young kids & their own cell phones...

[bellebud]

my dd8's (3rd grade) friend brings a cell phone when she comes to our house to sleep over. she says she and her dad 'share' the phone. she totally knows how to use it (pics, texting, etc) even better than me! Anyway, at first I thought "she's too young", but then I thought it's a good idea for safety reasons. She can call her parents whenever she wants, without having to ask me to use our phone. I'm warming up to the idea of my dd having a cell phone, but I'm not sure yet.

I asked once in best buy, and the saleswoman was showing me Kajeet (lots of parental control), which seemed pretty cool. Then a neighbor I mentioned it to said it was a waste, just give her a regular one and give her the rules, look over the bills, and if she breaks the rules (by calling people ridiculously or something), take the phone away. I don't know... any input???

 

[DiznEeyore]

We got our ds one when he was in middle school. We got it specifically for the summertime when he was at a "kids on campus" program at a local community college. I wanted him to be able to reach me if he got out early or late (or if I was running late), or so we could set up a spot on campus to meet.

He's had it for several years now and we find it to be a great convenience. It also gives me peace of mind to know we can reach each other if he's at an activity or a friend's house.

He's always been very good about the limits we place on the phone, and we don't have texting or anything like that (though he'd love to have that feature -- dh and I refuse to pay for it). Our family plan with AT&T is around $80/month and we always have lots of minutes left to roll over.

As long as your child will be responsible with using the phone and with the phone itself, I think they can be a great thing to have!

 

[turnlisa]

My DS is 11 and we purchased a FireFly for him. We allow him to walk home from school (yes, I am an overprotective mom) as long as he has the cell phone. Yes, he complains about it since everyone he knows has a real one but with this phone I can control who he calls and it only costs us $10 a month.

We had discussed getting him a real cell phone until we talked to my BIL about my DNephew. He had a $400 bill for texting and handing his number out to anyone and he is 16. We talked to my BIL about getting a FireFly for my nephew. My nephew looked at it and the first words out of his mouth were...."How do you text with it?"

 

[_queenie_]

My DD13 still doesn't have one. Surprisingly she doesn't want one, she doesn't think she needs one, but'll we'll probably get her one next year.

 

[princessmom29]

I am a teacher and from what i see from my high school students I reccomend something prepaid like gophone. They have a set # of min and when they use them that's it. Some of our parents allow a certian # of minutes a month, and if ther kids run out before the month is up they buy minutes with their own money or are not allowed to go out untill they have minutes to call home in an emergency.

 

[sunnyday123]

My DD has one, first she had a Firefly ( she bought it with her own money-never let a 8 year old take all the change they saved, cash it in, and tell them they can buy anything they want!) Now she has a regular old verizon phone....she's pretty responsible with it, we just made sure to set some ground rules....I feel better knowing she has it on her (most of the time )

 

[PrincessRora]

My 13 year old cousin got his first one when he started middle school to call home if he had to stay after for a club meeting or so. He also walks home from school so my aunt and uncle wanted him to have it. However, he only takes it with him if he's going somewhere without them: school, friends houses, etc. If he's with them, the phone stays home. And if he's home, the phone stays off. He's been really responsible with it and doesn't complain about the rules. He was just excited because he could tell his friends he had a razor phone.

 

[runwad]

I got my kids a trac fone last summer for them all to share. With 3 going in 3 different directions there is always one w/o a parent and that one will carry the phone. It is only for them to call us no one else. There is no texting or calling friends. Most of the time it is off in the drawer. I think it's crazy these kids w/their phones. We gave DD12 friend a ride home from soccer practice and she didn't even talk to us the whole ride home as she was too busy texting..how rude!!

 

[fa_mulan]

My son is 11 and I only allowed him to have one because he started coming home by himself for an hour after school. Otherwise he does not really use his phone much, but it does make me feel better. I have the phone blocked from downloading any games and music and also text messaging, which he complains about but he gets over it. If you do buy a regular phone they have cheap options and talk to the Rep about what you can block. Young kids I don't think need all the extra stuff on the phone. Plus you can control the bill.

 

[bellebud]

op here - thanks for the replies so far! I just had to share a funny story - when my dd8 was around 6yo, she learned how to use our regular phone and was very excited about it. well, i got calls from my mom and 2 sil's, each saying "did you know dd called us 10x's yesterday?"... they weren't mad, but they knew I didn't know, and I'm sure it was totally annoying... She was just so excited to dial and get someone on the other end! Of course I put an end to that right away. Now she's older and I know to tell her beforehand she can't do anything like that. At least she didn't call somewhere like China, right?

 

[sardanem]

I gave 2 of my kids(they are 16 today and 13 on the 20th) the pay as you go phones for a little while and then we switched to Sprint because my DH is a mail carrier and they give us 25% off, so we have the family plan with 5 phones. We gave the 5th phone to my mom so she can call my Sprint phone for free and also have free nights starting at 7:00. I also upgraded to unlimited texting because with 2 teenagers, it was really worth it and my bill is still only about $120. We have 700 minutes and never even come close because we call each others cell phones to not use up minutes. This works for us and I just feel better knowing I can get in touch with my kids when they are out. It has come in handy many times.

Lisa

 

[mommyof2princesses]

My dd is 13 and she does not have one and does not need one. We will look into more when she can drive. And only for emergencies. If she is not with us, she is with another adult who has a cell phone so there is no need for her to have one.If she wants to call her friends, our home phone works great!

I myself just got one about a year ago and it is only a prepaid phone.

 

[AngelBabyJana]

my dd8's (3rd grade) friend brings a cell phone when she comes to our house to sleep over. she says she and her dad 'share' the phone. she totally knows how to use it (pics, texting, etc) even better than me! Anyway, at first I thought "she's too young", but then I thought it's a good idea for safety reasons. She can call her parents whenever she wants, without having to ask me to use our phone. I'm warming up to the idea of my dd having a cell phone, but I'm not sure yet.

I asked once in best buy, and the saleswoman was showing me Kajeet (lots of parental control), which seemed pretty cool. Then a neighbor I mentioned it to said it was a waste, just give her a regular one and give her the rules, look over the bills, and if she breaks the rules (by calling people ridiculously or something), take the phone away. I don't know... any input???

My oldest daughter got her first cell phone when she was 13 (she is now 15), it really is nice to have. It helps when we get seperated in the mall, when I forget my cell at home, etc..... she does good about knowing when our "free minutes" are (nights & weekends) and mainly only talks to her friends at that time.

When my oldest daughter got a cell, my younger daughter starting asking for one as well. We gave in on her 9th birthday and got her a hot pink firefly phone. Parents have to program any numbers in to the phone that the child is allowed to call (such as mom, dad, sister, etc...). My daughter rarely uses it, and refers to it as her baby phone (it doesn't take pics, text, etc....like her sister's phone). So I feel like the firefly phone was a waste of money. We plan on adding her on to our Sprint plan around Christmas. I definitely want her to have a good phone by the time we go to Disney. You never think that anybody will get lost or that anything will go wrong, but just in case, we just want her to have one for safety reasons. Also when she is with relatives, I like her to be able to call mom or dad without having to ask for permission.

We used to have a family plan with Disney mobile before they went out of business last December. I really miss having them as our cell phone provider - they were very family friendly. I'm not impressed with our Sprint service at all. The kids can't even download ringtones without connecting to the Internet (which cost ALOT of extra money to have that feature).

Just thought that I would add a few pics before I posted - this was Mikayla's first reaction to her new cell phone --- PRICELESS!

 

[haley's mom]

My Step-son is 9 and got a cell phone for Easter. At first I thought he was too young. But he knows the rules. If he abuses it, he loses it. If he loses it, no one is going to buy him a new phone. If he acts out, he loses phone priveleges, etc.

Personally, I love him having a phone. His mom does not like it when we talk, so we have begun to text message each other. I must say, even at age 9, he is much better than me.

But he is always taking pictures, sending texts, etc. I don't think I would recommend a lesser phone. get involved in a family cell phone plan and add a line for $10 a month.

Funny thing is that my step-daughter got her 1st phone at age 11 (She's now 16), step-son was 9. Wonder how oldmy dd5 will be when she gets her first one? She's already asking....Oh my.

 

[luvmy3]

I got my dd a firefly phone when she was 9, she's 11 now and still has it. We got it for her when her and my ds started summer camp, my ds has asthma and I wanted them to be able to get ahold of me right away if they needed to. I also liked the idea that I could get in touch with her if I needed to.
She has never used it but she carries it with her to school everyday just in case.
We got it through Cingular (I think its AT&T now) and we pay $25 every 90 days for it. I am thinking about getting her a real phone when she's in 6th grade because she'll be doing more after school activities. I don't plan on getting it for her so she can socialize with it, its will be just like her firefly, for emergencies only.
Definitely stick with a prepay at first. My niece ran up a $250 text bill much to my SIL's surprise

 

[megveg]

Theres a phone (i think migo is what its called) and it has buttons 1-4 and an emergency one (911) and thats it, so you could program your number in there and one touch and it calls just you. no texting no dialing and you can still get in touch in case of emergencies

 

[Louisianafive]

My DD9 bought a GoPhone with birthday money and we paid for some minutes. It's nice when she is riding bikes around the neighborhood and she is taking it to camp next week. However, most of the time she can't find it! So, I am glad it is just a prepaid phone. It is teaching her to be responsible!

 

[Stitches glitch]

That Migo is the cutest little thing!! I love tiny little gadgets! Anyway, my son is 13 and has been begging for the last couple years for a cell phone but he is just not responsible enough for one yet. He loses his lunch money on the way to school- how is he going to keep track of a cell phone? When I do get him one, I was looking into Cricket because they have unlimited calling and texting for like 30 or 40 bucks a month and no contract. That way I wouldn't have to worry about always reloading the minutes. On the flip side though they have pre-paid cell phones at Wal-Mart for as low as ten bucks! On another note, I know someone that bought their 4 year old daughter a cell phone for Christmas (a blackberry at that!) now why does a 4 year old need a cell phone? I'll never know...

 

[matthew&haleysmom]

My DD 8 got a cell phone for her birthday. Since she has a moderate hearing loss, she does not have one of the children's phones. They are just too low on volume. She plays softball and is the youngest on the team. So, the phone is great when she is off with her team mates. My DS 4 plays ball also and I cannot leave him. DD takes her cell whenever she spends the night with one of her teammates or my mom. DD knows the rules of the phone and never breaks the rules. Also, she is going to a softball day camp next week and will have her cell with her. It just provides me with a peace of mind.

 

[3happydancers]

I guess I am missing the point as to why elementary aged children must have cell phones. My dd is 10 and has asked for a cell phone. The answer is simple, no. The reason, no matter where she is, she is under the supervision of an adult I completely trust. I will share my trac phone with her if she is at a sleep over so that she can contact me without disturbing the parents entertaining her stay. She has complete understanding as to the functions and usage of cell phones so my dd is not clueless, just phoneless. And as far as playing outside, again, there must be supervision. Certainly I am not on top of her, but if she is outside playing, I am also outside unless she is in our backyard. Far too many children disappear while out playing somewhere. Some may say I have too much of a tight reign on her, I say, safety first. Yes, a time will come when she will need a cell phone, but definitely not at the elementary age. For now, I think the cell phones are merely a Want at this young age, not a Need.

Please don't flame me, this is just what is best for my family. For those who still believe their young ones should have the phone, is totally up to you.