when should i give them a cellphone,,,,whats a good age?

Question

my 8 year old neice just got a trac phone,,and mine are throwing a fit about it...is 8 too young?

Answer 1

depends is he relible enough for one? if he really is, there are phone for kids who are 8 like that firefly phone. It holds all the phone numbers that hes allowed to call (you choose the phone numbers)

Answer 2

8 is way too young. Childred are targets of marketing. Cell phone companies have used these new kiddy phones not only to attract parents but also the kids since they will feel "cool" having a phone. My parents didn't get me one until I was 17 and that's because I started going out a lot more and they felt I would be safer that way. At eight years old, you simply don't need one. A good parent knows that kids throw tantrums, and a good parent knows sometimes you gotta just say no.

Answer 3

absolutely, and 8 year old does not fully understand the 'responsibility' of owning a cellphone. so what if the kids are throwing a fit! if you give in you'll be showing them that chucking a hissy fit is the way to get things and you won't be doing them any favors doing that. most children (not all) nowadays need not wait for anything it seems, and it's all about peer pressure...they feel it...we give in and give them what they want because we don't want them to feel left out. it's not our fault entirely, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place too. gone are the days when we had to wait for christmas and birthday to get our special gift. children don't get excited about things anymore, due to the fact they have everything they need. it's a hard time to be a parent this day and age. all i can say is 8 is far too young regardless...i know i know...parenting...sigh!
good luck

Answer 4

8 is way to young. My exwife gave my son a cell phone when he was 13, and thats to young. He just got to carried away with having a phone and being able to call all his friends, used way more minutes and cost his mom a small fortune. When he was 14 he figured out how to download things, and that unlocked another pandora's box of problems. One of his so called friends put his phone number on his myspace page and he was getting calls from everywhere. He has lost phones, broken them, had them stolen, traded them for things. She would just buy him another. He is now 16 and has learned to be responsible, the hard way.

Answer 5

Yes, it's too young. They get an attitude with a cell phone. The only way that I could possibly consider it was if they were only allowed to have it when they were away from home so they could get in touch with me. At home, I would take it and put it somewhere so they wouldn't go lock themselves out of hearing distance. The control will start to disappear if you get them a cell phone-at any age.

Answer 6

yeah. What does an 8 year old need a cell phone for anyway? I say 13 is a good age

Answer 7

at age 8, a child should not have a cell phone for anything but keeping in touch with you. they have special phones so that you can set the phone to only call 4 or so numbers. i would say at age 13 or 14 they can get one for talking to their friends.

Answer 8

I think it is different for every kid. The child needs to be responsible enough to not lose it, and to not abuse it. A cheap prepaid phone with low minutes on it would probably be your best bet, because if they lose it at this age, someone can run up a pretty big bill before you even know it. Tracfone might be a good idea.

Answer 9

I just got my 11 years old son a phone. He is starting middle school next week and most of his schoolmates already have cell phones.

He has been asking for a phone for a year but I wait until now to get him one.

Answer 10

I got my son a cell phone when he was 10. I got him a firefly phone. It has 3 buttons. Mom, dad and 911. No numbers so he can't run up the bill making phone calls. If it makes you feel better for your child to have a phone get them one. You can purchase at www.fireflymobile.com