she will have to pay for extra minutes (from her allowance).

I hope this works for us...
Good luck with your decision.