GoodnCrazy Snarks a Poll
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You Gave Your Toddler A Cell Phone!?
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30 comments:
My eldest starts high school in the fall, she'll be fourteen going on fifteen in January and we plan on getting her a phone for Christmas. Since I'll have to pick up at THREE different schools come fall I'm hoping it'll make getting her picked up on her nex flexible schedule easier on us all. Oh, and she's paying part of the bill with her baby-sitting money.
I chose the 11-13 age group. This is actually younger than I would prefer to be giving my daughter a cellphone, but I was trying to gauge when one would be most helpful for her safety. I figure by this age, she'll be out and about in he world a little bit more without me and therefore we could use it to stay in contact and keep her safer. Am I thinking along the wrong lines here?
mini-me bought a pre-paid phone w her christmas money one yr. she was almost 10. stepson was jealous of that so his mom got him one. he was 12. miss la-di-da-di got one at 9yrs old. first, a prepaid one until we just decided since we had the other two kids on the plan, might as well put her on it, too. we have unlimited texting which my hubs likes cos it saves on our minutes and really reduced our phone bill. one time our phone bill was extremely high thanks to showboat, my stepson. he was calling and having people call him all the time all day long. he had to pay back some of his nonsense w allowance and/or money from elsewhere.
considering we just had a girl disappear from the town that's 10 mins from here (it's been on the news), she's 8, i feel pretty good about them having their phones so i can check on them and they can check in as well. i think it's a personal choice for every parent. you have to decide if your child is ready for the responsibility of having a cell phone.
I chose the 11-13 range. That's what we did but with our boys. But it was a difficult decision. In fact, I fought it with every beat of my heart with my oldest. I finally gave in for parenting reasons, not for friend/talky reasons. They are so active in sports and clubs that they often need to call me when they are done with meetings/practise. They call when they are leaving the park or a friend's house to walk/bike home. It was a way to ease my parenting fears while they eased into their independence. And I can totally call them and say "You didn't finish your chores dude, pack it up and come home now." Muwahahahaha
14-18 range. I have a son turning 15 this summer. We are planning on getting him a phone then. He will be starting High School but still not driving. The High School he will attend is in another town so I think it is time for a phone so if he needs to stay late at school he can give me a buzz to come and get him.
Now my 12 and 9 year old daughters want one but I think they can wait.
I voted for the 11-13. #1 Because at the time they were 11 and 12 they were having to spend the day with their mother who never had a phone and was taking them to some of the roughest parts of the country ever. I'm going to be able to talk to the girls whenever I want to!
#2 With basketball season and track, out of town thingy's, they need a phone. I want to know they have arrived safely, even if I am only a few minutes behind the bus.
I voted for NEVER! You would have to see my totally insane rant on my website about cell phones. I was a substitute teacher in the jr high and high school and cell phones were literally the BANE of our existence! I think they should be outlawed for anyone under the age of 18.
I also chose never. that's just nuts...I'm not paying my kids to socialize or talk on the phone. We didn't have cell phones and my high school was a 4 mile ONE WAY walk. I traipsed all over the place, my working and going to school dad probably almost never really knew where we were and I totally lived. I think it's ridiculous that people think ANY kid NEEDS a phone. If my kids want one, they can buy and pay for it themselves...
My eldest is in college: she and I got our first family plan when she was 15. Now my son needs a phone, but his needs are more complex; he's blind. We're still searching and researching.
I think I would be more likely to give my kids a safety GPS device for my kids when they are younger but i'd wait to get them a cell phone until they are older and show responsibility for the priviledge. I think I would give my daughters cell phones in highschool when they are going to be somewhere where adult supervision may not be-like on dates, etc. I like to know where they are at and if an emergency occurred they could call me to check in.. and there woulnd't be any texting in the plan at all. I think texting is ridiculos!!!!
Why buy my 5 year old a phone?
He calls 911 just fine on my Blackberry already.
And since he will never be going anywhere without me, we can just share...
Altho...now that you mention it, he has been asking to call his school GIRLFRIENDS...
I'm voting for 11-13 because if your child went with a friend and they went out of town and they wanted to call you...How will they if they didn't have a cellular device?
Your blog is so fun and funny and I enjoy reading your blog!!!:)
I think we will get Matt one when he start staying after school for sports and need to call when he is done. I think that will be around 13 or 14. So we have a few more years of Bliss!
Hi, I'd give my 16 year old a cell phone, if he or she had a job and could pay or it. And only if grades were good and they had proved to be responsible, or if they were in a situation that they might need to get in touch with home.
Great poll and topic for an article and/or post, Carissa! I can't wait to read the results and your article. I left my comment on the poll site. Hey I got a poll goin' on myself at Free Spirit - hope you'll cast YOUR vote! :)
Marvin D Wilson
http://inspiritandtruths.blogspot.com/
Toodles!
Although MY preference would be 14 to 18, I'm not sure that's realistic for lots of reasons. At 11, my oldest will be in middle school and I'll be wanting him to have more independence, but I'll also be having trouble letting go (just as I did when he got on the bus and went off to his first day of kindergarten). Like SP, I think I'll be getting him one more for me than for him. It'll help me keep tabs on him while giving him the illusion of greater independence and responsibility. Besides, that seems to be "the" age that most kids we know end up getting them.
I'm torn on my answer. I am leaning to 14-18 but I think 12-13 maybe.
I just think it is crazy that I was in college before I had one:)
It is so stupid to think someone would give their less than tween one. I feel like he is always with me or hubs or a friends parents and we all have a phone why does he need one!
My son will not be going off in the world unattended any time in the near future so need for him to hae one.
I think we got our family plan when my son was a junior and my daughter in 8th grade or maybe the year after. That worked for us. The phones were free and the kids were responsible for paying their share of the bill.
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I think that it depends on your situation. For instance if my 3-6 year old were in day care I'd probably give her a cell phone that only calls me or her dad. We live in a big city and a bad economy. Plus I do random crazy not good things (like walk off or drive and get lost) and always have so, if she has the gene a cell phone (preferable with GPS on it) is necessary.
I am in the 10+ range although I am starting to waffle a bit. He's already run into a couple situations at age 7 that his friend's home did not have a landline. And he's been too shy to ask the adult to use their cell phone depsite being uncomfortable.
So.... it may be sooner than later. But it will be a preprogammed phone with a specific set of numbers.
I personally held out getting a cell phone a long time, but have had two emergency situations where a payphone was impossible to find and had to ask complete strangers to use their cells.
I didn't vote. I think there are always different circumstances. I homeschool my 8yr old, so therefore, he doesn't need one. I don't think I would buy a child a cellphone under most circumstances, although, I could understand if they were at the ballpark, movie or old enough to be on their own a few hours. If they were to have to call me to come get them. I don't think they are necessary at school. My siste is a secretary at an elementary school and SHE can't even have one turned on while at work.
Daisy, my mother is blind and adores her JitterBug phone. She likes that she can actually feel the buttons.
My 13 year old has a cell phone. With life as crazy as it is, I like knowing I can reach him or he can reach me when needed.
We've used our cells to keep in touch with each other during long hospital stays with Parker. My kids just feel so much more secure when they know they can reach me right then.
I have given Parker (who is four) an old cell phone to use for pretend playing and role modeling. But he doesn't make any calls. ;)
I voted never! I think it's completely ridiculous how children these days are glued to technology, especially their cells phone. Whatever happened to being kid?
Thank you for visiting my blog today and commenting! Although the pressure is on to allow middle schoolers to have phones, I would postpone that privilege (and admittedly, that huge family aid as far as communication about transportation goes). In middle school, there is less of a need and more pressure to give in to peers misusing phones. By the time they're in high school, kids are more responsible and understand the full consequences of misuse. I have a 22, 20 and 16 year old, and I'm glad we waited until high school, and even then, we did not buy the coolest thing out there. They were completely utilitarian at first. Now the kids are movin' up in the world of tech stuff, but on their own dime.
I was in the hospital for 6 weeks when I was pregnant with my twins (and then for 2 more weeks while they were in the NICU) and I gave my son a cell phone while i was an inpatient so he could always get a hold of me. He was 2 at the time. Yes. 2 YEARS OLD. I set it up to speed dial me and he would call me or I'd call him and we'd talk (as well as you could with a 2 yr old!). It helped alleviate the stress he was going through with me gone and it made me feel a little better that I could call him and hear his voice when I wanted to. He used to say he had Mama in his pocket. My husband took it away from him a couple of times because he said my son was going to get brain cancer from it, but I made sure he got it back. When I got out of the hospital we took it away for good since he had no one to call anymore. When he goes out with my MIL I sometimes give him the phone again so he can call if he gets lost (he's now 4 and can do that).
when all the children were in 5th grade we got them a pre-paid phone they had to prove responsible by buying their minutes and not loosing or tearing up the phone-
doing it this way taught them more than responsibility since it was prepaid and they used allowance to buy minutes they learned to keep conversations and texting to a minimum
Once they hit 6th grade we added them to our plan...so far so good
Oh i chose the 11-13 age group in the poll
I choosed the 11 - 13 group. I NEVER thought (when my sis's kids were my kids ages) that I'd be getting them phones. But... I work in one town, my husband in another, and the kids (I have 2) go to school in 2 other towns. That's 4 towns for us every day for 6+ hours. It's more for safety and security... so they can get hold of one of us in an emergency..."Mom I missed the school bus" or "I forgot I have a school club meeting after school, you'll need to pick me up."
The texting feature is OFF until they can pay for their own texts...
I just bought my eleven year old a phone and have been glad several times I did. Don't regret it a bit honestly.
It has very limited minutes and is a prepay for now.
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