When Should Kids Get a Cell Phone?

Posted on 02 01, 2007 under Master Debaters, Technology by wahoodad | Comments

images510889_child-cellphoneYou’re at “Happy Feet” with your kid, mesmerized by the tap-dancing Mumbles and his soulful, singing brethren, when you hear a cell phone interrupt Gloria’s solo. You look around for the inconsiderate grown-up, wondering why an adult would choose Hannah Montana’s “If We Were a Movie” as a ring tone, when you see a girl about seven years old whip out a pink clamshell phone. She answers, and yaps away for a minute before closing the phone with a loud SNAP!

It seems that the average age of kids with cell phones is creeping downward, and these days it’s not uncommon to see kids in elementary school talking on a cell phone during the school bus ride home. “Yeah, Mom? I should be at the stop in about ten minutes. Can you have my snack ready? I’m inviting some friends over to play in my Webkins World room at 3:15 and I don’t want to be late.”

There’s no denying that we live in a hyper-communicative world. The only place you’re out of reach from the phone is—hopefully—when you’re straddling porcelain. While it’s natural to want to be able to reach your kids at all times, how soon should you plug in your kid to the wired world?

We’ve all seen the horror stories in the news about parents stuck with cell phone bills upwards of $1,000 in one month from an out-of-control text-messaging minor. The big, evil cell phone provider wants to collect but the parent doesn’t think he should have to pay because the kid didn’t understand how quickly charges add up. There are even kid-friendly phones like the FireFly that allow parents to control the usage. And how about the new phone service from Disney? From a website, you can control your kid’s address book, when the phone can be used, and other features. I think you can even control your kid’s bowel movements; and the GPS locator inside the phone lets you see on a map where your kid is at all times. The next time he says he’s at the arcade with some friends, you’ll know that he’s really trying to double his money at the local dog track. Big Brother with Mouse ears.

The cell phone companies are going to continue marketing to younger and younger kids. You’re eventually going to get the but-all-the-other-kids-have-them argument from your kid (to which you can retort, “What if all the other kids had rickets? Would you want them, too?”). You’re going to have to make the decision at some point, so you might as well discuss it now:

When should kids get a cell phone?

This is the latest installment in our Master Debaters Question of the Week Series. There are some topics that seem to fall into the consensus category: drunk driving is bad, guns kill people, Transformers are better than GoBots. But that only covers less than 1% of the decisions you and your spouse make towards the upbringing of your kids. The majority of issues tend to fall more in the gray area.

Here at Noodad.com, we take pride in delivering important advice for dads. But we realize that some of our advice is subjective. The collected readership surely has things to add and unique perspectives to contribute.

So where do you weigh in?

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Viewing 3 Comments

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    In a perfect world, I\'d let my kid have a cell phone when she started driving/dating...and that would be when I crawled into a hole and died...
    BUT all joking aside, I\'d let her have a cell phone when she shows that she is responsible enough to have one...that comes around the same time that I am able to drop her and some friends off at the mall and places similar to that for a couple of hours. I\'d guess that would be around the middle school mark.
    We\'d make it clear that certain calls and texting should never exceed a certain amount and the cellphones w/free night and weekends starting at seven would be an extra help in keeping the bill from stratosphere amounts.
    However, is she were to go over her alloted minutes/amounts, we\'d take the phone away and she wouldn\'t get it back until she paid the excess that she put on the bill.
    No cell...no go outtie with the friends.
    Too bad so sad, shouldn\'t have crossed the line. There are consequences to all of your actions...
    Oh, and course, we\'d teach her proper cell phone etiquette.
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    I definately agree, when I am shown that my son is responsible enough to understand that phones cost money, and that if need be, they will have to pay for it themselves. That said, I do really like the idea of the firefly for the smaller children out there, its got like 3 buttons one of them mom and one of them dad. This thing would be great in a \\\"i lot my kid in the mall\\\" type of situation.
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    • v
    I think the kid should have a cell phone when they hit the middle schooler age
 

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