I've seen two kids in my son's second grade class, who have cell phones. 
Their moms don't work...they are dropped off and picked up everyday from school. Why would a child in second grade need a cell phone?
My 6th grader doesn't even have one, because I drop them off and pick them up every day.
Now, my 6th grader is starting to venture off with friends and we're thinking about getting her one, so we can check up on her. She gets good grades and is very responsible (except for cleaning her room).
Is second grade too young...if the parent works do you think that's okay to give a second grader a phone?
Just wondering how other parents might view this issue.
I think "starting to venture off with friends" is a good time, for their safety and your piece of mind. But...second grade????
There are kids in kindergarden with them. My daughter is in 1st grade and asked for one I said "Why, I pick you up, drop you off and always know where you are at" and then I said "Mommy doesn't even have a cell phone, so if someone's getting one ---it's me" 
I could see a young one needing one for medical reasons only for a Kindergartner, but other than that not until they are at least 10 years old.
The only cell phone my son is allowed to have is one for play, he already understands how to use them since we only have cell phones, no land lines.
Maturity and responsibilty should definetely factor into your decision. My son is too rough with things at times and he doesn't keep his room clean at all, so I wouldn't give him one since he doesn't need one for medical reasons.
He saw those ones Disney makes and he was asking for one of them for awhile, but now that they don't have the commercials on for them a ton he doesn't ask for it anymore.
Personally I say not until at least middle school depending on where you live and circumstances.
I know of a little girl who got a phone for Christmas and she's 5. Supposedly it's so when she rides home with a family memeber (aunt or Grandma) she can call her parents, the thing no one can figure out is that these people all have cell phones that she could use. 
Of course this is the same kid who wanted to leave her grandparents house after opening presents because she was mad that she didn't get something from everyone there and the mom called the dad to yell at him about it. 
I say cell phones are definitely a status thing at that young age. I also believe that it is something that kids should get only when they NEED it. Someone I know got one for their 4th grader just because their older kids had one. None of the kids go anywhere that they need one yet, so it is just for STATUS! It's every parents decision, but I think that is WAY too young! Even the most responsible adult can lose their phone, so it's a lot to expect out of even the most responsible child. I say be tough and put that money in their saving account for now.
You know better than anyone when your child needs a cell phone.
My daughter is in 2nd grade and I can't imagine giving her one. First off, she doesn't need one, because she is never anywhere without an adult or a babysitter. Second, she isn't really mature enough to understand the concept of cell phone billing and 'minutes'.
My niece is almost 12 and just got a prepaid one. She saved her money to buy it and pays for all of her minutes. I agree with that. She's learning responsibility. When my kids get that age, I will probably go that route, too.
Kids are growing up so fast these days. My 4 y-o wants an MP3 player because his sister got one for Christmas. We just had to tell him "you're not old enough yet." (he's too rough with his toys)
I absolutely don't think kids in elementary school needs cell phones. My oldest son who is 13 doesn't have one. He asked for one but his dad & I feel a cell phone will be a big distraction to him. Right now he needs to focus on school. Every young teenager I know that has cell phones thinks their whole world revolves around their cell phone and how many calls and text messages they get. I personally think it's silly how everybody in America think they just have to have cell phones. Good grief! LOL
I personally think it's silly how everybody in America think they just have to have cell phones. Good grief! LOL
I agree, nickymom! I recently left the house and forgot my cell phone. I went into a complete panic when I realized I had forgotten it, then laughed at myself and enjoyed getting a haircut and going to Walmart without anyone bothering (um, I mean calling) me. They do come in handy quite often, but we get ridiculously dependent on them!
I was just wondering...I too think giving a 2nd grader a phone is too young. I just couldn't believe it when I saw two kids with cell phones. I agree it should only be used in a need to situation. I hate receiving calls when I'm out and about. I only use mine when I make a call home, to see if we need anything. When someone calls me I feel rushed and uncomfortable talking in public.
I agree with you too Nickymom! it is quite silly.
How many teenagers use up their minutes talking on their cell phone-when they're at home! Use the home phone! save your minutes for outside the house! Too funny.
Thank you all for your opinions, I thought I was being an old fogey.
I agree - 2nd grade is too young! My daughter is also second grader & has asked once or twice for one since this school year started. I think it's because a 5th grader in our neighborhood has one, and every day when she gets off the bus she pulls it out & calls mom. I can certainly understand her parents wanting her to call when she gets home, because they both work & she is home after school with her 15/16 year old brother, but can't she wait the 30 more seconds it takes to walk into her house to use the house phone?
As far as I know (which may not be saying much), none of my daughters friends have one. We have told her she can get one when she's in 6th grade. But, I agree with everyone else - I drive her to school, she takes the bus home, and isn't old enough to be anywhere without an adult, so there is no need for a phone. Cell phones aren't allowed in school, the bus driver has a phone & other means to contact the school if anything is wrong, there are phones in school, at the YMCA (where DD swims), etc. When she is old enough to be dropped off at the mall or be at a sports practice without me being there, then she can have one in case of emergency. Of course, this will also be dependent on how well she does in school - which, at this point, I can not see being a problem.
-Lisa
i got my daughter one when she turned 11. she does 2 blocks to the library alone. and when she is there i want to be able to contact her, also if i go out and i will be late home after 4pm, then i can call her to tell her not to worry. the DEAL IS.........
i got her a cell phone where your have to purchase minute cards. i loaded the phone for her (149.00 for 600 minutes good for a year) she must purchase her own minutes after that with her allowence. you can buy 40 minutes for 20.00 also i check her phone and if she calls anyone besides me or dad then i take the phone away. it is for me to get ahold of her not for her to Bullsh** with friends. so far it has been about 9 months and she still has almost all of her minutes because i rarely call her. she will call me if she is at girlscouts and wants to go to a friends for an hour or something, but it is not for her to play on. so far she has followed the rules, she is now 12 1/2 so i know when she hits 13 she will be burning it up but hey thats where all your allowence will go. i dont agree with monthly phones where you are part of a plan, my friend did that and got a 500 dollar phone bill for one month because hr daughter called friends every 5 minutes!! so if you are considering it but the phone for 19.95 at walmart and a minute card. iff you activate it nline they double your minutes free. when i first did this i gave her my old phone cause i got a new one and it had 40 minutes left on it. the girl burned those minutes in 1 day! so i made her wait a week till i bought the yealry minutes and she understood that the phone was not a toy it was for me to get ahold of her.
My answer to this question is: when they can pay for it!!!! LOL!
Our kindergartener has a classmate who got a $300 cellphone for Christmas. A couple of weeks afterwards, she brought to school with her a card about the sie of a business card.....it had her name, home #, cell # and email addy!!! OMG!
Actually, my daughter is in 3rd grade and she has a cell phone. Just because a mom stays home and drops their kids off and picks them up doesn't mean there aren't other reasons for having them . We had a very good reason for getting her one & I personally am not concerned about what other people think about it....so to answer your question....if you think your child needs one...get one...if not...don't.
Man.....I must be a mean old mom, cause mine got cell phones when they started DRIVING and even then they had to pay for them! The only reason I agreed to it then was because I had nightmares about them breaking down and walking down the highway. 
Cell phones for younger kids are just for status. I work in an elementary school and the kids are not allowed to bring them to school.
I'd say it totally depends on the parents, the child, and the situation. We let the kids go down the block to play with friends, and they start in one yard and end halfway around the block. Our 3rd grader also walks to the grocery store 3 blocks away for milk or other simple things. I don't like him not being in hearing range, but want to teach him responsibility (there are issues), so we compromised and got walkie talkies that have good reception for about half a mile. If it's out of range, it's too far to go, and you don't leave the yard without making sure you have one and either Dad or I has the other. Solved a lot of issues, and no bills to worry about. 
I am a fan of these
http://mightygps.com/wherify.htm
They are real neat and have been wanting one for quite sometime!
I am a fan of these
http://mightygps.com/wherify.htm
They are real neat and have been wanting one for quite sometime!
So, how do those work? How do you locate them? Is there a parent device to go with it?
I agree with Ge and Zmama on this one, i think it is definitely up to the parents on this one and how they feel a child would do with it.
When I was in Junior High and started going to away games for sports I was given a cell phone to take with me on those days. It was one of our family cell phones. There were rules with it though. I could only use it to call for a ride, emergency, or if plans changed for one reason or another. If I went to a friends house or somewhere else there was a phone that I could use at the place so the cell phone stayed home.
When my friends and I started driving, I got a AAA card and a cell phone when I went out. This covered all emergencies that might happen, but the phone again was only to be used for emergencies.
When I saved up enough money and was able to afford a monthly bill then I bought my own phone. It worked for me. But I also knew that if there were phone calls to friends that I would be paying the bill and I didn't want to pay it! it was enough of an incentive for me only to use it for emergencies.
I think the thing that gets me the most about cell phones is that people think they HAVE to answer them when someone calls. I just want to scream at some people "HELLO, you don't always have to answer the phone or text someone back right away if you are busy!!!"
sorry for the rant, the cell phone thing is a pet peeve of mine this week
Mt 10 year old has one. My 8 year old doesn't and thinks it's highly unfair that her sister can have one but
my 10 year old is allowed to go into town with her friends and I want her to be able to call home if she needs to. It is a prepay phone and I have fixed dialling set up so she can only call home, her grandmothers and 999.
It's a prepay phone and she buys a 'bundle' of text messages out of her pocket money so she can text her friends if she wants to but the rule is she pays for the bundle.
My 8 year old doesn't need one. The only time she is out of sight of an adult is when she goes to the local park with her sister who has a phone if they need to call.
This is not an issue for me since I don't have kids at home, but I like the commercial that is on now where the boy tells his dad he thinks he needs his own cell phone. The dad just says "I think you need to get a job!"
Those of you who are encouraging your kids to be responsible and pay for that privilege of having a cell phone are very wise. My DGS hasn't asked for one yet (he's 10 1/2) but I fear that my DS and DIL will more than likely give it to him, when he does. IMHO,
he is very spoiled. Janice
I also agree with having the child pay for the cell phone in some way shape or form, it helps them value their phone more.
I think this applies with cars too, I live in an area with people who have very high incomes. Most (not all) of the teenagers that have their parents give them a car will drive around like maniacs and not care of their car gets damaged or totaled because mommy and daddy will just buy them another one; whereas the teenagers that are responsible for buying the car themselves or paying for the insurance on the car seem to drive more responsibly.
The biggest reason why I didn't get my liscense until I was 19 was I couldn't afford to pay for my own car insurance. My mom's stipulation for me driving her car was that I had to pay the difference in car insurance. Well, I didn't know how to budget my money back then so I didn't think I could afford the insurance so I didn't drive a car until I had to. I rode my bike alot, got rides with friends, walked, or took a bus when I lived in Milwaukee. My mom would drive me to work if it was in a bad neighborhood, she would charge me gas money for the mileage on her car.
Not that I have kids, but . . . .
I noticed at the Verizon store the other day that they have these little kid friendly phones that are designed to limit their use but also be a good tool in keeping your kids safe.
They only had I think 4 programmable buttons so you can set it to only call 4 numbers, and a big number in the middle for 911. The info on the phone said you can also set it so that it alerts you to when you child is out of certain programmable areas . . . for instance, if your child is carrying this phone and is only allowed on your street, you would be notified if the phone was suddenly out of this area. I guess you can check your childs location online . . .
Just my 2 cents . . . but in this day and age, how do you put a price on your childs safety at any age??? I really think that I am going to be one of those mothers with this phone system--and I will purchase it as soon as my child is old enough to play with others, go with family, etc. I don't think this is an excessive thing, or even a "status" thing . . . its one more thing you can do to protect your kids while still giving them independence.
I've seen the phones Verizon has, I think they're called Firefly?
DH and I have both said they seem like a good idea, I wish our company would get something like that. We still don't think our children need them yet at their ages, but in a few years we might be ready for them.
Just to put things into perspective, someone mentioned earlier a child who gets off the bus alone and calls mom immediately on a cell phone. I can definitely see that. What if someone were to snatch that child before she could get into the house to call? Definitely added safety there.
But then, I don't think a second grader is old enough to get off the bus alone, either. JMHO. Personally, my second grader wouldn't stay alone in the house for 10 minutes when she was sick so I could take her brother to the bus stop. She's definitely not itching for her independence.
We live in a small town, too. But we also have sex offenders living on the same street as two of the elementary schools in town. The world has changed SO MUCH! I remember when I was a kid, I'd leave the house in the morning (weekend and summer) and run around the neighborhood until dinner time. My parents had no idea where I was, but there was no need to worry, back then. I'm the first to admit that I tend to be overprotective. 
I guess this is just like all other issues, you have to do what's right for your child. I guess I can imagine some situations where a young child might need a cell phone, but my family doesn't have that need.
What really gets me are the kids who do have them just for status...I still can't get over the kindergartener with a 'card'!! I don't even have business cards!!
I am a fan of these
http://mightygps.com/wherify.htm
They are real neat and have been wanting one for quite sometime!
So, how do those work? How do you locate them? Is there a parent device to go with it?
There is a GPS in the watch itself. you can pay for the service and go online to find your child. It locks on the wrist and if tampered will signal the company. You can locate the child within 100 ft by satelite. It works in metro and country but if you are in the middle of nowhere it can fail to work. It locks on and can be remote unlocked.
It is pretty cool!
Well, cell phones are peace of mind these days so I'd say you are probably going to see more of that. I have a 3.5 yo, so that's not even a blip on my radar, but as it stands right now I probably won't even consider one until he starts having outings on his own, like already stated in here.
Kindergarden! !st Grade! 2nd Grade! Oh my!! What will happen next, laptops for Kindies to take to school "just in case" they need to hop on the net!
I think it's getting a litle out of hand. These kids have more responsibilities today than I did when I was their age (and I'm not that old either).
I think this age of technology is going to turn into the age of the obese. I know I'm going a little off topic but jeez, let kids be kids and have fun without having to worry about phone bills and money at their age. I'm sure they have a limit as to how many calls/sms messages they can send so the bill isn't too high. I really don't think they need to worry about things like this.
I also think that companies shouldn't make things to "keep our children safe", we need to do that on our own. I'm not saying we can be with them 24/7 (I work 50 hours a week) but we need to go back to old fashioned discipline, rules and regulations to ensure our kids are safe and don't venture out alone. That's JMHO, I know some people might think I'm closed minded but I'm not trying to offend. So if I have, I apologise.
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