Need your feedback - Kids & Phones...

Two of my siblings and I share a phone and my older brother has his own phone.  I hardly ever use the phone.  My older brother has a phone because he is in college in our city and it is a lot cheaper than a car.  My younger brother uses the kids cell most because he is always gone someplace or another when it is time for dinner and mom calls him home.  My younger sister uses the phone when she goes to concerts or hangs out with her friends. 

I hardly ever use the phone because normally I am just the taxi. 
So I think it depends on what your kids do.  It has been an invaluble asset to my siblings, but I could care less for myself because I am a homebody and if I am gone I am GONE and don't want anyone calling me.

We got my 8 year old stepdaughter a cell phone for Christmas - it's the Migo, and it's on our Verizon Wireless family plan.  It costs only $10 per month for the extra line, and she shares our minutes.  My husband, her mother, and myself are programmed into the phone so those are the only numbers she can call.  She can receive a call from any phone #. 
 
Being a divorced parent, my husband wanted to have a way to connect with her as well as a way for her to connect with him whenever she wanted.  So when she misses Daddy, she gives him a call. It's really sweet.
 
The phones come with really pretty clips and lanyards so she "wears" her phone everywhere.  She does not take it to school, and the phone is not capable of sending text messages. 
 
She did leave it in a restaurant once, but remembered right away, and she also almost left it at my parents' house once. Obviously if she leaves the phone anywhere, it's gone, and that will be her lesson in responsibility. 
 
As for getting her a real cell phone, not sure when she'll need one of those - she can use the Migo for an "emergency" phone indefinitely - but we'll encourage her to do it on her own when she can find a job to earn the money to pay for it. 

Ugh we're in the same boat.  My ten year old is now the ONLY one in her circle of friends who doesn't have a cell phone.  Its one thing to stand outside a high school and see all the kids with their phones, but our elementary school is only K-5 and sooo many kids flip out their phones as soon as they leave the grounds!
 
For now I've told her no phone.  She is not in any activities that give us a need for it.  I told her that when her schedule (and her brothers) get busier, we'll talk about it again.

I would say the 9 yo is too young and the 13 yo can get one if she is babysitting or delivering newspapers or something.  I made it until age 22 without having or even wanting a phone and the only reason I finally have one is because we get them through work, so I don't even use it.  Most of the time the battery is dead.  The last call I made was several weeks ago and it was a 911 call b/c a man downstairs started seizing.  IMO, kids don't NEED stuff like this and should not feel entitled to it.  If they want a phone, iPod, whatever, they can do chores and save their allowance or get a small job like a paper route and get what they want.  My sister is 18 and my parents gave her a really cheap phone for Christmas, but she buys her minutes.  The only reason I can see a kid needing a cell would be if they are driving, maybe they should keep one in the car in case of car trouble.  I can't see a 9 yo having any need for a phone since at that age they are always being supervised by adults (who have phones).

Well I'm 54 and I still don't have a cell phone! I actually hate them. I find people on cells rude. I hate having to listen to peoples private conversations. That's my rant. Now for kids and phones. Two of my sons got phones once they started driving. To me that is a must. We have recieved MANY phone calls due to fender benders, break downs or unexpected delays in returning home. I figured it's saved me a few good years of life.

I've only had one for about 4 years, and unless I have to make a call it stays in my purse, turned off.  I do leave it on if we're traveling. When my boys were teens ( they're 36 & 30) if they called and said they were at someones house, I could talk to an adult - or call that house a little later and check.  With cells, you just never really know where they are - only where they say they are.  That could be a cause for concern when they're old enough to be gadding all over. I'm soooo glad I'm not doing that trip again. []
 
Joyce

I am seventeen years old, and I've had a cell phone off-and-on for four and a half years now. I have never lost or broken a phone, or gone over on minutes. I don't text, or buy ringtones, or anything else on my phone, other than call people. Yes, my parents pay for it, but that doesn't mean that I don't understand that they are paying for it, if that makes sense. I don't have a job (and I never have-- eep) and I am a little spoiled, but that doesn't mean that I am incapable of taking care of my phone. And, yes, it does come in handy if I'm stuck somewhere, and it is nice to know that I can always get a hold of someone if I need to, no matter where I am.

That said, I also know a lot of other people who do not have phones, and, for the most part, they do just fine without them. I also know a lot of people (my age) who have phones and make a nuisance out of themselves with them at school.

So, really, I think it has a lot more to do with the individual parents and children, and I don't think there should be some set rule for it. I think that if the child knows the rules ahead of time, and understands exactly how much it costs every month, they're a lot more likely to respect and accept the responsibility they'll have, too.

If you feel that your thirteen year old is responsible enough, I say get him one.  He's going to need one soon anyways.
I'm fifteen, and I can only think of one person my age that doesn't have a cell phone.  I've had a cell since I was fourteen, and have paid the bills.  Since I pay the bill, I don't text.  I have better things to spend my money on than texting someone I'm going to see in ten minutes.  I do bring it to school though, in case of an emergency.  Or of course I'll use it to call someone to pick me up or bring me something I left at home.  I can't imagine life without it anymore, it's just too handy.
But the eight year old, IMO, doesn't need it.  My nine year old sister has one friend that shares her cell phone with her siblings.  So naturally, she barely uses it.  I think it would probably be best if you just let them share a phone for a while.

i personally don't think kids need phones until they start to drive....they shouldn't be that far away from a landline at a friends house to drop you a call....i didn't have a phone til college...i teach elementary school and some of these 2nd graders (7 years old) have phones...why?  who are they calling?

My opinion, as a non-adult:

13 year old has after school activities, right? He's probably dropped off often, too. Does 13 year old ever get stuck at school? Is he constantly calling from other phones? Then get him a phone. Acutally, make him pay for his own phone. FORCE him to have it be prepaid, and make him pay for his minutes...he'll think twice about texting in class for 25 cents a text. Let, actually, make him bring it everywhere, though...you'll never lose track of him

9 is a little young for a phone, though, because he really won't use it outside the neighborhood, anyway. He could wait.