First of all let me say that this question is not intended to bring up any judgmental ugliness within the comments section. Not that you all tend to have judgmental ugliness within my comments section. But just in case our opinions on the matter bring out any fiesty-ness…just remember that it’s just a question and I’m just curious about the differing ideas out there.
I’m interested to know your thoughts about allowing kids to have cell phones.
My thirteen year old is pretty sure he is the only child on the face of this earth (except for his brothers of course) who still does not have his own cell phone. We haven’t given him his own phone yet because we ultimately feel like he would rarely need it, unless of course he is all the way upstairs and I am all the way downstairs and he needs to ask me where his clean t-shirts are, in which case he could just walk all the way downstairs and ask me.
In other words…are you kidding me?
I don’t even feel like I need a cell phone at this point in my life. I’m home most of the time and oh never mind…I’ve written about this already.
I know cell phones are fun for kids and sometimes, depending on your family situation and circumstances, giving your child a cell phone can be very, very useful and helpful. If it is a matter of safety and a huge time saver in tracking down your kids, I think cell phones are one of the best things ever invented. But we personally don’t think our kids need them yet.
We’ll probably look into it quite extensively when they each begin to drive. That’s when we feel like cell phones for our boys would become more of a need, rather than just a want. And then of course there is the issue of who pays the monthly fees… Ah, we’ll figure that out later.
So what works for your family? Have you decided to let your kids have a cell phone? At what age do you feel like your kids need a phone?