What's a good age for a first cell phone?

NotSmellyPrepaid · #1 02-13-2007, 04:04 PM

And what limitations would you put on its use? (Prepaid only, restricted dialing, GPS locator???)

Nwahs · #2 02-13-2007, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by NotSmellyPrepaid

And what limitations would you put on its use? (Prepaid only, restricted dialing, GPS locator???)

A lot of kids in 7th and 8th grade have them now. I think its the norm for kids between 12 and 13 to get them now...closer to 13 though.

Matt · #3 02-13-2007, 05:25 PM

I got my son his at age 13. He has been very responsible about it.

blog · #4 02-13-2007, 05:58 PM

id say around 14.

arigold · #5 02-13-2007, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by tytyguy

id say around 14.

I agree, maybe 13, 14....but unfortunately i've seen kids as low as 7, 8 get their first phones with me. I suppose their is some logic to the parent who wants to know if their kid has made it to a bus stop, friends house. I can understand that, it makes sense to me, though I am not a parent.

mingkee · #6 02-13-2007, 07:31 PM

I think when the kids start to hang out (around 14-15)
the parents can keep in touch with them

brad15 · #7 02-13-2007, 08:47 PM

around 13, but it depends on how mature the kid is IMO..

Nwahs · #8 02-14-2007, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by brad15

around 13, but it depends on how mature the kid is IMO..

Agreed. You don't want to buy a phone for em, and have them lose it right away. I would start with pre-paid for a while and make sure it works out, and then add them to post paid.

Scoot · #9 02-15-2007, 05:19 AM

depends on why they want a phone or why you want them to have a phone. i mean i know kids that have them at walking and talking age parents track them to make sure no one steals them i guess. but what ever you think would be best age is the right age. i know i had one when i was in 6th grade.

PixieBaby473 · #10 02-15-2007, 08:58 AM

Okay, my son is 7 and he has one. A T-Mo prepaid phone. He only gets it when he goes to spend the night somewhere. There are alot of perverts and weirdos in the world, and this was my logic for getting it for him.
Say he's staying at a friends house and someone there tries to mess with him... if he says he wants to call me to come home, of course they're not going to let im use the phone. So he can sneak his phone into the bathroom and call me from it.
And before you go saying I shouldn't be thinking that way, the sad truth is, it does happen. It happened to both my sisters, and me. However,it wasnt friends... it was family.
So yes, he imight be young, but he has it for a reason. A good one. :)

NotSmellyPrepaid · #11 02-15-2007, 02:32 PM

Hate to have to agree with you on this one Pixie (because it's such a sad world we live in, I mean), but your reasons are actually my worst fears too. Sometimes I admit that my kids are packing a phone, sometimes I try to "forget" to mention it. They don't actually have full custody of a phone they could legitimately call their own yet, but when they go to someone's house (very rare but it does happen occasionally), I make sure they're packing a phone.

Interesting feedback from everybody else too - it appears my older kids got a softie for a mom... They had contract phones around age 14-15. Now they have their own contracts in their own names. That's the reward to me for surviving their teen years, LOL!

Scoot · #12 02-15-2007, 03:43 PM

in some cases i don't think it is a bad thing for a young child to carry a phone i mean you really don't know what could happen and thinking as parents you always end up thinking the worse thing that could happen.
better safe than sorry i think

PixieBaby473 · #13 02-15-2007, 07:01 PM

Yeah, and that's the case here. I just want him to be safe. Or if he just decides he wants to come home and doesn't want to hurt the friend's feelings... different reasons. But it's not attached to his side or whatever like mine is. :)
Alot of the kids in my family have cell phones, contract ones too, around the age of 13 or so. It's just the normal thing. But then again, now you see what kind of family we have too. :/