Is it a good idea for kids to have cell phones?

[Monte51Coleman]

It's more about the person than the instrument. Always has been, always will be.

[blue collar]

It's more about the person than the instrument. Always has been, always will be.

Well, yeah. We all know that.

[Bang]

Mine is 13, and he has one. I control it, he gets it when he needs it. He has full access to the home phone to talk to his friends for as long as he wants. Texting and whatnot.. I give hm about 30-40 minutes a day to goof around on his facebook page and get all his kid stuff in.

I like him having the phone when he's out. If I need him it beats standing on the porch and hollering across the neighborhood like my mom would do.

Plus, like last week, he and his class went to Hershey Park. he called me twice to talk about cool coasters, which is alright, and then on the way back there was an issue with one of the buses and they came in more than an hour late. He called me and gave me updates on what was up and saved me a hell of a lot of worry, not to metion a long wait at the school expecting the bus at any minute.

the benefits far outweigh the negatives in my opinion.

~Bang

[blue collar]

blue, I will tell you from experience being a teen in the past decade. It does not matter if you take away a cell phone. I mean bad influences, you might as well not let them go to school then. Kids will learn from their friends, random other kids. It happens and so what if they talk about pleasing themselves. What will happen as a result? They've gotta learn about it sometime anyway if they haven't from a movie or tv show like Seinfeld for example. Stuff like that isn't that detrimental. Now i mean if they are talking about sexually harassing a girl that's another story.

My parents don't check my texts and never have but I could understand if they did (though I'd be annoyed) since I have nothing to hide.

But you're not like a lot of other kids. Most kids hide a lot of stuff from their parents. When you read through your kids text and you read a lot of "Does her mom work tomorrow" or "S**y can be the lookout", that raises some flags.

[Monte51Coleman]

Well, yeah. We all know that.

That should change your question then.

[twa]

Agreed. Those of us who were kids in the 80's and 90's just need to remember what we did back then. It is not like we were all bad kids that could not be trusted. Or were we?

Giving your kid slack(freedom) is a good thing,just not enough to hang themselves

I certainly remember what all I got into back in the day:evilg:

[blue collar]

Mine is 13, and he has one. I control it, he gets it when he needs it. He has full access to the home phone to talk to his friends for as long as he wants. Texting and whatnot.. I give hm about 30-40 minutes a day to goof around on his facebook page and get all his kid stuff in.

I like him having the phone when he's out. If I need him it beats standing on the porch and hollering across the neighborhood like my mom would do.

Plus, like last week, he and his class went to Hershey Park. he called me twice to talk about cool coasters, which is alright, and then on the way back there was an issue with one of the buses and they came in more than an hour late. He called me and gave me updates on what was up and saved me a hell of a lot of worry, not to metion a long wait at the school expecting the bus at any minute.

the benefits far outweigh the negatives in my opinion.

~Bang

It sounds like you have a good kid that's not into BS. Read my previous post.

[Tweedr01]

This is getting close to paranoia.

And I take it you don't have kids? You are 23 y/o, not really the greatest person to be commenting on the subject.

[GhostofSparta]

As soon as your kid can drive, they should have a real cell phone. That way they can store dozens of numbers in case of an emergency depending on where the are/will be. However, I personally think that before the age of 16, the only type of phone a kid should have is one that was previously mentioned: it can store up to about 3 numbers, and those are the only numbers it can call (except 911). That kind of phone is perfect for after school activitives, field trips, and hanging out with friends. There's really no logical reason for a 10 year old kid should have a cell phone with unlimited calling, texting, and internet.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

And I take it you don't have kids? You are 23 y/o, not really the greatest person to be commenting on the subject.

I think it's probably helpful to get the perspective of everyone who wants to contribute. I don't think only parents have the right to have an opinion on this matter.

[blue collar]

I think it's probably helpful to get the perspective of everyone who wants to contribute. I don't think only parents have the right to have an opinion on this matter.

But the other poster pretty much said that I, the parent, is being paranoid, which is not true. I'll say this, it's better to be a paranoid parent than to just let your kid run wild and do what he/she wants.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

But the other poster pretty much said that I, the parent, is being paranoid, which is not true. I'll say this, it's better to be a paranoid parent than to just let your kid run wild and do what he/she wants.

A couple things...

1) You started a thread asking for opinions and then decide which opinions are "true"...that's not really fair.

2) Which is it? Are you paranoid and proud of it as you say with your last sentence or are you not paranoid as you say with your first sentence?

I just think that anyone can chime in on a theoretical question like this. A 23-year old can have just as intelligent an opinion on the matter as an older parent. It might even eventually help you to hear from younger people and maybe you can meet in the middle with your child.

It seems like sometimes people want to start a thread opening up a debate but really just want people to chime in and agree with them.

[DarrellsMyHero28]

I got a pay as you go Virgin Mobile phone in middle school so I could call my parents when I needed a ride and stuff like that.

I agree with Bang, the benefits outweigh the risks, if you're really worried about what's going on with your kid (in terms of dirty texts or something like that), talk to them about it...don't just go reading the texts right off the bat.

I'm 22, my parents went through my ex's camera one time when she left it at my house (years ago) and I still don't feel like I can totally trust them.

[MattFancy]

But the other poster pretty much said that I, the parent, is being paranoid, which is not true. I'll say this, it's better to be a paranoid parent than to just let your kid run wild and do what he/she wants.

I don't think that's true. You have to have a middle ground. You can't just take everything away from them or go through all there stuff. Just like they shouldn't be able to do anything they want. If there is no middle ground, there will always be problems.

[blue collar]

A couple things...

1) You started a thread asking for opinions and then decide which opinions are "true"...that's not really fair.

2) Which is it? Are you paranoid and proud of it as you say with your last sentence or are you not paranoid as you say with your first sentence?

I just think that anyone can chime in on a theoretical question like this. A 23-year old can have just as intelligent an opinion on the matter as an older parent. It might even eventually help you to hear from younger people and maybe you can meet in the middle with your child.

It seems like sometimes people want to start a thread opening up a debate but really just want people to chime in and agree with them.

Back up. When did I ever said which statements were true and which weren't? He implied that I was being paranoid which IS NOT true. And like I said, it's better to be paranoid than to let your kid do whatever he/she wants.

And yes, anyone can chime in, but until you actually raise a teen, you don't know how to raise a teen.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Back up. When did I ever said which statements were true and which weren't? He implied that I was being paranoid which IS NOT true. And like I said, it's better to be paranoid than to let your kid do whatever he/she wants.

And yes, anyone can chime in, but until you actually raise a teen, you don't know how to raise a teen.

Are you being serious? You just repeated it. His opinion is that you're being paranoid and you say that is not true. Therefore, you are saying his statement is not true. Right??

As for your second point, I think it's bad to do either one of those extremes. It's better to find a middle ground.

And sometimes even after you raise a teen I can imagine you still don't know how to raise a teen. Listen, I have two kids (much younger) and I have no clue if I'm doing a good job or not. I know that I work my ass off to do what I THINK is right...but for all I know, someone with no experience would be making better decisions.

[blue collar]

I don't think that's true. You have to have a middle ground. You can't just take everything away from them or go through all there stuff. Just like they shouldn't be able to do anything they want. If there is no middle ground, there will always be problems.

I agree, there have to be middle ground. TO AN EXTENT. Remember, as a parent, YOU'RE IN CHARGE. When I was coming up, their was no middle ground. You did what your parents told you. End of discussion. Now a days, you do something they don't like, you have to worry about losing them forever or them running to a friends house.

[blue collar]

Are you being serious? You just repeated it. His opinion is that you're being paranoid and you say that is not true. Therefore, you are saying his statement is not true. Right??

As for your second point, I think it's bad to do either one of those extremes. It's better to find a middle ground.

And sometimes even after you raise a teen I can imagine you still don't know how to raise a teen. Listen, I have two kids (much younger) and I have no clue if I'm doing a good job or not. I know that I work my ass off to do what I THINK is right...but for all I know, someone with no experience would be making better decisions.

Are you being serious? You're telling me that he knows more about me than I do.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I agree, there have to be middle ground. TO AN EXTENT. Remember, as a parent, YOU'RE IN CHARGE. When I was coming up, their was no middle ground. You did what your parents told you. End of discussion. Now a days, you do something they don't like, you have to worry about losing them forever or them running to a friends house.

Now I agree that the child should always do what the parent says, but that's another topic. The middle ground is being paranoid vs. letting your kid do whatever he wants. To me that means that you can't just take away anything you think your kid could possibly abuse. On the flip side, if you do take something away, he should always listen...there should be no middle ground there.

[GhostofSparta]

Are you being serious? You're telling me that he knows more about me than I do.

Of course he does, he's monitoring your every move. :poke:

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Are you being serious? You're telling me that he knows more about me than I do.

No, I'm telling you that he might be able to more objectively tell you when something you're doing is paranoid or not. We're not always our harshest critics and sometimes it's a good thing to let someone else give us their take on a situation.

[blue collar]

No, I'm telling you that he might be able to more objectively tell you when something you're doing is paranoid or not. We're not always our harshest critics and sometimes it's a good thing to let someone else give us their take on a situation.

I can agree with that, but I'm still not paranoid. I'll repeat, when you read text like "is her mom working tomorrow" and "so and so can be the lookout", that raises a few flags.

[hockeysc23]

from the small snippets of info here it seems there is a much bigger issue then cell phones and texting.

My sister is 12 she has a cell phone. She texts frequently and talks on it sometimes. Mom and dad have the right to look at her cell whenever. She can lose it as it is privilege like everything else.

I personally love it. My mom and dad are sort of slow with cell phones, and it is usually 100x easier to call or text my sister about what my parents are doing when I cannot reach them or where she is when I need to pick her up then it is to call my parents.

Not to mention it helps us stay in touch since I moved out of the house. We will text each other during Skins and Caps games about great plays and cheering on the teams.

[MattFancy]

I can agree with that, but I'm still not paranoid. I'll repeat, when you read text like "is her mom working tomorrow" and "so and so can be the lookout", that raises a few flags.

I talked about having sex in 7th grade, did it happen, not a chance. Talk is cheap.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I can agree with that, but I'm still not paranoid. I'll repeat, when you read text like "is her mom working tomorrow" and "so and so can be the lookout", that raises a few flags.

Sure...I'm not disagreeing with you (check my posts, I think I fall more in line with your opinion on this than the other way around). I'm just saying that it's a little inconsistent to ask people for opinions and then tell them they are wrong. That guy might think that reading your son's texts is an act of paranoia...I don't agree with that, but that doesn't mean he's wrong and I'm right.

Edit...and back to the original point I was making, the age of the poster or the stage of life he's in really has NOTHING to do with whether he can contribute to this thread.