We got our children a cell phone that they only use for emergencies.  They carry it with them when they are away from our home.  They are not allowed to text or make calls to friends.  

It's "peace of mind" for mom and dad.  

My 12 year old has his own phone, but this is an age where he and his friends get dropped of at the movies, or ball games and I want to have contact at all times. My 7yr year old will not get a phone until she becomes of an age where she will starts doing things away from me. And she knows that might or might not be at the age of 12 like her brother, she will have to prove to me that she is responsible enough for that privilege.

'For emergencies only', ya right, I gave my teens one for the same reason, and they learned text  in no time.  Verizon has a deal where they take donated phones and are configured to dial out only to 911, and gives them to the 'women's shelter'.  Good idea for kid's phones to be configured this way or to dial mom or dad only (hmmm good marketing scheme??)

Good one Bob!  I agree.  Kids think we don't know how they think.  

We gave our daughter a cell for safety purposes when she started middle school because her school is over 14 miles and 25 minutes away on a major highway, (281).  We did the same for our son.  Each of their bus rides were about an hour long down part of 281 plus some dangerous hill country roads.  Ditto TJ's comments.  

We got our 9 year old a phone for emergenies mainly or for certain situations.
He is involved in sports and we ran into a few problems last year because we would show up to pick him up after school and he would tell us he had basketball practice.  So we would either wait for him or have to find something else to do until he was finished with practice.
Once we bought the phone, he would call and let us know he had practice and to pick him up at a certain time.
I say if you can afford to buy one for your child, please do.

Got my 15 year old daughter a cell phone. She ended racking up a $300.00 bill, that she is now working to pay off.  Great lesson on responsibility! She will be more careful now.

A cell phone can be configured in any way a parent wishes.
Many younger children need to know
how to get in touch with mom/dad/grandma when required.
Control by parents with boundries. Great safety link. Cells aren't necessary but a part of our world. If you can afford one for kiddos 10 & older - this grandma thinks it is a good idea. Have a safety meet up plan & discuss what to do when & if certain things happen.
Of course teens is a whole different thing.

I would like to have cell phones for my kids, but these cell phone companies are hard to deal with when there's a problem with your bill...I had a bad experience with AT&T and Cingular.

We are allowing or rather pushing our children to grow up to fast.  THey have already completely lost all sense of personal communication.  We as parents and grand parents might want to think about taking control of the reigns once more.  It isn't going to get any better!

If cell phones were still big bulky devices you had to lug around in a case hanging off a shoulder, which was only usable to make voice phone calls, I don't think even 1/4 of the kids who now have a cell phone would want one even if you offered to pay if they would take it with them.  But today's cell phones are very small and many are capable of a lot more than just making voice calls...like to play games on, text message, play music, send email, use it as a calculator, a day planners, browse the web, watch video on it, use it as a camera to take pictures, view photos and more.  The convergence of many separate technologies into one small device make it a "must have" item for busy adults, and potentially one of the coolest toys around that a kid could want.

I think a lot of this "I want a cell phone" talk from kids is either due to peer pressure pushing others to get one, simply wanting what other kids have, or a result of lingering uneasy feelings by parents after events such as the Columbine school shooting incident which is motivating parents to want an independant line of communication to their child at all times.  I don't think the first two reasons justify a child getting a cell phone...as for the third reason, that's up to the parents since they are mainly getting the phone for the peace of mind of the adult and children.  So it's like buying life insurance...you hope it's never needed, but if it is, you've got that covered.

My 13 yr old son got a phone when he was 10.  We had encountered afterschool problems when my sister-in-law was unable to be at school to pick them up.  With the phone my son would locate my daughter and then call me, and I would get off from work and pick them up.  This year my daughter, 8 yrs, got a cell phone.  She'll be the only child from our family going to that elementary school. The cell phone is for the same purpose, any time my sister-in-law is running late or unable to pick her up, my daughter can call me and I will go.  We have the family plan and have blocked the internet access on my daughter's phone.  My son does not misuse his phone.  My husband and I constantly remind them the phones are a necessity not a luxury.  My husband has enforced that when we call they need to answer their phone otherwise they may be in trouble with us.

Cell phones in and of themselves are not the real issue.  It is the people and their maturity that matter.  I take issue with use of cell phones by people who use them for such things as texting one another from classroom to classroom with the intent of passing class information one student to another or taking pictures of tests, downloading them then passing it along to students who probably didn't study and need to know "what's on the test?"  As an educator I have seen this happen and even if they are only hurting themselves by such actions, the purpose for the cell phone should be limited and not used improperly.  If mom and dad need to know how things are going with their children, what happened to the family dinner table? Why disrupt them while in class with: "how is your day going?"  I agree with Shirley.  Parents lets take a good look at the way we are raising our children, re-establish parenting.  This will be real communication.

Its a combination of all. All 4 of our kids have cells for emergency purposes and to comunicate with friends and family. Were both in law enforcement to us it's alot safer for our kids to have a cell and be inside or if outside especially with all the crime. Its all about control.

Its a combination of all. All 4 of our kids have cells for emergency purposes and to comunicate with friends and family. Were both in law enforcement to us it's alot safer for our kids to have a cell and be inside or if outside especially with all the crime. Its all about control.

If the darn things weighed about 8lbs then we would could take care of the fat problem too. They have become a necessary evil.

In defense of kids getting phones has anyone looked around while driving and noticed the lack of phone booths on street corners or pay phones on the side of buildings these days?  They used to be practically everywhere.  Give a kid some quarters and that takes care of the phone issue.  Not now though.  It's like the pay phones have been pulled to encourage people to get a cell phone, or they were removed because so many people have been getting cell phones that the pay phones no longer made enough money to maintain all of them.

I didn't get my cellphone til I turned 16 last December. I think Kids should get cellphones when they are in Highschool. For when they go to football games and need to be picked up or when they go to the movies.

Perhaps in some special situations I can see "lending" your kids your cellphone, but at these young ages, they don't need one at all.

My 12 year old has been asking for a phone for a year or two now, but no way I am giving her one. She doesn't need it, would only loose it or abuse it, and if she needs to make a call, we have a home phone...end of story.

As for the smack-tards who drop their kids off alone at Fiesta Texas or at the Mall when they are 14 or 13 or younger...you don't need to give your kids a cell phone, save your money and invest it in parenting classes because you are RETARDED. You are the people whose kids get kidnapped and then you wonder "How did that happen?" Dee-de-Deee!!!

My 9 yr old has a phone with parental controls. There are so many sick people out there today. Without it, she would not be able to play outside at all and would be basically stuck in the house. This is for her to contact me in an emergency and the parental controls option with Sprint prevent the text messaging and internet usage.

I think all these kids with there cell phones and Dan Fogerty music, are just bad. What about the good old days when you just talk to your friend who lived up the hill.

The only valid reason for anyone to have a cell phone is to call on the lord Jesus.

Deanna,

You won't let you kid play outside unless he/she has a cell phone? That makes no sense...so if a child molester drives up and grabs your kid, you think he will let them make a call? I don't think so.

If you go outside and play with your kids...or at least sit and watch them play...your kids will be safer...and you are spending quality time with your kids, and thats something parents lack these days and is a reason the younger generation acts the way it does.

I still see no reason a kid should have a cell phone...no one here is changing my mind so far.

only smart comment here.

I think parents should know at all times where their kids are w/ or w/ out a cell phone. Our parents always worked and we didn't need one. I believe a good age to purchase a cell phone is when they are old enough to work and pay for the bill themselves. As a parent I should not have to look for my child with a phone call . I should know where he is and what he is doing at all times.