At what age is appropriate to get a child a cell phone?

Question

If a child walks two blocks to school every day-would you feel better as a parent to send a cell phone?

Answer 1

I would say as soon as a child starts going to school they can be taught how to be responsible for a cell phone. Especially if they have two blocks to walk to school. Check out the new cell phone by Disney. Only seen the commercial once but it has awesome features that I haven't seen others have. Such as parent "allowance minutes", and a tracking system from the parent phone to the child's phone...at any time you could check the location of your child's phone. Praying, of course, they still have their phone with them. Good luck.

Answer 2

It depends very much on your child and the situation. Regarding going to school, does your school have a safe arrival policy where they call you if your child doesn't arrive and you haven't called? If so you can have peace of mind from that and maybe a phone isn't necessary for a two block walk. How responsible is your child? Would he/she take care of the phone or would it be likely to be lost or broken? Would your child run up phone minutes or use it to play games or text message during school? Would the phone only be a status symbol? We gave my son a phone at age 12 when he started going to school downtown by himself on the subway. My 11 year old daughter does not have one as she doesn't travel very far by herself.

Answer 3

Two blocks doesn't seem that far to me, but I live in a fairly small town. So it may be quite a distance for you. OK, that sounds like I'm saying block size varies from towns to cities! I guess what I mean is, you may live in a more populated area than I and have a bit more to worry about. There are very few payphones around anymore (because of cell phones, I'm sure), so it's difficult to call for you when needed. So, if YOU are ready, then I guess it's time

Answer 4

I don't think age is question, but maturity and responsibility. If you believe your child is mature and responsible enough to keep track of a cell phone then you should give him/her a cell phone.

Disney has an interesting cell service that not only allows you to restrict who the child is able to call or receive calls from, it also has a built in GPS that will tell you where the child is at all times. If what you want is peace of mind, this may be the solution you are looking for. http://disneymobile.go.com/disneymobile/home.do

Answer 5

I know of 8 year olds with phones. I didn't ask the parents what kind of phones their children had.

However, there are phones like the firefly that are made for young children. These phones restrict outgoing phone calls to a limiited number of individuals and emergency services. If you want you can restrict it to just you and 911. Some companies have family locator services so you can track your children with GPS technology.

If I had children, I probably would give a phone like the ones mentioned to my young kids. Older teens who may want a regular phone like we use the phone, I would say if they are old enough to pay for it.

Answer 6

if it is for protection, about all the cell phone companies now afford a cell phone only to be used to call the parents and police in case of an emergency. it looks like a regular phone but it is not./
if it is because she or he wants to talk to their friends, the can wait to get home and talk to them on the house phone and have it more controlled.

Answer 7

16

Answer 8

get that one cell phone from verizon, that can be used by a child and only hold like four numbers. The website is in my source.

Answer 9

I d say 14 or 15 but wit an agreement about the top up of the money in it. you pay so u control how much he/she uses

Answer 10

each child is different. I do not think this is a question any one except the parents or guarding can really answer