if i were an adult

i would give my kid a cell phone anytime

as long as they pay for it themselves and

don't make prank calls to companies and

stuff like that

If you want your kids' teachers to love you forever, try after their GCSEs . Any kid'll tell you how disrupting the darn things are in the classroom.

I agree with Renaissance on maturity though. I use mine all the time, and it would be harder to organise things without it (both work and social). I'm not tied to it, but it is a useful tool. So from that angle, there's nothing about the phones in themselves that stops them being useful for kids of any ages - it's how they are used (and marketed, TBH) that makes them a nuisance.

I've had my first cell phone at 19 because i used it for my university... it was very useful, but now I'm completely bound to it. It is a necessary part of my life. Before you give it to a child the more he will be connected to it. I think the best age is 16...

i think a kid should receive a cell phone at the age of 14, that is when i think is the best time to get one for them like for their b-day or christmas.

Well I have 4 kids 18,17,5,and 4 and the two teenagers both have cellphones they pay for them themselves (which is awesome for me) my only boy is the 5 year old he is not so much into phones but my little spoiled youngest who is 4 wishes she had a cell phone she is always grabbing someones phone and trying to call people she is so hooked on phones its unbelieavable, she will probably have one around the age 11 or 12 I will not get her one before that age I still think 11 or 12 is young but I agree with some posts that I would like to know where shes at and what shes doing.

I agree with Renaissance its not about its all about the maturity and responsibility of having a phone, because if some of these phone plans didn't exist that had free text messaging. Then families would be broke the way teenagers burn through them on a daily basis. There was a topic I posted awhile about about this girl sending like 1000+ text messages a day to her friends and junk. Of course in today's world its practically a requirement to give your kid a cell phone because of the dangers that are happening these days, but I would say a prepaid phone would be a lot better for a teenager then a phone with full access that would turn it into a very large bill.

The reason I would go the pre-paid phone is that if you kid can make that last longer then it normally would, i.e. needed to add more to it ever 10 minutes , then when they get older and self sufficient (working) then a full phone would be the reward. Age is a factor don't get me wrong, but oyu be surprise how immature some older people are and some teenagers are more mature then they look.

I so agree with that being a parent of two teen girls, I and hubby have verizon and they kids have Cricket which is a repaid service with unlimited text and unlimited us calling, and they do pay for it themselves. they cant ruin or hurt there own or my credit because it is a prepaid service if you dont pay the month in advance they shut you off and you owe nothing.

I think the age should be 18 years of age that is when the children start going to colleges.
Though I have my cell phone at the age of 17 years,but I think it affects studies but if it is not used for palying those cell games,then it doesn't affects the studies.Till 18 years of age the children must concentrate on their studies and not think of moblie phones and cell games.
"Studies Remain With You for Ever"

I really hate these topics.

No offense, but I think they're stupid.

The first problem with it
You're throwing every single child on the planet under one big blanket of when they should be able to have a cellphone, which is just not something that most people consider acceptable nowadays.

To further on with this point, well, to explain it at least:
Some kids mature faster than others.
Some kids are just naturally responsible with benefits.
Some kids don't give a rat's *bottom* about cellphones and wouldn't bother abusing it if they had one.

Not to mention that the majority of cell phone plans around now offer some form of unlimited talk/text time.
So it's not like they'd even be wasting money.

I'll be honest, I've never sent a text message via a phone in my life. I think it's pointless for any form of casual talk.
If there was a specific purpose, that would be a completely different story.
But as it is, few people actually use text messages for anything more important than being bored in class and wanting to try to get away with breaking the rules.

Also
by trying to decide on an age where kids should be able to get cellphones is not really doing anything but limitting the control a parent has over their own child.
If you're a parent and don't think teenagers should have cellphones, great, don't give them one.
If you're a parent and don't care, let them have one.
It doesn't really effect anyone except the child and parent in question.

No, let me correct myself,
The only other parents it effects are the ones who have no backbone and put up with their kids whining and moaning because they're the only one of their friends without a cellphone.
And if that is really a reason to try and limit other's abilities to let their child have a cellphone if they think the kid deserves it, then there are other problems involved in that Parent-Child relationship that I won't even begin to dwell into here.

Bottom line is (in my opinion):
Leave it up to the parent's if they want to pay for their teenager's phone.
If the teenager can pay for their own phone or the parent volunteers to pay/help pay, there's no reason they shouldn't have it.