When Should Kids Have Cell Phones?

From the day that your kids first see you fiddling with your cell phone, they start to take an interest in it. Soon they start picking it up, maybe chewing the aerial, or maybe even jabbing at the buttons and pretending to talk. They want to be like you-now can you imagine how much more the pressure will grow once they start school.

As soon as school starts it seems that a child in your child's class has a cell phone already. You may not agree with it, but the family may have their reasons. What are the pros and cons of giving a child a cell phone?

The obvious fear with giving a child a phone of their own is the bills that may come with it. Talk and text credit can be expensive, and some kids go overboard. Buying a phone that is pay as you go can help, but unfortunately may mean that your child has no credit when they genuinely need it.

Another risk is the child losing it. Having it on a cord that attaches to a backpack may help, and may be advisable given the high replacement costs.

There are several reasons to give a child a cell phone early on. In particular, they are very useful for parents who are parted from their child for most of the week because of a custody order. The residential parent may interfere with phone calls made to the child on the home phone, and so for some parents a cell phone is the answer. In this way they are able to maintain contact with their child without the interference of the other parent.

Safety concerns are also valid. A child who has to travel a long way to or from school on their own, may have the benefit of a phone for if they get in trouble. This might be because of a missed bus, or a detention at school or worse-because they feel threatened in some way by someone or something nearby and they need to call for help. Pay phones are becoming less common these days, leaving many parents feeling that the only safe way for a child to call for help is via a cell phone.

Of course the phone can be a danger in itself. A child who is being bullied may be more so because the bullies wish to take their phone from them. The fact that so many phones today are internet ready brings other worries, in the form of grooming and paedophilia through social networking sites. Whilst it may be easy to control your child' internet usage on a computer, it is far harder to achieve the same level of control through a phone.

There are ways around some of the problems. Simple phones exist that have only a few buttons, and require that a parent programs in numbers for mum, dad, and an emergency contact. There is no internet or texting available.

For older children again simple models exist, and limits can be put on the phone as to who they can call, and internet access can be blocked altogether.

Clearly, there is no one age when a phone becomes needed for all children. Instead it comes down to a matter of circumstances as to whether your child and your family have a need for it at this particular time, and whether you can adequately balance the risks and the benefits.

Free Parenting tip toddler website to help you use positive parenting in your Toddlers Discipline and child’s development.





Find hundreds of free toddlers activities & games, toddler arts & crafts, kids easy recipes, free kids books for bedtime reading and help to learn Good Parenting Skills at our website http://free-toddlers-activity-and-discipline-guide.com