When Should You Get Your Child A Cell Phone?-star a5000
When Should You Get Your Child A Cell Phone?-star a5000
star a5000Android 2.2 GPS TV Dual Sim Mobile
When Should You Get Your Child A Cell Phone?-star a5000
According to my 9-year-old daughter, the answer to that question is "you should have gotten me one last year!" A few of her friends already have cell phones, so of course in her mind, that means she needs one, too. But when does a cell phone become a necessity for your child rather than a luxury?
In our household, we have decided that cell phones don't become an actual necessity for the kids until they start driving. That's when I want to be able to stay in constant touch with them, knowing that they have increased independence and much less adult supervision.
But younger children and "tweens" (kids aged 8 to 12) shouldn't be alone in the first place. I can't really think of a situation where a child that age couldn't use a regular phone or the phone of whichever adult is supervising them. Do kids this age actually need a cell phone? There's no black and white answer to that. Each parent needs to evaluate their own need to stay connected to their child versus the added expense of a cell phone, while also considering the child's level of maturity and responsibility. Let's look at some of the pros and cons of buying your young child a cell phone.
Pros
The main pro is the ability to keep in touch with your child. This is especially true for single parents, families where both parents work full time, and families with complicated schedules. If your child spends a lot of time in after school activities, goes to child care after school, or spends time with another parent on the weekends, a cell phone could certainly offer peace of mind by allowing you to keep up with your child. In addition to being available in case of emergency, a cell phone can be practical and convenient, for example if you need to pick your child up early or if baseball practice is running late.
Another possible advantage to your child having a cell phone is the ability to track your child's whereabouts with a GPS tracking device. Many phones designed just for young kids have GPS technology that can tell you where the phone is at any given time (handy for when the child loses the phone, too!)
A weaker argument for getting kids a cell phone is that it can be used to teach them responsibility as they learn to keep up with the phone, stay within their allowed minutes and texts, follow the rules for usage at school, etc.
Cons
One of the most important cons is the expense. Of course the phone itself costs money, but kids are notorious for going over their plan minutes and text allowances (did anyone read the story recently about the dad who took a hammer to his 13-year-old daughter's cell phone after she ran up a bill of over $4,700??!!) Don't forget that kids can also download ringtones and games at anywhere from $0.99 to $3.99 each. Also, if the phone is web-enabled, they can rack up kilobyte charges for time spent accessing the internet on the phone.
Another important consideration is how much of a distraction a cell phone can be. Many school systems have banned cell phone use at school, but kids can still fall behind if they are talking and texting when they should be doing homework or studying. The $4,700-cell-phone-bill-girl I mentioned above saw her grades fall from A's and B's to F's during that time period, then managed to pull her grades back up to A's and B's after dad's intervention.
Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that cell phones open up a whole new way for the outside world to communicate with your child. Sex offenders can use the anonymity of texting to talk to your child just as they do in chat rooms. And with most phones offering internet access, your child has access to web browsing, email, chat, and instant messaging that is much harder to monitor and control than it is on your home computer.
Points to Consider
After weighing the pros and cons, if you decide to get your child a cell phone, here are some things to consider.
A prepaid plan with an agreed-upon number of monthly minutes and texts
The ability to turn off web access and text messaging if the need arises
The ability to limit who can call the phone and who your child can call with the phone
Only let your child have the phone when he/she really needs it, like at the mall or amusement park or someplace they may not have easy access to a regular phone, or where you may become easily separated from the child
Get a phone with a GPS tracker
Talk to your child and make sure he/she understands cell phone safety, cyberbullying, cell phone etiquette, rules for use at school, etc.
Make the cell phone a privilege they have to earn, and can lose if they misbehave or misuse the phone
Suggested Phones for Kids
Firefly glowPhone (*Est. $50 for phone, plus monthly service), an update of the first kids' cell phone, originally introduced in 2005. This is a very basic phone, but compact and easy to use for young children. Kids use a cursor pad instead of a standard keypad to choose phone numbers from a password-protected phonebook that parents program. Kids can also select pre-loaded ringtones or wallpaper, play simple pre-loaded games and read text messages (but the phone can't send text messages). There are keys marked with a man or a woman to directly call dad or mom, and there's a dedicated button for calling (911). You can limit calls to only those numbers in the phonebook, and turn incoming text messaging off. The phone is available in pink or black.
Enfora's TicTalk (*est. $100 plus airtime) is a simple phone that's heavy on the parent controls. It can receive or make calls from 20 pre-approved numbers, which parents can program via the web. Parents can also decide when the phone will accept calls, send kids reminder messages and even disable features. The phone comes with five educational games for kids that can help improve math and spelling skills. Kids can earn "reward minutes" for playing these educational games. Availability is currently limited, and the TicTalk can only be purchased direct from Enfora; the company's website notes that it currently takes four weeks for orders to be fulfilled.
Kajeet has a whole line of kids' phones with lots of parental control features. Kajeet's configurator lets parents add phones, check balances, block numbers and view calls. An additional wallet feature lets parents allocate money for kids' phone calls. Kajeet's current phone selections include the LG LX150 (*est. $50), Samsung m300 (*Est. $60) and Sanyo Katana II (*Est. $100). Unlike most kids' cell phones, these are full-featured devices, identical to the ones used by Sprint subscribers, with all features such as cameras, text and picture messaging, Bluetooth compatibility, personal organizer tools and more included. All are compatible with Kajeet's GPS locator service.
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