When should a kid have a cellphone?
 

This drives me NUTS. I sit at starbucks and see 13 year olds with full blown smart phones texting and playing away. I honestly find this ridiculous, I was not able to get a cellphone until I had a job and even than I had a simple flip phone.

Than when I wanted a smartphone I had to not only pay for the phone but get my own contract as well.

What are your opinions?

All depends on where your raising you kid....if/when i buy my son a phone it woul be primarily for contact use...not a smart phone.....


then again it's 2012 technology is cheap

You can't not give kids technology if you're going to expect them to keep up in the future. When we didn't have cell phones as kids, it was no big deal, we just couldn't make calls. Keeping phones from kids now can cripple them, technologically speaking.

There is a big difference in them keeping up and being spoiled. If there is no real reason they need one they should not get one.

I am huge in tech and I had no problem adapting by the time I got my smartphone.

I think it is nuts to give kids a smart phone at that age. I think they should be allowed a simple phone to use primarily to contact their parents and make phone calls to friends. They don't need the luxury of a $300 phone that they will just break! And even then, I think middle school is a decent age to give them one.

They dont need a phone till they get a drivers liscense.

:iagree: That is a good point.

But at your age cellphones were not booming yet until you were older.
Now should a kid have an iPhone? Probably not, but kids need technology and we don't need to look at as a negative but a chance to mold them and control it.
Remember when you tell a child no they are known to break the rules anyways, this way you give them the entrance into technology but you also control how much they get.

Well, if you're huge in tech, wouldn't it make sense you can operate a smart phone?

Not sure if there is a real right or wrong answer here; just everyone's preferences. But if I had a kid, I want them at the forefront of technology, because that's where the jobs are going to be.

But kids are out on the town before they can drive, I would want my child to have a life line if they need it, a lot of scary things out today. Car accident, parties, etc.

How is that a good point? Give em a phone and a 4k lb car at the same time? :roflpuke2:

I'm 23 now just got my first smart phone 2 maybe 3 years ago. They were booming ! :happydance:

Oh ya, I knew a lot about them. Give them the owners manual and than the phone when they have a car!!!!

That does not mean they need a 300 dollar phone :p

:rofl2:

I agree on that to a point. Remember, giving them technology and controlling it is the best way to keep them in check. When I was in HS I got a nokia brick, had snack on it :tup:, but I had limits on it. The phone only had some many minutes and text, so I had to be responsible in using it.

Just sayin that kids who aren't technologically knowledgeable are going to be super-behind their counterparts. It's not a matter of "deserving" it or not. I got a computer when I was 16 instead of a car, and I was way ahead of the kids my age.

Yeah, that pr0n collection started early....:stirthepot:

Back when you had to download pics line-by-line.


fuckin arsehole. ;p

I so remember that!!! :tup:

Depends on the kid. If they don't abuse it, then they should use it.
Personally, I like the connectivity and safety it gives them, as well, as a parent, being able to keep in touch and knowing they're o.k. is worth the expense.
Mind you, if the little buggers abuse the privilege and run up megga bills, then I'd make them responsible for it p.d.q..

Lol, I only had beeper in HS...we thought we were so badass:icon17:

That was my sister's era, I remember her friends all having colored ones and changing the colors constantly out.....dorks. :stirthepot:

I also see kids being more cocky because of the fact they have a smartphone and someone else does not.

Raise your kids Amish.

Problem solved :tup:

If you read my post, I said before the license. However, the point at which they should definitely have one is when they start driving. ;)

I think it is good to start teaching kids about phones as early as possible. I will give my son one as soon as he is old enough to operate it. Not only is it a safety net but I think it will aid in my efforts to teach him how to be responsible. Now don't get me wrong, he will be limited to a prepaid device and I will monitor it closely.

Teach him how to wax that Z first!!! :rofl2:

lol...... We are working on it. Well first we are working on him not touching the Z every time he walks by it.

I gave my kids cellphones at a very young age with instructions not to use up my minutes and don't call me unless it's from a trunk of an unknown car or back of a white panel van! :mad:

Show him the adam's junkman videos over and over every week. You will have a scratch free car and in mint condition to.

I think once you become a teenager is a good time for a basic phone. I was 16 when I got my first cell phone but they were far from smartphones at that time. I had one of the Nokia bricks and my parents definitely limited it, I had a couple hundred minutes and no text messaging. I bought my first iPhone at 20 and have had them since.

Pre-paid phone until they can afford their own. My opinion at least.

When they're old enough to pay for it themselves.

Im a sales manager for a wireless company. I've seen people buy their 4 yr olds phones. As far as pricing on phones, smart phones are cheaper then some basic phones. And some smart phones are easier to use then basic phones. To each their own, but I see no issues with children having phones. As some has stated... It's a scary world. I think its a great safety net.

Nokia brick? Motorola brick i've heard of and seen, my buddy had one in HS, is this what you guiys are calling a "brick" phone, cause you need to look further back for a true "brick" of a phone. LOL

As for when kids should have a phone, depends on the kid.

I was referring to the Nokia 5165 which you have pictured on the left. Definitely not a brick compared to the first cell phones released but to today's technology it is lol.

Says the guy who makes his living selling cell phones :icon17:

J/K man.....but seriously.

I gotta ask, how many whining little brats break down or turn into a crazy person because they are trying to get their parents to buy them a phone.

LOL, maybe i'm just old, but i hear brick and that motoerola jumps to mind, yeah even that nokia, by todays standards is a brick tho. i think i still have one of them around here somewhere. lol

I still have mine, I couldn't just let go of a piece of history like that lol. That old school Motorola is definitely the definition of a brick phone. You can give somebody a concussion with that thing lol.

Lol I know right. Gotta pay the bills :)



All the time. Plus my store is located in a very very upscale part of town... There's Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis... parked in front of my store all day along. When little billy breaks his phone they just drop $600-$900 for a new phone like nothing. I've heard the kids literally say "if you ever want me to talk to you again, you'll buy my this phone." and parents do. If I ever said that to my pops growing up I would have been picking my self up off the floor.