I believe cell phones should be given to children who require it (such as kids who are constantly on trips and stuff and you want to get a hold of them), but not so they can get it just to talk to friends. I think the child should be ready for the responsibility when they get the cell phone. I didn't even really get my own cell phone until I was 16/17 (when I started driving) and that was because my parents needed a way to get a hold of me. So I don't think age should be set as the limit, but more on the need of the parents to get a hold of the child.

thump, it shouldn't be a question of age, but when you let them out of the house by themslves. when they are old enough to leave their house to ride the bus or go to the mall or ride their bikes to the store. THAT is when they are old enough for a cell phone. a cell phone is good for two things. communicating socially and for emergencies. so when they are old enough to leave the house on their own, i qould suggest giving them a cel phone for emergencies only at first. this way you can teach the responsibility. if they abuse that privlidge, don't let them leave the house....they will learn eventually haha. their first cell phone, most will just be happy about showing it off anyway but they will have it for emergencies and you will be rest assured that they have that way of contacting you if there is trouble. parents....especially mom's are worry warts and sometimes over protective as it is

if your child hasn't left the home by him/herself then there is no reason for a cell phone now is there. they can always use the house phone

when my mom bought my neice her fisrt cell phone, she was in jr. high. at first, she mainly used it to call home if she wanted to stay later at school and to tell my mom to pick her up later than usual. THEN it grew to using it in the house when someone else was using the phone. she's now in high school, very responsible and still loves her cell phone like all teenage girls.

so my suggestion is that if they are responsible in using their original minutes just for emergencies at first, buy some minutes for their birthday and christmas so they can start using their phone for socializing too. always make sure they are responsible which means they should always know how many minutes they have to leave some over in case of an emergency.

before you know it, they will be graduating from high school, going away for college and moving out and just coming by when they need to steal a couple cans of soup and for christmas and thanksgiving but....parents dread that day and they like to ignore that part of life until it happens....and then go in to a deep depression when it does

well, i am getting a little off topic so will end this post here.

I'll say 15-16. That way they're old enough to find a little part time job to pay for it and become more of a responsible person. I'm only 18 and just got my first cell phone not long ago, and sometime I wish I could had one when I was 15-16 so I wouldn't have to go to a pay phone to call home so someone would come pick me up. Or to always ask a friend if I could make a quick phone call him so someone could come pick me up.

But then yeah, it really depend if you kid is outgoing or not. If they're not they don't really need one. If they are then I guess they'll need one so they could call home if they don't have a ride back home. It just depend on how you see it.

In my honest opinion, there really shouldn't be a chosen age as to when a child should be allowed to own a mobile phone because I personally know a ten year old child who is more responsible than almost any sixteen year old child around here. When it comes down to responsibility and being able to keep the minutes/texts down, the parent just needs to know that they can trust the child and that the child will not lose the cell phone. It would be bad to lose the cell phone just for someone else to be able to rank up a few extra minutes before you can have it disabled.

I personally received my first cell phone about three months ago, but up until then I never really needed one because I never really did anything. I was told I was responsible enough, I just didn't do that much outside of the area until recently.

When they are in their late teens is probbaly the best, since that is when they get to have friends and so on and so on. Any age younger would just be stupid as they'd misuse it a lot, and who do they have to call at the age of 9 10 or 11. lol, so I'd say 14 or 15 is your best bet.

I guess a kid really needs a cell phone when he enters High School (around 15 in India). By needs, I mean that parents must give their children a very basic phone. In India Reliance Telecommunications has phones with basic fascilities for as low as 666Rs (about 16$). It is very common with kids arount the age of 16 in India.

Then after a couple of years, say when the teen goes to a professional college where he may have to travel long distances to get to college or stays away from family, parents should buy their kid a better handset.

I think teens can upgrade to a costlier handset when they can buy their own mobile with their own earnings.

Atleast that's what my parents did when I was 17. They first bought me a sagem My-X1 at 17. Now I'm 19 and I recently bought the S500i since I travel 1.5hrs everyday to college and back!! My parents were wise and I love them for it!!!!



This post has been edited by angad619: Oct 26 2007, 01:32 PM

well kids should be given ceel phones at the age of 16 to 18
18 is what i think they may stop concenrating to studies and always on with their cell phones i accept and with you mate you are right kids may see porn play all time and much more crap

Age is sometimes not how you tell, it is how social they are, the more social they are at a young age, the sooner they will need a phone, but if they arn't like s uper social.. then i believe every child should receive a cell phone during graduation from the 8th grade, because in highschool you tend to be staying after school more, and going to hang with your friends and stuff..

but th emost important thing is.. they don't use it when they drive, luckily that is a law where i live, if you are under 18 you can get a ticket from driving while talking on a cell.

One other thing, i knew this guy who was a year ahead of me, he didnt graduate from school, he already had a phone, and he stole somebodies money and bought porn on the phone, so that is another thing that can happen. (oh yeah he got sent to juvinile hall)

This post has been edited by Tramposch: Oct 31 2007, 11:32 AM