This is my reason of why I think all kids should have a cell phone, of course IF the parents can afford it. Some families just can't afford it, and there is nothing wrong with that either, or if you just feel that your child isn't responsible enough for a cell phone yet. Here's a copy of my post...
We are very 'techie' too. I have 6 children, ages 7-13 and all of them have a cell phone! The phones are all prepaid phones that end up costing me about $20 a month for all 6 phones combined, occasionally it goes about $40. One day, about 3 years ago, we were at a county fair and my youngest son wandered away from us. I know, it sounds horrible, but I would have NEVER thought I could let such a thing happen, Of course, my immediate reaction was panic. My heart dropped and I felt one of those feelings of a mistake made that you can never take back. We did find him about 5 minutes later but it felt like hours. Anyway, shortly after that I made a decision that all of my kids would have a cell phone on them when we leave the house. My now-7 year old (youngest daughter) knows how to use her phone, she takes care of it, totally enjoys being able to take 'pictures' with the camera part where I then transfer them to my pcfor keeps. The minutes last her several months. The only people I have programed in her phone are me, dad, and all her brothers and sisters. She uses it to call dad occasionally at work to ask a question, and sometimes plays around and sends us text messages. But, the minutes still seem to last a long time. We use Tracfone
, which at one time had a pretty bad reputation, but they are really good now. I pay $20 for 120 minutes and 3 text messages counts as a minute. The homescreen of the phone shows how many minutes are left at all times, (which I think actually helped my daughter tremendously with her adding and subtracting!) We purchased the "double minutes for life" phones that only cost about $5 more when you initially buy the phone. All of my kids keep track of their minutes. My oldest daughter uses the most, but she is still careful because she knows when her minutes run out, she might have to wait a couple days (until Friday, payday) for the refill. Also, if she wants to call a friend and chat, she will sometimes use my cell because it is unlimited talk and text. Anyway with that said, in my opinion, I think kids are actually the ones that need a cell phone more than adults. If an adult gets lost or stranded, we can find a way... with a young child that could be a really bad situation. Just my 2 cents. What's your opinion on the topic? Do you have a different view on why a child should or shouldn't have a cell phone? I'd love to here some output on this. :-)
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