Too Young for a Cell Phone?
What is the right age to get a cell phone for your child?
That’s a question that will have 100 different answers if you ask 100 different parents.
I was faced with the first glimmer of reality in this issue Tuesday night as my sister and her husband presentd my nephew with a brand new cell phone for his 7th birthday. Seven. The kid is seven.
I held my breath, feeling what was coming at me next. I was right. My daughter, five-and-a-half, turned and asked me when is SHE getting a phone.
Ouch.
I had hoped that question would comes a few more years down the road. I am not a big fan of giving a young child a cell phone. I do eventually want her to have one of those basic units that can call out to a limited array of numbers and maybe even one with a way to block texting and internet. I have not actually given it all that much though, aside from hoping I would be able to deal with it later.
In the wake of all the local stories about back-to-school in the local papers is a whole lot of coverage about cell phones and kids. The stories talk about six and seven year old kids getting phones, kids texting all day, and the fact the cellular companies are spending more advertising money than ever before to target young children.
My dreams of getting Gigi a “kid” phone with like three buttons died when I saw a statistic that said 10% of 8-year-olds have a cell phone, by age 12 that statistic is 50%, and at the age of 15 a full 84% of kids have their own phone. The phones they what are BlackBerries, Apple iPhones and phones with full-size QWERTY keyboards and social networking software.
Studies show that parents do try to maintain some sense of control when they give out a phone, though. A good number of children start out with pre-paid phones so that parents can control the costs. About one-fifth of parents say they attach the achievement of a particular grade-point-average to the privilege of having a cell phone.
I’ve gone over in my head the fact that a cell phone can be a safety for my daughter. It is a good feeling to know she can call me when she needs to, just like I carry a cell phone to know I can make a call from the car if I break down on the road. I think about how much easier it would be to get in touch with her when she is at her dad’s house.
On the other hand, I did just fine in school without a phone. I used a pay-phone if I needed to call home. My teachers did not have phones in their classrooms, but these days all of the teachers do. If there really is an emergency at school, there are many ways for my child and the teachers to get in touch with me aside from my daughter having a cell phone. At the age of not-yet-six, I do not plan on her being out on her own outside of school anyway.
Yes, when we were kids we could use a pay phone but when was the last time you’ve seen a working payphone? They are all gone or damaged. The cell phones have made them extincted. And the schools only have a couple lines. Yes, cell phone towers can get jammed but they can hold many more calls than the school can. And a quick text message during an emergency is said to be one of the most reliable ways of communicating. A quick text message during an emergency could set you at ease or a 911 call when something happens and they are too afraid to get up and get the phone (kids can text and call in their pockets). So I truly believe a cell phone is a safe item for a child. They can call if a sports event stops early or they need a ride so they no longer have to wait. Yeah, you made it through childhood without one. But how about all those other kids who didn’t make it?