What is a good age to give your kids a cell phone?

The “teens don’t need a cell phone until they’re driving or moved out” is an interesting idea, and I understand where it’s coming from. Kids survived for years without cell phones, and they become sort of a social crutch… it’s easy to become addicted to texting, which isn’t best for the phone bill OR social interaction with peers. I am, however, a firm beliver in the expression “everything in moderation and nothing in excess.”

I’m not so uptight as to deny my child a cell phone until age sixteen, provided he/she can handle the responsibility (which includes keeping track of it, taking good care of it, and making sure they do not go over their minutes or texts each month). As long as I have that trust in each of my children, there is no need to deny them what has almost become a staple in today’s teenage society. If they mess up, then they deal with the consequences: they pay for each text or minute they go over their limit, and Mom and Dad will buy them a new phone once every two years when the contract expires… if they ruin their phone before then, they pay for a new one themselves or they go without.

My husband and I do set a 5 text a month limit on our kids’ phones as long as we’re the ones footing the bill… and believe me, that’s not a popular decision among my kids, but they deal. The reason? First of all, money, but second of all, we don’t want our kids to have their noses buried in their phones all the time. My daughter’s friend sends over 10,0 texts a month. 10,0! That’s ridiculous. We just don’t want our kids to learn to place too much importence on their phone. Above all, it is just a THING, after all.

At age 13, kids are going out without their parents to the mall or the movies, to soccer practice, whatever… and it’s nice to be able to get ahold of them. Yeah, kids survived without for years, but it’s a nice invention that we have NOW… why not take advantage of it? So, yes, that’s an important aspect of the cell phone debate, but, you know, I also don’t have a problem with giving my kids a gift that will help them keep in touch with their friends. My teenagers use their phones to make plans, communicate with pals who have moved away, to talk to their brother who is away at college, etc.

So, in my opinion, anything much under 12 is probably too young to grasp the full responsibility of owning a phone… but waiting to give a child a phone until they are 16 or 18 isn’t necessary either, as the responsibility CAN be handled at a much younger age. As always, this will go on a child by child basis, but 13 seems like a good number that’s right in the middle. We gave all three of our kids a cell phone for their 13th birthday and, can I just say, they were among the last of their friends to have one.

18+

Kids don’t need a cell phone.

I’d have to say 10:)

i say middle school is a good age. so around 12. earlier is just too soon in my opinion

When they get their drivers license. Then they have a real reason to call in case of emergency

Well, how responsible is your child? It all depends… Will your child say mean things or prank call? That is an unanswerable question!

I got a phone when i was in sixth grade and my brother did also. I think 6th grade is a time when kids find priority for things like a cell phone, ipod, laptop, etc.

Source(s):
My life

A good age would be when they enter junior high/middle school. Times get tough because they’re going through puberty and it gets harder and harder to find them. So I say middle school.

Before 8th grade end of 7th. I got mine last year and i start highschool next fall.

I got mine when I was 16, and started driving on my own.

I really think much younger than that is just ridiculous. My father bought my little sister a phone when she turned 12 (she’s 12 years younger than me- so there is a big generation gap). It lasted a little over a year. It was a very nice Envy 2- she just dropped it in a puddle and ruined it…before that it was trashed anyway- she doesn’t take care of her things. NOW she is asking for a Droid- if my father gets her one- he is officially crazy…

I don’t see why 13 year old children need cell phones.

14

i had my first cell phone at 14, same for my little brother. but i went through minutes really quick. if your planning to give your child a phone make sure its unlimited minutes or text messaging. now days teens text more than they make phone calls.

I managed without one so can my children.So when they are an adult and can buy their own.

When your child needs one. A child who is involved in a lot of outside activties may need one in late elementary or middle school. (Public phones are few and far between these days ….) Another child might not need one until high school or college — or never. (I don’t own a cell phone, and neither does my daughter at present. Hubby has one [he needs it for work], and on the rare occassions that daughter needs one, she borrows it.)

im getting one for my daughters 11th birthday i want her to have one for sec school when she will be travelling there and back alone. I think all children should have one for sec school…e.g. if she decided that she wanted to stay an hour later after school to do homework i know personally esp in the first term i would be extremelly worried if she didn’t call me and let me know..or if she ever needed picking up, or decided to go to her friends house

Middle school.
They start playing sports in middle school, they start going to the movies and the mall with friends, they start walking alone with friends around town. They start going to school events, etc.

That’s how it was for me in middle school. We started going to the movies in big groups, I went to the mall with my friends, we walked around the neighborhood and went to wal-mart.

I however didn’t get a cell phone till I was 15 but whenever I left to go do anything my mom gave me hers.

I should have had my own, what if after I called my mom to get me something happened, no way to call her because I had her cell phone.

When I have kids and they hit middle school I think I’ll get them a tracfone or something till 7th grade and see how they do and then add them to my plan. I’ll get them unlimited texting and a decent phone, with verizon a lot of their cool phones are free to $50 which is extremely reasonable.

12 seems fine. But, only for emergencies.

…”they” need to earn it ! (just handing out “stuff” like candy isn’t the pathway to responsibility) …age can be secondary, necessity and responsibility are the ‘key’ to domestic confluence.

When they need one.

Dave, my son gets off the school bus on his own on the wrong side of a busy road (as in four lanes of traffic doing 70mph). No adults, no public phone. Are you seriously suggesting he doesn’t need a cellphone to call me to come cross him over, or someone else if something’s happened to me?

He’s ten, btw.

When they’re old enough to pay for it themselves.

There’s always scenario’s where you need to get ahold of your kids but you just can’t.
I’d say 11 years old.
But put limit’s!
Only for emergencies at certain times!
I got mine when I was 9, only to call my mom, dad, aunt and 911.

I will not ‘give’ my child a cellphone they will EARN it. Criteria: 16 years old, have a job, can pay for at LEAST half the bill EVERY month

Source(s):
cellphones are tools not toys

I got a cell phone when I was 9 (5th grade) because I did lots of after school activites.
My children will get cell phones when they are responsible and need one.

Late primary to early secondary school or the “Tweens stage” alot of kids usually get phones at that time and kids don’t want to be left out. At that age kids should be responsible enough to handle a cell phone but today kids dont just want a cell phone. They usually want a phone with internet, apps a nd loads iof other features.