Kids and cell phones
It is amazing how much is now being written about cell phones and kids. Pros and cons are being discussed and special phones are now being marketed to fit comfortably in young kids’ hands. An April article by Susan Campbell in the Hartford Courant stated that 38% of 12-13 year olds had their own cell phone. The study was done by Pew Internet and American Life Project and Media and Child Health.
I certainly see many tweens carrying cell phones. I also hear kids begging parents for cell phones for rewards for good grades or behavior. Inevitably when I question parents about why they may allow this, I hear some form of “well, I want them to be able reach me in case of emergency.” Parents frequently leave their own phones on during therapy sessions “just in case my child needs to reach me”.
I want to know, how often kids are actually using their phones for emergencies. And how often are young children away from an adult who has a phone and would be able to help or get help in an emergency?
Take a look at what is really going on. Kids are using phones to stay in constant contact with their friends. They are impulsively sending messages and pictures to friends and some won’t go to sleep without their phones by their beds. This often results in hurt feelings, broken friendships and dangerous situations when messages and photos get to the wrong people. I didn’t even mention the numbers of phones lost or dropped in various places, such as the sink or toilet, by irresponsible kids.
Kids have to start learning to be out of touch. They need to figure out how to solve a problem without the instant gratification of calling parents or a friend. And parents need to resist handing their young kids expensive toys just to keep them from whining. One way of handling this issue is to allow a kid to have a cell phone when they can afford to pay the monthly bill. Or if you must give them a phone “for emergencies”, get them a phone that only allows for emergency calls to you or 911.
Remember, you are the parent. Just because everyone else has one is not a good enough reason to give in to your kid’s demands.
Photo by simplisticwonders
I do NOT THINK KIDS NEED CELL PHONES UNTIL THEIR 14
Thanks so much for your comments. I am not sure young kids actually ever NEED cell phones. They are a privilege, not a necessity.When teens are older and out driving by themselves phones can definitely give them added safety in emergencies.
I definitely disagree. I think kids need cell phones once they enter Middle School. I bought my son, who is in 6th grade, a pay as you go cell phone. It is very convenient as it acts somewhat as a security blanket (he knows I am just a call away when he needs me). I got him a Net10 phone which is very simple and cheap (10 cents/minute and 5 cents/text). I gave him a maximum I will spend on his cell phone and anything he goes over will be coming out of his allowance. I feel much safer now that he has a cell phone.
gday – nice blog, just exploring some blogs, seems a reasonably nice platform you are utilising. I’m currently using WordPress
Thanks for your comment. Word press is good. What are you blogging about? I hope you will visit our site again. What are you blogging about?
Dr. Ducharme
Sorry for the repeated sentence
Dr. Ducharme,
I completely agree with you. Families say, “In case of emergencies,” but how many real emergencies are there. “Can I go with my friend somewhere” type of emergency is not a real life threatening emergency. What happened to giving the children a quarter for pay phones? I was a senior in high school and that’s what I had to do to call my parents to let them know I was out and waiting. Other than that should younger children be unsupervised? I don’t think so. We are allowing our children to be dependent upon a device. How different is it really from making them dependent on anything else, i.e. drugs? Cell phone addiction is such a sad problem we are giving our children today.
Thanks so much for your comments. So many kids are dependent on electronic devices. They are losing social skills and have trouble with basic conversation. It is all about texting and Facebook and immediate gratification.