[fleamailman]

Ok, this topic has turned up at the shop as there are people who are giving their six year old children telephones now, there are clearly pros and cons but I will not state my opinion here for now as I would like to see how other people look at this occurance.

Edited by fleamailman, 26 September 2005 - 04:22 AM.

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Imho, 6yrs old is way too young to have any need for a cell phone.
My boy might get his first this year.
He's 12.

[Rickkins]

Imho, 6yrs old is way too young to have any need for a cell phone.
My boy might get his first this year.
He's 12.

[darth_ash]

Pros:
You get to keep in touch with them.

Cons:
Kids get the freedom to call anyone.


To avoid the cons.; there is a special cell phone for kids between the age of 4-12, which can only call 2-3 pre-programmed numbers.

[Game_Freak]

Whats IMHO?

[fleamailman]

The phone in this case is prepaid so I imagine that it is to received calls and text only. Is someone saying then that 8 years old is OK then?

[Rickkins]

Whats IMHO?

In My Humble Opinion

[Rawe]

I would say 10-12.

[dsenette]

i would say 16 - 18....any age below that has no need for a cell phone because
#1 below 16 they cannot drive so there should be no place for them to have an emergency where someone else's parents arent available

#2 the social live of a <16 year old should not involve needing to be reached at any given time via a cell phone

[cleverboy12]

Im nearly 13 and i havent one yet.

[ScHwErV]

I agree with dsnette here. I cannot imagine a situation where I would allow my child under the age of 11-12 to be in a place without adult supervision.

That being said, I would think I would probably find a solution for my child when they were 13-14 years old. Something that locks out all incoming and outgoing calls except for a few that are chosen by my wife and myself.

Once they are old enough to get a job and can pay for their own, they can have their own.

ScHwErV

[fleamailman]

One would think that the bigger children might bully the child out of his phone, or that that child might receive hate text, and that the child might feel that other children were receiving more texts, etc., so I join the side which say 13 onwards, but we all know that this is becoming ever harder to defend since the other children in the class slowly receive their parents castoffs at an ever decreasing age. Anyway, this problem for us in the shop comes with the fact that often the parent is buying their new phone in front of the child who then asks for the old one.

In my personal case then, my older child wanted one from 10 and received it at 12 but that was a long war, a few weeks later a bottle of cola leaked in the bag an ruined it but the addiction by then was well in place, and now she makes me old very old with her speedy thumb.

Edited by fleamailman, 26 September 2005 - 09:39 AM.

[cleverboy12]

The thing is children tend to show off with their phones. I am 13 and have never felt the need for a phone i hardly ever speak on a home phone never mind a cell phone. It takes too much time out of a childs time if you asked me. The only age you would need it is at 18+ because thats when you get responsibilties. If you think about it why chil talk to their friends with a phone when they can at school or t other times. I think that the only reason many children want phones is that because every child in their class has. And eventuall they will be a target as you mentioed to steal their phone.

Its a Risky Decision.

[M4_Fanatic]

I am 13 and I have 3 or 4 phones. I think I had my first phone was when I was 9.

IMHO just don't get the newest phone and don't have too many credit on it. does your child really need it?

[Rawe]

I got my first cell phone when I was 12, I used it for about 1,5 year when it got broken. Well not broken really, it just didn't work right, shutted down from time to time and stuff like that, even when I didn't use it much and it still had battery left.

I then got my second phone before the summer holidays as a gift, which I still use. Never had a problem with them.

IMHO just don't get the newest phone

Agreed. I didn't need newest phone, although I did want a lot newer than my first one since it was quite old model.

Anyway.

[warriorscot]

Wow i had very ver protective parents but even at 11 i needed a phone to call the, i rarely used my phone for other pruposes occasionaly calling friends to see where they were if we were out but apart from that its needed but not well used.

There is a simple solution give them a really cheap mobile hone with only the money they need for it and tell them its only for emergencies, they will enjoy the added responsibility and the fact that you are trusting them and the fact that it only has enough money to do them for the neccesary calls then they wont be phoning there freinds all the time.

Its a handy thing t have and i would say as soon as you start high school so 11, 10 primary kids dont need it as they are usually not far away but at highschool when you are further away it can be a pain to fnd a phone box nowadays to say you are staying late or you dont want to walk cause the weather is chuckin it.