what do you think?

[huckster]

12 year old child parents both have cell phone no house phone.. grandma got him a trac flip phone to keep in the house .. so he can call grandma or if for some reason mom or dad were late getting home which has never happened but ya never know ??
dil alittle upset thinks he is to young??

 

[EthansMom]

I don't see any problem with a 12 year-old having some kind of cell phone for an emergency if there isn't a land line in the house. But it might be more politic to check with the parents first. There are options like the Firefly phones which the parents might prefer.

 

[msdznyduck]

Or just add him to their plans.......$10 a month for a little peace of mind.

 

[noseybuddy]

12 year old child parents both have cell phone no house phone.. grandma got him a trac flip phone to keep in the house .. so he can call grandma or if for some reason mom or dad were late getting home which has never happened but ya never know ??
dil alittle upset thinks he is to young??

Why wouldn't they have a phone for their kid. I don't get it.

 

[MoniqueU]

All my kids now have cell phones, thanks to my aunt so I can relate.
However I would never leave a 12 year old home alone without some means to call for help if need be. I think grandma was doing the right thing here.

 

[C.Ann]

I'm not a big fan of children having cell phones, but for a 12 year old to be in a house where there is NO LAND LINE?? That's crazy! What are the parents thinking? In this case I definitely think it's a necessity..

 

[aprilgail2]

I dont think 12 is to young at all to have a cell phone...my daughter is 6 and when she goes on sleepovers to friends houses I always pack a cell phone with her in case she needs to get in touch with me.

 

[C.Ann]

I dont think 12 is to young at all to have a cell phone...my daughter is 6 and when she goes on sleepovers to friends houses I always pack a cell phone with her in case she needs to get in touch with me.

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Isn't there a land line in the house where she's sleeping over?

 

[Tigger&Belle]

There should be some kind of a phone that he can use. If there isn't a land line then a cell phone makes sense. BTW, my DD got her cell phone when she was 15yo (she's 18yo now) and we just got cells for our 2 older boys and they are 12 and 15yo. They are out and about with friends and I wanted them to be able to be in touch with us and for us to be able to reach them easily. No, our 6yo doesn't have a phone yet.

 

[tw1nsmom]

I think it would have been more appropriate for the Grandma to ask her son and DIL first. If they said no, she could have offered to pay for a minimum service land line (probably about the same monthly price as a cell phone). If they still said no, then she should respect their wishes.

 

[Barb D]

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Isn't there a land line in the house where she's sleeping over?

My DD12 takes her phone on sleepovers. That way she can call me without worrying about if the home phone is in use, or if she wants to take the phone into the bathroom to call me if she wants to be picked up without saying it in front of her friends, or whatever. AND I can call her if need be without disturbing the friend's parents.

 

[aprilgail2]

My DD12 takes her phone on sleepovers. That way she can call me without worrying about if the home phone is in use, or if she wants to take the phone into the bathroom to call me if she wants to be picked up without saying it in front of her friends, or whatever. .

Exactly..if anything is making her uncomfortable I want her to be able to just pick up that cell phone and say our code phrase that means she is uncomfortable and wants me to come there....

 

[Galahad]

I think we need to start thinking differently about cell phones. Wireless devices will be the primary way we ALL communicate very soon. Kids will need to communicate just as much as parents. There are plenty of kids that can't be trusted to use a television responsibly, but we don't prevent them from having access to one, for example. We also have no land lines and have the family plan. DS was 13 when he got his phone - he's 16 now. They are as indispensable as computers whether we like it or not.

 

[TENIA66]

i got my daughter 11 a cell phone for christmas this year. she's now going to activities without me and i want her to be able to reach me whenever she needs me. i'm terrified she'll need me and i won't know. a friend of the family's daughter was tragically and brutally murdered by a teenage "friend" and maybe a cell phone would have made a difference, maybe not, but mine's got one....

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What do I think? I think there is more to the story...

I don't think I would be happy with Grandma getting my kid a cell phone either.

However, I think it is a good idea for his parents need to get him one for safety reasons at home.

 

[horseshowmom]

12 year old child parents both have cell phone no house phone.. grandma got him a trac flip phone to keep in the house .. so he can call grandma or if for some reason mom or dad were late getting home which has never happened but ya never know ??
dil alittle upset thinks he is to young??

I've posted this before, but I'll add it here. When my DD was 13 or 14, she was at home by herself for a little while. We live in a rural area, but my aunt and uncle are right next door.

While she was there alone, someone came to the door. She knew not to answer the door and to call me immediately. After a little bit, he started banging so loudly that our two dogs in the house went ballistic. I gave her directions on what to do.

That afternoon my DH realized that he had tried to steal our truck. When I called the sheriff's office to report it, we were told that they knew who it was and that he had killed someone in a town 50 miles away.

The sheriff's dept. had chased him to the area near our house the night before, but he had gotten away (would have been nice if they'd let the local residents know or at least notified the media, but they didn't).

He went on to kill a young woman in another town (after stealing a vehicle from a house near ours).

I cannot imagine how a parent could leave a child at home without a means to contact someone if they needed to. They could accidentally cut themselves or any number of accidents could happen. Yes, the grandmother should have talked to the parents about it first, but why on earth would they mind. If they think he's too young to have a cell phone there in the house, then he's probably too young to stay at home alone.