re: What's the right age for a kid to have a cell phone?

Depends on the child. I have grandchildren who got them at 12.

This isn't 1975 anymore and I'm glad I don't have to make those decisions.

Flip phone until they can buy their own.

My older 3 got them when they were 16.

#4 is 13 and he really wants one but he will have to wait.

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What's the right age for a kid to have a cell phone?

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You dont determine that. Your kids friends shithead parents do…

When enough of your kids friends have one you will cave and follow suit…

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What's the right age for a kid to have a cell phone?

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I don't know the right answer to this question, but I can tell you that my biggest mistake as a parent was giving my son an old phone at a young age.
He was 3 and I upgraded my phone, so at the time it seemed like a good idea to give him the old on to watch videos and play little games on.
I didn't know I was creating an addiction that would be impossible to break.
My daughter will be pissed, but she likely won't have a phone until she's well into her teens.

If there's anything in my life that I regret and wish I could change, it would be that one simple decision to give him that stupid phone.

Let’s not conflate all the things a cell phone actually are.

Entertainment system- Most kids get a child drop protected iPad as soon as they can hold it. and at 2 years old might get 6hrs of screen time a day, any time they are in the car.

Video games- at 6-8 they are playing video games like Roblox, and communicating with their friends.

Social media- 10-13 they are using apps to video and record themselves, create identities, and share with friends. They watch others curate Idealic representations of their lives, and feel guilty about not competing.

Cell phone- 12, this is one of the least nefarious and malicious things that cell phone can do. It’s strange that we ask the appropriate age for this when granting all the previous. Is it because it cost money?

Only advice is that when granting a child, a cell phone you hold all the power and rules for the future need to be set then. Examples like no phones in the bedroom, certain time limits on social media, and total screen time, periodic inspections, no secret codes, apps, passwords.

It’s crazy, I often feel like I’m not raising my child, maybe just bumping her off the bumpers of society. It seems that most parents often disagree with how much screen time they use, or clothes they wear trends they imitate, but we still allow it.

It’s important for humans to belong to groups, but it’s important to recognize who are creating the trends, who is benefiting from them, and if they are at the cost of our health.

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What's the right age for a kid to have a cell phone?

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Lots of things go into that decision but the driver, to me, should be when it is needed. My two oldest grew up before the age of common cell phones, and my two youngest (almost 14 years between #2 & #3) got them when they were starting to do things that required them to call or go places with a team or group when we were not there, especially if we needed to pick them up at times that may vary. That ended up being their freshman year in high school, my son because of basketball, and my daughter because of ballet. We had strict rules and I kept tabs on what they were doing on their phones. My oldest is 40, my youngest is 23 for reference

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Save that and read it again in 15 years, you’ll realize how unrealistic it is

I have a 14 year old going into freshman year and I don’t know a single friend of his that doesn’t have a phone

Easy to say 16 when they’re 2

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Don't care. I will not reason with a child. I am the adult paying the bills. They can have a phone just like I did, but it will have phone, messaging, and GPS tracking - just like I did (but without the GPS tracking). My teen years were no less memorable because i didn’t have a smart phone.

You saw me quote a groomer who mentioned interest in pornoghrapy as being the starting point for deciding to get a cell (smart) phone: I don't care what my child thinks or feels regarding a smart phone. They can call and text, and that is it.

I completely understand and respect other parents who decide differently, but just the same, your rules and inability to say, "no" don't apply to others as well. My 4, going on 5 year old couldn't care less about a tablet. We don't care about what others are doing regarding screen time, and neither will he. The other 2 will be raised just the same. It takes far more effort and time to go into a restaurant and not give him a tablet to keep him quiet, but in the end, he gets to break bread with everyone else around the dinner table and express himself.

There are a few parents in our friends group with teens who don't have smart phones, because it's a terrible idea to give a 14 year old a smartphone, and that's not an subjective opinion: all of the studies scream the same thing. That said, do what you want, but rest assure, there are millions of parents like me who don't give a damn what their 14 year old child's peers are doing: The world can have access to our children when they're emotionally mature enough, and if we think a child blocking service will mitigate for that, then we are living in an alternate reality.

Damn right. I have 4 kids (age 24 down to 13.) Three of them are girls. They all got a phone when they were freshmen and started activities where their mom or I weren’t around. My youngest daughter is 13 and most of her friends have had phones since the 1st or 2nd grade. She does want one but also understands that her mom and I don’t give a crap what other parents allow and she has seen first hand after several years the unhealthy ramifications and drama they cause among her peers. Not only among her peers but also her peers parents. Constant drama between the kids and the moms and dads whose little precious couldn’t possibly have been at fault for a slight on a text group or social media.