Kids and Cell Phones

Wednesday we talked about Family and the Media. A little bit was about cell phones. I got my first cell phone when I was 15 because I was in a million extra-curricular activities and my parents were not always home for me to call them to pick me up when I was done, so the cell phone allowed me to call long-distance which the school phone couldn't. My first phone was a "dumb" phone (don't think smartphones existed quite yet...if they did it was just the iPhone which was brand new). I thought it was the coolest phone ever. I loved it (it was the Motorola Razr--that was THE phone to have). I didn't get my first smartphone until last year (and I LOVE it!).

Anyway, my husband and I don't have kids, but we sometimes talk about what type of standards/rules we would like to set for when we do have them someday. One thing we've talked about is the appropriate time to let them have a phone. We think 15 is a good age, if they are in extra-curricular activities, maybe a little bit later if not in extra-curricular activities. If "dumb" phones still exist as we know them today, that is the type of phone we would like to give them. Seeing as that'll probably be 16+ years until we have a 15 year old, our smartphones of today will probably be the "dumb" phones of that time (it's pretty hard to find "dumb" phones today even).

I think it's weird seeing people under 12 with cell phones, especially a 6-year-old. I don't know what they would use it for, since most 6 year olds are not in a lot of activities and if they are, usually a parent or someone else is there with them. Maybe they have some good reason for a phone at that age, but I don't know. This is just my thoughts.