You may remember when a parent asked one of our expert consultants last year whether a 12-year-old was too young to have a cell phone. (Read the expert's answer here.) Liz Atwood discusses giving a phone to her 8-year-old this Tween Tuesday:
I'm starting to wonder how old should kids be when they are allowed to have cell phones.
I recently overhead a conversation between two moms after the young child of one saw the child of the other with a cell phone. The younger child, who looked to be about 5 or 6, was saying he wanted a cell phone like the older child, who was 9. The Mom of the older child explained that the family had given the 9-year-old the cell phone because it was so affordable to do so—about $10 extra a month on the phone bill.
That's exactly what happened to us. We gave our older child a cell phone when he turned 12 and was in middle school. But when we changed phone plans at Christmas time, we added a phone for our 8-year-old and ended up paying even less than we had paid previously.
Our younger son had asked for his own cell phone for more than a year, and it seemed like an affordable Christmas gift since we were changing plans anyway. But once we gave it to him, he seemed disappointed that it wasn't the kind of phone where he could play video games or access the Internet.
Technology today has become increasingly affordable. Laptops cost less than $500. Three or four cell phones are as cheap as two. But should elementary school children have this kind of technology?
I'm divided about it. It seems like a waste that my 8-year-old doesn't use his cell phone. But since it didn't cost us extra, what's the harm?
What do you think about giving small kids their own cell phones?
(Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)