Cell phones for your school age kids....

dereksbicycles

dereksbicycles

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http://www.facebook.com/TommyAndBrookFAN

I "like" this page. I think you should too. It asks a lot of interesting questions. One of them is whether your pre teenager or teenager kid should have a cell phone.

I would say that they should have it. If I had kids, I would trust them to know what to do and not use their cell phone for. If you raise a kid properly, they would know proper use of a cell phone. I don't think adults should spend a lot of time explaining right way to use cell phone. It is important to raise kids properly long before they are ready to handle cell phone.
 
:shock:
dereksbicycles said:
http://www.facebook.com/TommyAndBrookFAN

I "like" this page. I think you should too. It asks a lot of interesting questions. One of them is whether your pre teenager or teenager kid should have a cell phone.

I would say that they should have it. If I had kids, I would trust them to know what to do and not use their cell phone for. If you raise a kid properly, they would know proper use of a cell phone. I don't think adults should spend a lot of time explaining right way to use cell phone. It is important to raise kids properly long before they are ready to handle cell phone.
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A lot of kids have cellphones now these days. I've seen some as young as 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years old have cell phones. :shock:

Basically it all stems down to the maturity and responsibilities of the child. If they are able to handle it, I would say it's ok for them to have cell phones. I don't think a 10 year old kid should be having it but only when it's age appropriate. Of course, it's got to have parental control.

I see the use of cellphones as a given privilege for them to have. It reinforces their motivation to have good grades, behaviors, or whatever positive things they have in their lives.
 
I believe once a child is in middle school it's more appropriate but not before that. For example I got one when I was 13 when I moved to the us from Canada. Since I was new to the area, new school, cheerleading practice and away all the time for comps my mom wanted me to have a cell phone since she was always a bit uneasy being in such a big unfamiliar place compared to what we were used to.
 
Kids will learn better if all they bring to school is books and lunch box/bag/money.
Anything else is a distraction.
 
One thing to consider is the lack of public landline phones that the older ones of us grew up with as way to call mom or dad, etc. when it is time to be picked up after something.
 
I'm fine with them having cell phones, as long as they use the phones properly. A lot of kids look at cell phones as a popularity item. If you don't have one, you're not popular enough. Also, to make them more popular... they have to be seen using the phones.

I will see kids at schools talking on their cell phones just to talk to other kids in the same place (like in the cafeteria or courtyard) instead of just sitting together and talk instead.

If it was my kids, I would make them earn the priviledge to use cell phones. I would also limit their cell phone use. (I would set it up so that they can call anyone in the family unlimited, but are lmiited to who else they call outside of the family.)
 
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It's a great way for me to interact with my grandchildren when I am not right there. The oldest one is five, but with her and her younger sister, I can play the Draw Something game while they are at their home and I at mine.

Recently when we were there the oldest bought an eBook to entertain and interact with my stepmother.

I love all the technology, and think it is making for a much smarter generation coming along right now
 
I must have been a deprived child. I can't remember ever making or receiving even one phone call at school.

I think my daughter called me a couple times from the school phone when she locked her keys in the car.

How did we survive?
 
First, sorry to kick up such an old thread. I see the last reply on it was 3 weeks ago...

Second, I have worked in hearing elementary, middle and high schools where kids have phones.

On one hand, I understand the students' opinion.
1. They want to be able to call mom or dad to pick them up from school.
2. They want some way to contact mom and dad at all times ("in case of an emergency" they say. To which I respond "But if there is an emergency at home, is there really anything helpful you can do?" which is followed by a "well.. no...not really.")
3. They also want to have their own private way to talk with friends that is safe from little siblings and even parents.
4. Some students also use their smartphones instead of wearing a wrist watch, instead of a calculator, and instead of a dictionary.
5. Some students are very interested in photography as a result of their phone (which I am all for, since my degree is in art education and photography is a kind of art, but it is against school policy for students to snap photos of peers without permission...)


However, there is downsides to having phones, especially expensive smart phone, in the classroom.
1. phones are stolen by other classmates. crying student has to be sent to resource officer to fill out a police report.
2. phones are damaged on purpose or by accident. (can the other student be held accountable for damaging the expensive phone, or is it the student's fault for bringing such an expensive phone to school and not being more careful? Am I responsible because it happened in my classroom?)
3. some students will use their phones to bully / abuse other students, even during school hours. Stolen phones are sometimes used to post hurtful messages on facebook or myspace
4. Some students will load school inappropriate material (weapons, hateful songs) using their 3G enabled smartphones.
5. Students causing a scene about having their phones confiscated cuts away at instruction time.
6. Some parents will side with their child student and proclaim their child has the "right" to talk on the phone whenever they want, especially if it is the parent calling the student. (Whatever happened to calling the school to page the student down? The PA system still works!)

so yeah... not sure.

I guess if the parent is responsible, and teaches the child to use the phone sparingly, then it is ok.

But when a parent is neglectful or overbearing, maybe a phone is not the best idea...
 
I do not agree to allow young students to have cellphones in school or carry them in their classroom. In my time the principle did not allow us to wear sport headwear ie: baseball/basketball caps anywhere in school. And now cellphone?? They can leave their cells in their lockers. If the parents did not get a hold of their child, reach out to a nurse or principle like back in the days. Enough with extremely post 9/11 stress syndrome.

I will give my children cell phones or life alert when they become senior citizens. If they want a phone, get a job. Need a phone? Will give them pre-paid cell with no internet. In other word, I will give them one at appropriate ages.
 
When my kids were in school cel phones were not allowed. If you were caught with one they would take it away and make your parent pick it up after school.

I think some kids are totally out of control with their phones. It's like a permanent attachment to their ear. Some can not even make a real phone call anymore.

As with anything parents must set boundaries. Let them know you see the bill every month, absolutely NO phones at the dinner table, no phones when we are out together unless there is an emergency. Our kids didn't get phones until middle school mostly as a convenience to us. Being able to let them know if there was a change in their pickup routine saved a lot of headaches.

If my kids didn't have cell phones now, I wouldn't be able to keep in touch. I love that my girls can reach someone if their out alone and their car breaks down. That was a big fear of mine before cel phones.

It does bother me a lot when I am out and people can't get off their phones. I don't believe anyone is that important that they can't go 30 minutes without the use of a phone.

Cel phones have come a long, long way. I remember being so amazed when our house phone was cordless with that big pull out antenna. Technology is amazing, just have to use it correctly.
 
I don't mind kids having cell phones if it can only call/text/email assigned numbers (including 911). That way, kids won't abuse it by calling their friends and using up too many minutes.

I have a friend whose son walked to another store because he had to go to the bathroom. He was only gone for 15 minutes, but his mom panicked wondering where he went. That was a moment that made her wish he had a cell phone so she could call him or he could call her.
 
VamPyroX said:
I don't mind kids having cell phones if it can only call/text/email assigned numbers (including 911). That way, kids won't abuse it by calling their friends and using up too many minutes.

I have a friend whose son walked to another store because he had to go to the bathroom. He was only gone for 15 minutes, but his mom panicked wondering where he went. That was a moment that made her wish he had a cell phone so she could call him or he could call her.
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Was the son OK? How old was he?
 
VamPyroX said:
I don't mind kids having cell phones if it can only call/text/email assigned numbers (including 911). That way, kids won't abuse it by calling their friends and using up too many minutes.
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I totally agree here -- parents should have TOTAL control of phone numbers kids use. If they want to add -- they should have an app to request to add #'s to their parents pending approval. simple.
 
In my case, I am probably a minority in this example due to my technological understanding.
If they are using a phone that I am paying for them, I would try to set up a "parenting" system where there are hours the phone can't be used for certain functions like apps/games. I would only define a few apps that could be used during 8am-11:59am, between lunch hours whenever it was (12:00pm-12:59pm) I could set it to remove the app restrictions, then it will be active back until school is over.

I could also manually remove things like the app stores so they couldn't circumvent workarounds or get new stuff.
This would make the phone strictly for emergency/contact use, and I don't get the impression elementary school kids are going to be into excessive texting, there is a learning curve and most are too young to know it by then.
 
If kids need phones for security reasons only, then why not buy them the cheapest, most basic phones that don't use downloaded apps?
 
Reba said:
If kids need phones for security reasons only, then why not buy them the cheapest, most basic phones that don't use downloaded apps?
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Have you looked for that kind of phone lately? They seem to be getting harder & harder to find.
 
I seem to see some of those cheap flip phones still available. I'm sure there is still a market for those phones. Maybe not many of them, but they're around.
 
Reba said:
If kids need phones for security reasons only, then why not buy them the cheapest, most basic phones that don't use downloaded apps?
Click to expand...

You can use parental control to block all downloaded apps.
 
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