At What Age Should My Kid Have a Cell Phone?
This is serious. I read this article here that says 1 out of 5 kids have a cellphone by the time they are 8 years old.
Wow.
My daughter started actually using my iPhone (not just banging things on it) before she was 2. And even before that she was using one (pic taken above is from January 1, 2008).
She’s 3 now and can do almost anything on it, including call my mom and my brother, browse movies to watch or browse music to listen to, and play every game on there.
She also knows how to re-arrange the icons on the phone as well as delete stuff (sad…).
But, it’s Appa’s phone. It’s Daddy’s phone. Not Roenne’s. And she knows this.
So, when do I get her one? What age did you let your kids have one?
Let me know all your candid thoughts below…
Oh… and when did you get your first cell phone? I got mine when I was like 18…
My 11 yr old daughter has been asking for one for ages, and we will relent and get her one for Christmas. She wasn’t ready at 3 yrs old
Around 11 or 12. Jay and I put both of our kids on our plan about a year ago. Now that they’re old enough to be outside riding bikes with their friends and going to sleep overs. It’s nice to know that they can call us at anytime. Our son Michael was invited to a birthday party by a school friend once and we allowed him to go. He called me about 20 minutes later asking to be picked up because he was feeling very uncomfortable there. When I got there I could see why. It looked like a frat party more than a party for a 12 year old. And the parents were nowhere to be seen. I’m so thankful that he was responsible enough to call me to pick him up. If he didn’t have his cell phone he may not have felt comfortable enough to ask to use the house phone in front of all the other kids.
I thinks this a group-decision. My son is 7 and is not asking for a phone and is not mature enough to have one. It would probably be lost or broken within a week. His friends in the same age has no phones and some of the older friends seems to get one when they are around 9 or ten.
I see no point for a child to have a phone as long as they don’t do activities outside without parents.
I bought my first cell-phone when I was 23, it was a siemens S1, one of the first GSM-phones. I could only use it when standing in a specific spot at a window on the upper flor.
I don’t have kids, so I’m not going to even pretend to dole out parenting advice, but I got my first cell phone when I was 16 (since I started driving).
It’s sole purpose was to let them know that I had gotten to my destination safely, and when I was on the way home.
I got my first phone when I was in my early 20s. But that was also when Sprint moved into Chicago market and I could get my work to pay for part of it. So I am not on the front end of this one. I also didn’t get my own computer for the first time until I graduated from college and made my employer buy me one as part of hiring me.
But I see a lot of elementary age kids carrying them around. And schools are allowing kids to have them now (or at least some schools.)
i’m assuming giving her surgery to become the first iPhone cyborg is totally out of the question?
When she starts high school…
When they can drive. Or have a job. We are a one cell phone family. My kids are home schooled so seriously will not be in need of one for one until they are much older. I have stopped keeping it around when spending time with the family. It normally stays in the car. My iPhone is a tool not a neccesity. FYI I think kids phones should only call and text.
yah
My son is 22 months old and like Roenne, already knows how to use my iPhone and open Koi Pond or Drum Meister… his favorite games. He’s called people, but I think that was just an accident.
This seems to be a popular discussion these days and I have no idea what the correct answer is. In 5, 6, or 7 years from now, when I’m ready to deal with it… the rules and communication itself could have completely changed.
My bigger question these days, how old until I hand him down my MacBook Pro. He already knows how to work the mouse, open pictures, and send tweets on Twitter (illegible, but he’s done it twice) Is it alright for a 5 or 6 year old to have their own laptop?
I don’t think kids should have a cell phone until they can pay for it themselves.
Gosh, I don’t remember when I got my cell phone – I know what it was; it was a big black brick with a small green screen.
I think that, as soon as kids can travel to and stay with friends then they can get a cellphone
There’s family story about how I was visiting Dad at work with my Mom at the age of 2-3, and I wandered off into Dad’s office. Apparently I got up into Dad’s chair and started pounding away at the keyboard making all the computer create all sorts of fun noises. Sufficed to say my Dad brought home a computer about 2.5 years later.
It was 4.77 MHZ 8088 XT Clone with 640KB of Ram, and yep you guessed it DOS. We eventually upgraded to DR DOS 6.0. I still remember playing games of Striker and Reader Rabbit.
I am now doing Social Media advertising and IT support for my employer, and my wife is an online community manager. If thats where we are at now, what might our kids do if we have them or adopt?
Sufficed to say, I think the whole role of computers and the internet in raising children and especially within the church is a very critical one to continue to discuss. I suspect our parents had arguments with their parents over music and hair styles, our kids may be arguing with us over social networking accounts and what goes up on them.
You bring up some very good points. I grew up with two cousins my same age that were as close as I’ll ever have to brothers. Only difference was that their mom was a romantic that thought kids should be “well rounded” and read fiction like Tom Sawyer.
Even though we all shared interest in computers, they were severely restricted in their computer time. She ended up with two well-rounded adults with well-rounded jobs but really have no clue what they want to do in life.
On the other hand, computers led to Photoshop ver 3 when I was 11. Spent my whole summer playing with that (something they would never have been allowed to do). As a result I started apprenticing in video production when I was 14 and now own my own production company. I can’t imagine having a cooler job.
I said all that to illustrate the fact that technology isn’t a reward for older kids anymore. It’s not just some toy they get when they can pay for it. It’s the foundation for the adults they’ll become. That and nobody cares if Brett Favre is good at math or how far Michio Kaku can throw a football.
That said, I think every parent should be REQUIRED to read “The Millionaire Next Door” and quit giving their children everything. After a couple years of trying, thanks to that book and an amazing wife, I am just now breaking out of some patterns my own parents created in my life.
My little girl is almost 5, and she could use a phone now if she wanted. She uses my cell phone to call her grandma and some of her little friends (like once a month….maybe, haha).
I don’t think I have a problem with getting her a cell phone, so long as she’d use it and that she’d be responsible with it.
But then again, I hardly ever use my phone….1 call a day…at best…I’m just not a phone person.
As far as responsibility, she can already navigate the computer just fine for her kid games & web pages. She’s yet to break the laptop or cell phone when she’s using them by herself, so she’s already responsible enough in my mind.
I don’t think it’ll be out of the question for her to have her own phone within 3-5 years.
I bought my first cell phone at 22 in 1995 and it was a big brick. The monthly plan was ridiculous compared to now.
However, my 10 year old daughter has one that we got her for Christmas last year. It is a huge convenience and has taught her responsibility. I do have it set only call and text, no purchase or internet capability. My 8 year old is asking for one and if we don’t get her one at Christmas, we will for her next birthday. Being able to call or text them when they are at an after school or church event or at a friends house is great. It has also allowed us to do away with a land line phone saving us money. The add on cell phone is considerably cheaper than even a bundled phone with our cable/internet provider.
As has been alluded to, our children are much more capable with tech than we were and the world is moving more that way with increasing speed and we need to set our kids up for success.
My two pennies.
Dude, I’m saying 13-14. I got a prepaid-nasty phone in my freshman year of high school, but I got to pay for the minutes.
I think: “you can have a phone when you can pay for a phone” was good for me.
I remember getting my first phone when I was 14. I thought I was pretty cool. I am 28 now, so having a phone at 14 was considered WAY young at the time. I call it my Zach Morris phone now. It was a monster.
Anyway, I think I will get my kids phones around 8-ish. But limited plans are a must. I like some of the phones that are restricted to a few important numbers. Have you seen http://www.fireflymobile.com/ ?
By the time they are teens (13+) I think they could handle a regular ol’ cell-phone.
I witnessed your daughter operate a mac better then most adults.
So I can imagine she is also good with an iPhone.
I was 16 when I got my first cell phone. I remember being in a class and playing snake all the time. The good ole days.
There is no easy answer to this question. It all depends on you, your child and your kid. Then you take into account “needing” a cell phone. Can you afford it? Can they afford it? Can they be responsible with it?
As with most everything else in parenting, it comes down to responsibility. You are teaching your child to become a responsible adult (or at least you should be
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My parents let me borrow my mom’s cell phone when I started driving to and from school everyday after I got my driver’s license, and I didn’t have my own until I actually bought one when I was, I think, 17.
I don’t have kids yet but I would say don’t get kids a cell phone until they’re independently mobile themselves. And obviously I mean out of the house… and not just to the next room.
I didn’t get mine until I got my driver’s license. I had to pay for mine myself… my sister was given hers and my mom still pays for my sister’s phone. She’s 21. I’ve always paid for my own phone… [bitter]
When they turn 14 (the current age to get a job). It will be prepaid, and they will have to pay for their time. I don’t think that a kid needs one until they can pay for it, and learn to be responsible for it.
That said, our ten year old hasn’t asked for a cell phone but has asked for a laptop. Oy.
I was 21 when I first got a cell phone.
My personal belief is that kids do not need an every day cell phone for themselves until they drive. However, I think if you have a kid who is involved in extracuricular activities, that there should be a cell phone that can be given to them for safety purposes and to get rides and such. That is my personal opinion of course. Well, my EXPERT personal opinion. (;
I got my cell phone when I was 12; however, It was because my parents traveled a lot for work. It was not a fancy phone. It only called. No text, no internet, no cool ringtones.
I am in college now and don’t have any kids (that I know of Ha Ha Ha I’m sooo kidding). I think the right age to by a cell phone for your kids depends on how mature the child is and other factors such as the parents job. In my case it was because of my parents travel.
I have an iPhone now and don’t know what I would do without it. Anyways that’s my input.
I didn’t get one until I was leaving for college. And…I had to CONVINCE my parents that it made more sense to get me a cellphone than to buy a calling card. Hard to believe.
Yeah man this scares me. I can’t remember when it was that my 4 year old actually began to be able to open my iPhone flip to the flower…open it…and then flip through all the photos in my phone! Now she can do anything on it. She even answers when it’s MiMi or Nana!
My 18 mos old son holds it up to his face and says “Hello!” He can slide it open and just pushes that Home button over and over again like he’s making it work!
It’s crazy, my cell phone was in 1997 when I moved out after I graduated high school and went away to college. My Dad opened the account with me b/c I had just turned 18. As a youth pastor it floors me when my middle schoolers have their own phones!
Since my daughter’s only 4, we haven’t given it too much thought.
I work for a one of the big three wireless carriers and have been in the industry since 1990.
We made my son wait until the end of his 6th grade year for a phone which was really hard on him considering I work for a wireless co. and get huge discounts on service.He was the last of his friends to get one. The life of a middle school kid is just hectic and we have found it great to have a way for him to contact us.It really paid off a few weeks ago when a PARENT of a kid he was with wanted to take the kids to an R movie.My son said no and called us to pick him up.I also like being able to text and exchange pictures when I am traveling. It keeps us connected.
I think it all depends on the kid and for sure there needs to be rules attached. Now Facebook…there is a whole different question
I got my first cellphone when I was around 27. I fought it, hard, but my wife made me do it.
I’ve regretted it ever since.
I see no reason why anyone would need a cellphone (or a car) until after college, really.
(However, just in case you all think I’m a backwards Luddite, to prove that I am not, I did learn to my dismay yesterday that I am too late to claim my children’s domain names. Alas.)
I’m so glad that I’m not the only one asking this question, thanks for starting this conversation! As a father of three (and one on the way) I’ve been really wondering the same thing! My oldest is 8, and I don’t think that she’s ready for a cell phone, but know that the day is coming very soon that I’ll have to address this.
I got my first phone when I was 18 – needed it for the job, it was a really janky Nokia flip with a green screen (@Kyle — i <3 snake!!!)
I would think at the age in which security warrants it. If they’re going to be away from parents for awhile (other than school). I would think perhaps around 12 or so. But hey…my guy is just two, what do I know. I may get him something a little sooner. We’ll see
I don’t have kids yet so I can’t answer.
but for me I got one when I was already a highschool student.
I have a 5 year old, so we’re right there in the same boat. My guess on when we’ll end up getting them one is probably when the iphone nano comes out and costs around $20 a month to use. Just a guess. Obviously the iPhone is a bit much right now, and makes it a bit of a waste for a kid.
Of course I have thought about getting my boys iPod touches for Christmas it’s about as cheap as a decent DVD player and it’s way more fun in the car, and then add on Skype and there you go. That’s a scary thought.