Should Children Have Unmonitored Cell Phones?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers around the appropriate age for children to have unmonitored cell phones, with participants suggesting various age limits and conditions. Many contributors advocate for a minimum age of 14-16, emphasizing the importance of responsibility and parental control. Some propose that cell phones should be limited in functionality, allowing only essential communication, while others argue for a more lenient approach. The consensus highlights the need for parental oversight and the balance between safety and independence.

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Where would you draw the line for your child to have a cell phone

  • 3-5

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 6-8

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • 9-11

    Votes: 3 12.5%

  • 12-15

    Votes: 8 33.3%

  • 16-18

    Votes: 12 50.0%
  • Total voters
    24
Pengwuino
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Ok so at what point do you draw the line when it comes to children having full blown full featured unmonitored cell phones?

Personally, I'd make cell phones equivalent to alcohol. You'd need to be 21 to own one, excessive use in public would be an arrestable offense, and giving a cell phone to a minor would be a large fine. You could also get your kids taken away for over-cellphoning.

But that's just me :smile: :smile: :smile:

Oh and the poll is what YOU would do, not what you would like for other people to do.
 
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I agree. *gasp*

I hate having one.
 
Wow first time I've seen a reply to a poll thread before the poll was even put up
 
there's no 21+ option.
 
Yeah I agree it is outrageous now-a-days. Just for emergencies right? That is why my son/daughter needs text messaging, and a cellphone that takes pictures.
 
A poll thread? Man you are slow!Hmm, what exactly are we answering here? What would it mean if I were to choose 16-18? Does that mean that I would be ok with a 16-18 year old having a cell phone? Or does that mean that you must be at least 16-18 to have a cell phone?
 
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Well basically if you think "oh I'd be comfortable with my kid having a cell phone once he reaches 10" then you'd select the range that 10 years is. I couldn't put every single number so i made little ranges :P
 
:smile: OMG! Smurf and Pengwuino have agreed again! *runs to the window* Nope, not even a full moon. :bugeye:

Excessive cell phoning (a new verb I see) should be a felony! :smile:

In terms of unmonitored, unrestricted use...it would depend on the kid. Some are probably responsible enough by the time they are 15 or 16, but others still aren't responsible cell phone users yet when they hit 30. When they turn 18, they are legally adults, so as long as they are paying their own bills, then they are free to do as they choose (rules are a little different if they're still mooching off their parents at 18). Until then, it's a privilege granted by the parents...if you abuse it, you lose it.
 
Pengwuino said:
Well basically if you think "oh I'd be comfortable with my kid having a cell phone once he reaches 10" then you'd select the range that 10 years is. I couldn't put every single number so i made little ranges :P
Ok, that is more clear :smile:
 
  • #10
Hmm, so far 100% of the people agree with me.
 
  • #11
Well so far this is rather hilarious since my 9 year old niece wants a cell phone already :smile: :smile: :smile:
 
  • #12
Im 17 and get by fine without one. however, I also don't have a car. However, I choose 12-15, depending on the kid, at that age, it might start to become good if they start using one.
 
  • #13
She's in what 4th grade? And she has yet to have a cell phone? Geeze her parents are mean! She must be the most un-popular kid at school.
 
  • #14
mattmns said:
She must be the most un-popular kid at school.

The scariest part about this is that that very well might be true for that exact reason. I once drove my friend to pickup her siblings from elementary school and i saw some kids with cell phones and I am just like "... my god... isn't this one of the signs of the Armaggedon?
 
  • #15
A 9-year old?! At 9, I still had to ask my parents for permission to use the phone...the ONE phone, with the rotary dial, in the kitchen, where everyone could overhear the entire conversation. That rule applied until I was in high school, when I finally got my own phone in my room at around 16 (AFTER my parents were certain they had listened in on enough conversations between me and my first "real" boyfriend...we had a lot of conversations about physics homework :smile:...what else can you discuss when your parents are listening in?)
 
  • #16
No cell phones for my kids from me. that means they'll be out of the house before they get one... 22?.

If they need a cell phone in order to call one of us parents in an emergency (not a problem as yet but maybe when they're older) they'll get mine or husband's for the occasion only. Like if they're going on a hike with some friends or something.

We don't have cell phones yet either. Who needs em.
 
  • #17
Sure sure moonbear, and let me guess, you had to walk 15 miles in the snow to the phone :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :smile: :smile: :smile:
 
  • #18
Cosmo16 said:
Im 17 and get by fine without one. however, I also don't have a car. However, I choose 12-15, depending on the kid, at that age, it might start to become good if they start using one.
I'd probably get one for my kid when they got their first car since you can't find payphones anymore if you break down. I might get one for a younger teen (15 or 16) if they were very responsible and involved in extracurricular activities to make it easier to call when they were ready to get picked up to come home (if they weren't very responsible, I wouldn't be allowing them to participate in many extracurricular activities anyway...that's another privilege they'd have to earn).

Edit: I should add that if I got a phone for a kid of mine, it would have very limited functions. They wouldn't be text messaging all day, or calling all their friends. Ideally, it would be programmed to do nothing but call MY cellphone, and it WOULD be taken away at the first sign of abuse.
 
Last edited:
  • #19
Moonbear said:
That rule applied until I was in high school, when I finally got my own phone in my room at around 16 (AFTER my parents were certain they had listened in on enough conversations between me and my first "real" boyfriend...we had a lot of conversations about physics homework :smile:...what else can you discuss when your parents are listening in?)

:smile:

boy oh boy... was this back in the 70's :biggrin:
 
  • #20
Pengwuino said:
Sure sure moonbear, and let me guess, you had to walk 15 miles in the snow to the phone :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :smile: :smile: :smile:

Not to mention uphill both ways... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
  • #21
Pengwuino said:
Sure sure moonbear, and let me guess, you had to walk 15 miles in the snow to the phone :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :smile: :smile: :smile:
:rolleyes: Of course not! It was 15 miles in freezing rain, barefoot, to stand at a phone booth, without a jacket or umbrella, while the cars drove past splashing mud. :smile:

I really did grow up in an era when most homes only had one phone, two at most. Nobody had privacy on the phone.
 
  • #22
cronxeh said:
:smile:
boy oh boy... was this back in the 70's :biggrin:
80s. *deducts one GOOBF card from cronxeh*
 
  • #23
Moonbear said:
80s. *deducts one GOOBF card from cronxeh*
:smile: :smile: :smile:

i SO saw that coming!

cmon Moony you know you're too darn young to react like that :wink:
 
  • #24
cronxeh said:
cmon Moony you know you're too darn young to react like that :wink:
Oh...alright...*shoves GOOBF card back into cronxeh's hard drive*
 
  • #25
Moonbear said:
Oh...alright...*shoves GOOBF card back into cronxeh's hard drive*

Oh hey! Be gentle now, tender pushes, not some grunt shoving :eek:
 
  • #26
I think 14 is a good age, but the 14 year old must pay all expenses excluding voice service, so the kid would have to pay for all his/her text messaging, blah blah. Really depends on the kid, like I had a cell phone at 13, I rarely used text messages (maybe 3 a month)... The most I ever talked on it in public was probably 5 minutes, and the most I ever talked on it at the age of 13 was during the summer in the middle of the night for 3 hours :rolleyes: though it was a three way call... Erm, what was I getting at? Oh yeah, depends on the person :rolleyes:
 
  • #27
moose said:
I think 14 is a good age, but the 14 year old must pay all expenses excluding voice service, so the kid would have to pay for all his/her text messaging, blah blah.

:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: which effectively means 17
 
  • #28
I was 16 when I first came to the university. Seeing as I was away from home, and the only cheap and easy way to communicate was a cell phone, my parents got me one. So I had my first cell phone at the age of 16. What's wrong with that? :mad: :confused:
 
  • #29
I don't think most adults should have cell phones, let alone a 12 year old.
 
  • #30
cefarix- Now you are a very speacial case indeed.
 

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