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redshoegirl
member
s/o cell phones
redshoegirl
member
I saw Jaime's comment in the TV watching thread below about how kids get their own phones really young these days - 6,7,8, etc. I know some parents buy them when their kids start school as a safety precaution. Others think they're unnecessary until the child hits their teens.
When you do you plan on getting your LO a phone? Do you think they're necessary for safety?
My thoughts...Ben and I haven't really talked about this, although I know from discussions we've had in the past that neither of us think they're necessary for very young children. That said, I can see the benefit of giving a young child a phone for safety reasons, especially since payphones are virtually a thing of the past (I can only think of two in my entire city).
However, I don't think I'd get them a "fun" phone - just basic calling only, and with the dial list restricted to emergency services and certain pre-programmed numbers (like parents, grandparents, etc.).
I don't know what age we'd lift the ban at - maybe 10 or 11? And even then since unlimited texting plans are $$$$ here, we'd probably put a cap on the plan as well - if they use up their credit in the first 3 days of the billing period, too bad. Now you have to wait to text your friends until next month.
And I guess this is only semi-related, but what do you think about teens and phones? Assuming plans and costs stay relatively the same until your LO is a teen (yeah right I know, but just pretend), will you pay their phone bill? Or will that be their responsibility? I'm leaning toward them paying it.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: s/o cell phones
not sure, who knows what they will have out in 10 years or so... I really think lots of parents have no clue what is going on with texting etc. I hope to limit all this as long as possible.
But at the same time, if we are in the current situation where J goes to school in the town we live in and then DH and I commute 30+mins. away in opposite directions I can see where the limited calling will help us keep in touch and be efficient at some point.
when i had this discussion with SIL over xmas she said they now make phones with only like 3-4 buttons, not 12 like standard phones...so you somehow pre-program in the #s you want (i.e. mom, dad, etc) and then another button is for 911 and that's it. they do not have the ability to call anyone else. i think if such a thing exists, we will probably get her a phone as soon as she is spending any significant amount of time away from us. it would be convenient for when she needs to call to be picked up etc.
as for a real phone DH said not until she was 10 but i honestly think she shouldn't have one until she is in middle school or even high school.
i do think that if she has to pay for it she will be more responsible about watching her own minutes, texts etc so we'll probably have her contribute at least in some way to paying for it if not for all of it
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Oh yeah, I think the LG Migo works something like that (I saw it long ago tho, before I had BOTB). We'd like something like that too...then switch to a regular phone around high school. I personally don't think texting will be really existent by then, but that's just my opinion. With smartphones these days, I don't feel like texting is that necessary...and they're charging quite it bit in relation to the amt of bandwidth texting uses (which is like nothing).
Oh I'm sure it will be something else by then...I just used it as an example in my OP because it was all I could think of.
Right
I do think there will be something else, but we just don't know what yet!
Sometimes I wish I was more visionary. New technology always catches me by surprise, which is kind of weird considering how technologically oriented I am. I guess I'm just not techno-imaginative?
While I totally understand this thinking, and even probably feel the same exact way about getting a phone like this for Henry someday, I'd like to offer another perspective.
While yes, pay phones may pretty much be a thing of the past, where exactly would a child be that there wouldn't be any adults around that could/should help? As an elementary teacher, we can't stand it when kids carry around their cell phones. One main reason: we, as the adults responsible for them until their parents pick them up, often have no clue what the heck is going on, as we are left out of the loop of communication. When a parent is late, or there's a change of plans and the child needs to be picked up early, the child NEEDS to talk to an adult at school who can contact the parents. When the kid calls mom himself and arranges to be picked up on the corner (like maybe after an after-school activity), then the kid leaves the school alone, goes to the corner to wait, we panic!!! Or let's say mom calls the child's cell phone and says "I'm running late, Uncle's going to pick you up after school today." But we don't have any record of Uncle being approved to pick the child up, so we won't release the child (as is the law). Uncle gets mad, Mom gets mad, and the poor kids gets all stressed out, because he wants to do what mom said, but the school won't let him. But we're just trying to keep track of all the kids and protect them. We don't know what the new plan is, and worry about where that child disappeared to, or who is this stranger trying to pick them up. This type of things happens all the time. The school needs to know what the plan is, and when the child and the parents leave us out of the communication, we're lost.
Like I said, when it comes to my own child, obviously I want to be able to contact him, and he to contact me if necessary. But sometimes having a young child (elementary level) be the only one who's in the loop as to what's going on isn't always the best choice. Other adults (at school or even other parents is they're at a friend's house) need to know what's going on, too.
ETA: another problem I just remembered......it's SCARY how many kids do not know their own parent's phone numbers (since they have them programmed in to their phones). Absolutely shocking, and soooo unsafe. I remember I wasn't allowed to start kindergarten without reciting my phone number and address every day before school started. Just something to think about.
This is a really good point. I do think it's *extremely* important to have your parents' numbers (or your home number) memorized.
As for cell phones at school, I didn't know that teachers are now responsible for the kids until their parents pick them up. What about kids that walk home from school? I clearly remembered that in elementary school, we were out of our teacher's sight once school was out and everyone streamed out of the classrooms. Kids would either walk home from there or get picked up by their parents in the parking lot, but no one ever carried a clipboard and checked off which kids got picked up by whom or were supposed to walk home or anything. Is that something new? I thought the releasing-kids-for-pickup thing was more applicable for daycare but I've never seen it in elementary school before...
I remember sometimes there would be confusion if a parent was *super* late and in those times, I feel like a cell phone would've been useful. Also when I was a kid, my cousins/brother/I used to get picked up by my uncle sometimes and he said that if we were late, then we needed to walk. But then sometimes I needed to go to the bathroom right after class was out and by the time I got out to the pick-up area, I wasn't sure if he'd already left or not and if I needed to walk home. This was during middle school and we didn't even have specific teacher that was responsible for us all day (but instead, many teachers in different subjects throughout the day). I thought a phone would've been helpful then too.
In my school, the parents have to let us know at the beginning of the school year if it's okay for the child to walk home on their own. At the end of the day, the bus kids are brought to the bus, the walkers are released, then the pick-ups are brought to the pick-up area. Kindergarten and 1st grades kids are watched very carefully and are only released to those that the parents have approved. There's no official "check-out" system, but we know the parents (and other caregivers who pick-up regularly) and recognize who's picking up. The older students are trusted to find their parents/car themselves, but they are kept in one closely-watched area until their car pulls up. At 15 minutes after dismissal if no one has come for a child yet (usually 2-3 kids each day), they must be brought to to office for us to try to call the parents and find out what's up. It's hard when a parent calls a kid right after school and tells them something like "you need to walk home today," but they don't tell us that. We don't believe a 3rd grader who tells us their mom said to walk home when they're usually picked up. The parent would need to call the office and let them know if there is a change from what usually happens. We take dismissal pretty seriously, I guess! In this day and age, I suppose you have to. After all, I did have 2 little sisters abducted (by a family member who had a restraining order) at my old school (where dismissal was much looser). Luckily, they were safe, but it was scary!