re: Kids and cellphones

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I didn't need a cell at 12 and times haven't really changed

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I didn't need a cell at 12 and times haven't really changed.

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This is comically wrong.

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I didn't need a cell at 12 and times haven't really changed.

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I just don't understand this. Why wouldn't you want your child to have a cell phone?

You don't have to buy a smartphone for the kid. You can buy a basic phone that calls and texts only. I would want a way to get in touch with my child at all times.

Son got an iPhone when he turned 16, daughter just turned 13 and got a Asus for like 80 bucks.

My son just graduated and I took him and 2 of his buddies up to the camp on Toledo. We were catfishing on the dock and his girlfriend was texting him. He had his phone sitting on his knee returning her text when he got a huge bite. He jumped to set the hook and the iPhone is now in about 6 feet of lake water. I said well we know where some of that grad money is going. Pro tip kids, don't text and fish.

Thirteen. Tell them it is their bday present for becoming a teenager. This was also the first age where they should be going anywhere with friends that you don't know exactly where they are and when they will be back.

Meh. Your world may be shitty but mine is not

We got my son a cell phone when he was going into 7th grade. We did this because (1) he was now in school sports where he'd need to call us for a ride after practices and (2) I wanted to teach him how to use a cell phone in a responsible manner. His first phone was my old iPhone 5.

The first thing we did was have a talk with him about ground rules for the phone. I let him know the phone was not his, it was mine and his mothers and we could and would inspect his phone anytime we wanted. There was no expectation of privacy on his part. We'd see his texts, any and all social media, and his internet history. If we checked his phone and found any of his stuff had been deleted, he'd lose his phone. We also let him know about limiting his data use when not on our wifi. And finally we talked about care for the phone, things like letting it fully charge, keeping it in its case, and generally keeping up with it.

He's going into 9th grade this year and so far he's done good and shown he can be reasonably responsible for a phone. He just upgraded to a Galaxy something or another that came with those virtual reality goggles. We still monitor his texts and Internet use but we've put him and my wife on an unlimited data plan so data overuse is no longer a worry.

ETA: my 7 yr old daughter has my wife's old iPhone 5. It doesn't have cell service. Instead she keeps it connected to our wifi and plays little games on it. She plays on it more than she does her iPad for some odd reason.

My 10yr old has had one for a year. He mostly uses it when at a friends house or when at families house overnight. Otherwise he never thinks about having it or using it. It gives me comfort knowing I can get in touch with him and it's only $20 to our bill. Get your kids phones people what's the big deal?!?!

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He can still delete things without you knowing FYI

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I know. And as he gets older we give him more and more leeway and freedom. I know I can't totally shelter him from the world. My goal is that he learns that here can be serious consequences to just about anything he does on his phone. A lot of kids nowadays get in trouble because they don't realize the pitfalls they can get into in s hurry by doing things like sexting, going to the wrong website, or even sending texts meant as a joke that if seen by the wrong person could ruin their life. I just want him to be informed and hopefully avoid learning those lessons the hard way.