New York Parents Club Founder, Pam Wolf
Greetings New York Parents Club!
Long gone are the days when cellular phones were luxuries reserved for senior-level business executives and well-to-do early adopters.
And while the handheld communication gadgets have only been around a little over twenty-five years, they are on the verge of becoming utilities in our daily lives.
In fact, some may argue they are as crucial to their existence as electricity, gas and water.
Slowly but, surely, cell phones have become more accessible, more affordable and more difficult to imagine life without.
According to CTIA, a national wireless association, 89% of the US population subscribes to a cellular phone service. The trend has quickly trickled down to the next generation, with children as young as four and five toting cell phones, such as the Firefly.
Now, I am an entrepreneur at heart and strive to stay on the cutting-edge of technology.
However, it’s one thing to explore and embrace new technologies as an adult.It’s different to simply turn our children loose on this emerging technological playground.
Your turn! Let’s talk about children and cell phones:
How old is old enough?
If your child has a cell phone, what are the boundaries in your home?
And, if you’re not handing one over to your child, let us know why not.
LET IT OUT!
Pam Wolf
Great post! I have to admit that I never imagined I would be one of “those” parents who bought a cell phone for my child under the age of 13, but I did. A friend gave us an old phone for her to use for “emergencies” and all we had to do was switch it to our service. When that phone did not work with Verizon, rather then tell our then 8 year old no, we bought a cheap one for her to use. I couldn’t believe what I just did and was too embarrassed to tell anyone b/c I knew 8 was too young. Perhaps I was letting her have the luxuries I didn’t get when I was her age, perhaps I thought she was responsible enough to have one, perhaps I thought it was a good idea, or perhaps…I just didn’t feel like fighting with her over it when I said No. Either way, she has one. She does not carry it with her (one might ask what’s the point then…) and only takes it with her for sleepovers. This has been an expensive lesson to learn b/c once we purchased it and added it to our plan, we had to play a huge cost to break our contract to remove the phone. So, in the end, she has a phone that she cannot use but for special occasions and we pay $10 a month to keep it safe and sound in a drawer. Lesson learned! (the hard way…) it’s ok to say NO to an 8year old.
I think that cell phones have their place with children. About a year ago I bought my child one for Christmas. I am divorced single parent. My children were not with me and I wanted them to be able to reach me whenever they wanted. This Christmas they were with me but I wanted them to be able to have direct open communication with their father. The cell phone allows this. We have set specific limits about calls and texting and check. Being the good children they are, they have followed our limits.
I wanted my daughter to have a cell phone when riding her bike or out in our neighborhood for safety reasons.
We live in a modern world and use of computers and cell phone is a must and will continue to be as our children grow. It is up to us as parents to model acceptable use.
Came across your site from Bing search.You actually have some good posts on here.Just wanted to say thanks for the read and keep up the good work!
I’ve been looking through your blog. You’ve got some nice posts on here, especially this one, I enjoyed it…nice post. Consider yourself bookmarked : ) .
Here’s a comment. Great advice =) Thanks
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