Kids & phone question

[Plaigh]

I've been hearing from a few of my friends that kids "have to have" a cell phone but my question is ... at what age should a kid have a cell phone?

To me, Having a phone is NOT a necessity but more of a want.

What's your opinion?

 

[Liamo_210]

It is needed though incase of emergencys so I would say they should have one by 12 . It can just be a basic phone though they don't need a nexus

 

[Brian706]

I've been hearing from a few of my friends that kids "have to have" a cell phone but my question is ... at what age should a kid have a cell phone?

To me, Having a phone is NOT a necessity but more of a want.

What's your opinion?

I agree that it is not a necessity. Some people argue that the times we live in, kids "need" to have one, but I disagree. It's a convenience thing. Parents want to be able to get a hold of their kids, and want their kids to be able to get a hold of them.

There are still landlines everywhere you go pretty much, and enough kids or trusted adults have cell phones anyway, so it really isn't that difficult to borrow someone's phone for a minute to make a call.

I didn't have a cell phone until I was about 17. When I had a job and decided to buy my own phone and plan. Phones are very common among teens and even kids now, but really I think most kids want it as a status symbol or so that they can text message their friends non-stop. Better get unlimited texting with that plan . Texting friends all day, including in school, is definitely not a necessity in my book but I suppose that's every parent's right to decide whether or not they get their kid a phone and what features they will allow them to have on said phone. Personally, at the very least, I would disable MMS messaging. Really, IMO, no good can come from teenagers sending picture messages...

If they "need" a phone for emergencies, they can have a basic cheap or free phone. They don't need a smartphone or even texting for that matter. If it's really for emergencies you can add a phone to an existing plan for cheap if you want them to be able to make calls in an emergency.