This week I am linking up with two of my blogging buddies: Danielle from from “We Don’t Have It All Together, But Together We Have It All” and Danielle from “Happenings of the Harper Household” on their weekly meme. This meme covers a new topic each week and this week they are talking about kids and cell phones.
I know this can be a controversial topic. Do I agree with kids having cell phones? Did my oldest son get a cell phone early on? Well, I have a lot of stipulations/opinions on this. My oldest son (now 16) did get a cell phone when he was fairly young. I believe he was about nine when I caved and got him his own cell phone. My reasoning was for safety of course and so I could reach him if I needed to when I wasn’t with him.
I think this is a great way to teach children about responsibility, however, I do think there is an age that it’s NOT necessary. I think younger than 8 or 9 is really too early because most kids at that age don’t really fully get it and will most likely get in trouble at school with it. My husband sees this all the time: he teaches elementary school and has had to take cell phones away from children who are playing with them in class. He’s taken them away from first graders when he taught that grade last year! I think there should also be limitations on usage. I don’t believe a child should have the phone on and playing with it while at home with family. I also don’t believe they should have smartphones since my primary reason for allowing cell phones at 8-9 yrs of age is for safety reasons. Along with teaching responsibility, i do believe a part of the child’s “allowance”, if he/she gets one, should be allotted for the cell phone bill so the child understands that these things don’t come at no charge.
That pretty much sums up my thoughts on kids and cell phones. What do you think?
Please respect each others’ opinions. This means no bashing of other bloggers in comments on their posts. Kind words and genuine questions are encouraged. If you strongly disagree with someone else the place to address your view point is in a post on your own blog. If we find that you have blatantly disregarded this you will be removed from the linky. Be sure to stop by and visit the Danielles and read their thoughts and if you have a blog, link up your thoughts!
That’s a great thought on the allowance, I never thought of that! My son is 10 and he just recently got his first phone, like you for safety reasons was my major reason and the fact that T Mobile was running a special where the line was only $5 a month
He doesn’t have a smartphone because like you said it’s just for calls and texts. When he gets older and wants a smart phone then he will have to pay the $30 or whatever it is a month for the data plan becuase I refuse to pay for that!