My Son Asked Me When He Can Have A Cell Phone...

[Rolent Tex]

..because some of his friends have cell phones.

He’s eight years old.

In the second grade.

When the hell did parents start letting their eight year olds rock cell phones at school?

[Bo Rida]

My neice is 8 and I couldn't understand why she's so obsessed with cell phones, she couldn't articulate it.

Then I realised of course she is, every adult is obsessed with their phones and she's left out. That's before the appeal of tech, games etc.

Still, she's 8, no phone for her.

[Deleted]

There's a kid my aunt babysat a lot who was constantly playing with her phone and I think he was like six when she died.

[Glitch]

Give him this and go "here ya go son."

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

High school at earliest. If you feel you need to have the ability to contact him whenever, maybe get him a no frills calls and texts only flip phone when he’s 10 or 12. Kids younger then that don’t need a f***ing phone.

Tablet at a young age I can kinda understand, you can control screen time easier, babysitter for long travel like Game Boy was for me, their are educational benefits to it etc. But an 8 year absolutely does not need a f***ing phone.

[chrom]

Not until they start high school

[Dub H]

Eh I don' think it is that bad.But also not bad to not give,it all depends on the kid, you can educate then little by little on it.A lot of his future will involve social media and internet,even school work, so it might be good to get something simple.

Then again I was the kid to learn how to use the computer before walking

[Paul]

Dec 7, 2019 4:56:36 GMT -5 Glitch said:

Give him this and go "here ya go son."

Do you want the kid to grow up to be trash?!

[Dub H]

Dec 7, 2019 8:03:46 GMT -5 Paul said:

Dec 7, 2019 4:56:36 GMT -5 Glitch said:

Give him this and go "here ya go son."

Do you want the kid to grow up to be trash?!

No he wants him to grown up and b an 80's Business Man...

Soh yeh ,basically trash

[Deleted]

I had this conversation with my brother when his kid wanted one when he was 12. He wasn’t close to being in high school, maybe the fifth grade. He asked me if he should get one, and I said yes under the circumstances that he gets a bare bone flip phone for texting and calling only. And he gets one of those phones you have to buy minutes for like tracfone or something. Something that’s basically for an emergency which is what a kid should have a phone for in this day and age.

I get the dreaded “k” response which we all know means that I didn’t like that and now I’m annoyed. He sent a long message back saying that he wouldn’t get his kid that type of phone because his friends would make fun of him and blah blah blah, he bought him the latest LG phone at the time (a stylo I think) and he’s had problems with it since then. I may not be a parent or a psychic but I saw this coming from a mile away.

So...high school and the kid gets a basic phone.

[I'm Team Bayley and Indi]

should have a phone from an age they are trusted to be on their own, like getting to and from school etc, any earlier is pointless

[Welfare Willis]

I assigned an oral speech for my vclass of middle school students about what age kids should have cell phones. A lot of the girls believed about age 11. So your son seems slightly advanced for his age. I don't have kids, but I'd want to delay it as much as possible. Age 11 seems too young to me. Maybe 13? They're at that age where they'll begin dating and spreading their wings more so that makes more sense to me.

[edgestar]

Dec 7, 2019 8:58:18 GMT -5 @robertgbp said:

I had this conversation with my brother when his kid wanted one when he was 12. He wasn’t close to being in high school, maybe the fifth grade. He asked me if he should get one, and I said yes under the circumstances that he gets a bare bone flip phone for texting and calling only. And he gets one of those phones you have to buy minutes for like tracfone or something. Something that’s basically for an emergency which is what a kid should have a phone for in this day and age.

I get the dreaded “k” response which we all know means that I didn’t like that and now I’m annoyed. He sent a long message back saying that he wouldn’t get his kid that type of phone because his friends would make fun of him and blah blah blah, he bought him the latest LG phone at the time (a stylo I think) and he’s had problems with it since then. I may not be a parent or a psychic but I saw this coming from a mile away.

So...high school and the kid gets a basic phone.

I haaaaate the "k" response. Like, I took forever to come up with something to mask how truly pissed off I am, and I get that in return? The gloves are off, son!

[MC Blowfish]

I told my son, he could have one when he's 13. Some of his friends already have phones and they're 10.

[Dr. T is an alien]

It's all relative. We gave our kids our old phones whenever we upgraded, but only when they were mature enough to be responsible with them. Because they matured at different rates, that age varied. Still, I don't think we got them full fledged smart phones until high school, at which point they were a necessity.

[Fade]

My heart goes out to you parents because it’s quite the conundrum and I have no idea what the answer is. From the amount of studies and articles discussing it, doesn’t seem there’s a concrete answer yet.

[Mister Pigwell]

Told mine when they start driving in case there's an emergency.

[Deleted]

I got my first phone at the age 11.

My nephew is on first grade and he has a phone.

Times change and I believe he was given a phone so my sister can keep track of him after school.

My only concern is that back when i was a kid, we didn't really have mobile phones that tricked kids into spending real money.

all we had were ringtone services that could be blocked and Snake 2

[Rolent Tex]

He’ll get a phone when he’s old enough that he needs to keep in contact. He’ll get my hand me down phones. Just like my father does 😂.

[Instant Classic]

In my opinion 6th grade maybe 5th grade is the right time.