Have you been wondering if your child is old enough to have his or her own cell phone yet? Maybe you already have a child or teen with a cell phone in your home and you find yourself wondering who on Earth they are talking or texting with all the time. Not only that, so many kids can now surf the web, send and receive e-mail, play games and do various other online tasks with their “oh-so-cool” phones.
With so many kids and teens being given such broad mobile freedom, it is hardly surprising to find out many of the same concerns we as parents have about their online computer safety now also apply to their phone use. Cyber-crime, cyber-bullying, sexting, stalking, etc. What’s a parent’ to do?
Only you can decide when it is the right time for your child to have his or her own phone.
Here are some things to consider however as you are making that decision.
Whose idea is this and what are the reasons?
Is your child begging for a phone simply because his or her friends have one? Or, is there a particular reason you want your child to have a phone? For instance, my 12 year old son wasn’t all that interested in getting a phone but as he was spending more and more time away from home at Boy Scout events, I decided I wanted him to carry a phone for my own peace of mind. He has done very well with it but just so you know, this is the kid who went swimming with his phone as I mentioned a few days ago in my introductory post.
Does your child understand the responsibilities of owning and carrying a cell phone?
Will he or she be reasonably careful with it or will it be misplaced and forgotten about on the first outing? Is he or she able to understand that there is a cost involved when using the phone? How does the child handle their other posessions? This may be a good indication of how he or she will treat a new cell phone.
Does your child understand how to use the phone?
There are various phones made especially for kids which simplify phone operation. If your child is not very old or is not tech savvy, you may choose to purchase one of these kid friendly versions. Check out this article for some details on kid friendly phones.
On the flip side of that, do YOU understand how to operate the phone?
Before you just hand a cell phone over to your child, make sure you understand at least it’s basic operations. You should also have installed and know how to use any special parental control features or monitoring software. More about this in a later post .
Whatever your final decision about the cell phone is, this is a great opportunity to sit down and really communicate with your child. Talk with him or her about this decision. Ask questions and find out what your child thinks and what their expectations are. Make sure they know what you will expect from them as well.
All of the major providers seem to have a cell phone solution for kids nowadays. Check with your cell phone company to see what your options may be.
If you already use a kid-friendly phone or have recommendations about a particular service or piece of equipment, please leave a comment and let me hear about it.
Tomorrow, I will be discussing the controversial topic of cell phone monitoring and the options available to parents.
More resources
- This article gives some good basic information about this topic from a teenager’s point of view.
- Here’s another article from the same young author regarding cell phone contracts between parents and kids.
- Kajeet.com is a “pay as you go” cell service designed especially for kids.
Written on September 21st, 2009 at 11:24 pm by Nikki Brown
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