Does your child (or children) have one? Do they have limitations? Do they ever abuse the limits?

My 18 year old got one at 15. He only got it then because it was cheaper than adding a land line at my brothers.

I personally don't see the need for a kid to have 1 until they are working and driving at about 16 or so younger than that is stupid they can call a friend from the house phone in my opinion

Last year about half of my 6th graders had phones and they brought them to school. The parents wanted to know the minute they left the school and who they were walking with and when they got home. The school did not have busses to all the kids walked home. Of course they used the phones much more for chatting with their friends.

I am not sure when I will be getting one for my kids. I still have many years ahead for that and Brantley will be going to my school so I will be with him all the time.

Austin got one for his bday last year so at the beginning of 6th grade. He hardly ever talks on the phone because he texts instead so we havent had problems with minutes. Now we did have internet problems but we had that on my line as well and I think it was because they misadvertised a package we got and we got the bill taken care of. I was adamant about not letting my kids get a phone but I gave in because he was involved in LOTS of sports and stayed after school for practices and games so it was an easy way for me to stay in touch with him. Like if I was running late to pick him up I could call or I would even text him to tell him where i was parked in the parking lot so I didnt have to get out and drag all the kids with me to go get him or whatever. There were times the coaches would cut practice short and if he didnt have his phone he would have been sitting there waiting for me to pick him up. He also is getting to the age where I let him go off on his own like at the fair or whatever, and even let him ride his 4wheeler down to a friends house so I like knowing he has that phone in case something happens.

April that was the other reason i went ahead with teh cell phone for Terry. I was taking him to teh bus stop and picking up there and if the bus was late he could tell me etc.

yep, I know we survived when we were younger without the phones but we live in a different time now and while I was so against kids having phones that young before now that he has one I cant imagine him not having it lol. Oh and we live out in the country so its a little bit of a drive to get to town and there were many times he would call me right after the bell rang at the end of the day to see if he could stay after to go to a friends game or something and that was nice then because he got to go do those things without me having to make a trip back into town to drop him off at the school and then go back in to pick him up. I dont think I will let the others have a phone any earlier than 6th grade though. Oh and another thing I like about him having it is its a GREAT threat when he is acting up I say if you dont stop I am taking your phone away from you lol. He has actually been without his phone for about a month now because we are sick of him calling the girls names so he doesnt get it back until he stops calling them names.

Aaron got his own cell phone at 18, when he bought it himself.
Aly thinks she needs one, but imo, no 10 year old NEEDS a cell phone. I take her where she goes, orknow who she is with, and as adults we can contact each other if we need to.
Now I have told her she can have one at age 16, when she's out driving. Being a girl, I feel it's much safer for her to have one at that point, in case her car breaks down, etc,. Maybe a double standard, girl/boy thing, but that's how it's going to work here in my house.

Yes Brienne has had one and actually I'm putting her on my plan this summer....I'm not getting for them for a toy or what have you, but if they unlimited talk for cheap than I don't care if they use it for personal use. I want to be able to at all times get in touch with my child if they are not with me. If I drop Brie off at a bday party, if she's staying the night with a friend...I ALWAYS want her to have her phone on her so there is no reason she wouldn't be able to contact me or 911 if something happened. And there have been a few times when I would have loved to be able to just text her to come home so I don't have to call my neighbor and bug her all the time ....It just makes me feel better and I never think that anything that makes me have less anxiety or safer is stupid..

well, my soon to be ex and I got his son a cell phone about 4 months before his 11th birthday, because we don't have a house phone and he was getting off the bus and going home, also neither one of us wanted his friends calling us. That and if he was riding his bike in the neibourhood (sp?) we could call him to tell him it was time to come home. He mostly uses it to call his grandma and a few friends.

i didn't get one until my freshman year and started with a prepaid, within a few months my dad bought me one on a plan cuz i was going broke buying prepaid minutes, it was a tracfone, i never had issues going over the minutes when i was 18 i started texting a lot and had dropped the texting plan so i ran up one phone bill (like $20) then we added the texting. Personally if Nicholas is mature enough i will let him have a phone earlier than that, the world has changed so much, i was living in the city so if i broke down or something i was always near a phone but we live in the middle of nowhere i want him to be able to contact me and i want to be able to contact him once he gets old enough to be out without me. The world is so digital now and unsafe i would feel better if he had a phone, at first he will be started with a prepaid and once he gets old enough to work he will have to pay the bill, it will be a privilege that can be taken away and he will know that or he won't have it. Of course dh says there's no way until at least he is old enough to drive but he won't win this one lol

Jeremy, Damien & Holly all have their own phones, & they are 13,12, & 11. Jeremy has had one for about 3 years & daien & holly got theirs after our house burnt down. They are prepaid & they are great with their phones.

Ok I am really showing my age now because cell phones just came out when I got one at 18 which was a bag phone.

I am not sure when I will get my kids a phone but I have a long time before I even need to think about it. LOL

lol Kim I remember my best friends family got one of those bag cell phones and I thought it was just the coolest thing ever lol.

Quinn has one, but he's only allowed to call his grandparents or me. He was in a lot of after school activities and he would call me when he was done and ready to be picked up. He hasn't abused it to this point. I was also very against him having a cell phone, but now I can't imagine him not having one. We really have made good use out of it. The only issue is he loves to call Nana and Papa on it all the time!

my stepdaughter frankie she has one...as far as limitations she has...i dunno...her mom got it for her...but its a good way for her to keep in touch with karl and he always knows he can now get ahold of her...before she had it it was so hard for him to talk to her all the time cause he would call and call and no one would ever answer


raianna is getting to the tween age...she'll be 9 this year....and i dont plan on letting her have one til she is MUCH older...or joins after school activities...that way she can call when she is done...and the only people she would really be able to call other than me and karl would be her sister frankie....and her grandparents

quote:

personally don't see the need for a kid to have 1 until they are working and driving

I agree,and when they pay for it themselves.....
BUT
Matt never had one til he got a job to pay for it himself and he NEVER abused it!

Anthony needed one for football,baseball etc....I paid ,He totaly abused it when he had the winner of a GF,So back to square one,he only has a pay as you go and HE pays.

Derek will be needing one for HS sports,just so I know whats going on with after school sports ,time to pick up etc...it will be a pay aas you go,and only given to him during the school period,until he can pay for it himself..

Halie does not want one...nor need one..

Emma since she was lost on he school bus last year,this year she wants to try the bus again,I am really considering getting either a pay as you go or the fire fly phone ONLY until she and I are comfortable with the bus situation,absoutely not for anything else!

AND
If they (derek or halie)do go out I always have them take mine or bryans phone,so I can get in touch w/them or in an emergency etc...

Kim, the first one I had was the bag phone too!! lol


I finally put Brie on my plan the other day...and with a discount I receive for my work it's only costing me $10 a month...and she has unlimited text...woohoo...and I have already started using the phone as leverage!!! lol If she gets below a B on anything when school starts I told her the phone is gone....I have a feeling it's going to be a great school year!!!

lol Chelle, I will have to send you a text with Austin number so you can give it to Brie. And yeah when he first got his phone, a month or so later mid terms came out and he had a bad grade so he got his phone taken away until he brought it up and I tell ya I have NEVER seen my kid go above and beyond like he did then to get that grade up lol. Then he did it again the last grading period and I will have you know he got all A's on his last report card lmao.

once the girls start going places without me, they will have a cell phone to call home with. Probably just a prepaid one but I'd feel better knowing they had a way to reach me without having to ask anyone for permission if they needed to do so.