What age for a cell phone?

[Brian]

My daughter is 11. I fought with my wife as she was in favor of giving her a cell phone for a number of reasons and I was not. About half of her friends have them, some have had them since 7 or 8. What eventually convinced me - I wrote a contract that she had to read, understand, and sign, and it has consequences. It took me a few days as I asked other parents for ideas and copied some good ideas I found online. I also turned off all games, camera web browsing, etc. on her phone. She is only allowed to call or text (respond) to people who are in her address book, which my wife or I control. This has actually worked out extremely well for us, as my daughter is learning responsibility and she's had it at least 6 months now with zero issues. She was provided with an otterbox case to protect it, but knows she'll have to pay herself if it's ever damaged or needs upgrade/repair. I let her have feedback into the rules, wording and consequences on the contract. We'll eventually relax some of the restrictions, but it'll be quite a while before I open up internet access or social media.

[Mr.Fred]

Curious what age people think is appropriate for a cell phone? Our daughter is about to turn 11 and has been asking for one for quite a while. We already have the phone (extra from an upgrade) and adding it to our plan is $15 a month. We also monitor everything going in and out of the house and she's not on Facebook or any social media sites, she wants it to communicate with us and her grandparents. Just wondering what you think.

You're going to get a mess of answers here....

Very diverse community here.

Some people will say 10 to whatever age... and some will say "when they can buy their own damn phone."

It's up to you. But if it was me, I'd say middle school.

Posted Via Glade Plug In.

[Double00]

We went with middle school with both of our kids. Of course my daughter is a senior now and has a better phone than me!

[Ronin13]

Got a cell phone when I was 16... Nokia, the only non phone feature it had was snake, and I played the crap out of that game. It didn't text, it could only call. My how things have changed...

[StagLefty]

I had 2 cans and a string when I was 8.

[Monky]

The only reason a child should have a cell phone is if they walk to/from school, just in case. Too many creeps out there...


Sent by a free-range electronic weasel, with no sense of personal space.

[rockhound]

seems it has become a necessity for our kids, although the 15 year old is the only one that has one.
the middle schoolers are both into sports, coordinating pick up after games and track has become an issue. they travel pretty far so a sett return time is hard, they ahve to use the coaches phone.

i do not allow facebook or other social media, the ipod touch has been ok for a while as they can call their friends that have an ipod or iphone

[Aloha_Shooter]

Depends on the kid, really, but use it as an opportunity to learn responsibility. If nothing else, it gives her an option for emergency situations. Set voluntary and involuntary limits so she learns to moderate her behavior on her own but you have circuit breakers in case someone (not necessarily her, could be a friend who picks up her phone or a stranger who finds/steals it) goes nuts. I have one nephew who does fine with his cell phone while his younger brother went crazy with texting and got his privileges revoked.

[Zundfolge]

Got a cell phone when I was 16... Nokia, the only non phone feature it had was snake, and I played the crap out of that game. It didn't text, it could only call. My how things have changed...

When I was 16, cell phones looked like this



And cost something like $4500. Times have changed indeed.

[brutal]

When I was 16 phones looked like this.