How old to have a cellphone?

[R13]

Just thought this was interesting.


Every parent of a young child today knows the dilemma: When is your child old enough for a cell phone? A computer? A TV in their room?

Good questions, and while the scientific and psychological consensus tends to skew toward encouraging later adoption of gadgetry (12 years old is a common figure for My First Cell Phone), parents are decidedly mixed.

To wit, Retrevo just released new research on this topic based on a survey of 1,000 people (which seems to include both parents and the childless). Their results are interesting (and I am posting the results verbatim below):

A Child's First Cell Phone
- 5% of people think kids under 9 should have their own cell phones
- 28% of people think kids should have their own cell phone between the ages of 9 & 12
- 61% of people think kids should be between age 13 & 18 for a phone
- 6% of people thing kids should wait until they're 18 to get a cell phone

A Child's First Computer
- 31% of people think that kids should have their first computer by the age of 9
- 35% of people think that kids should have their first computer between the ages of 9 & 12
- 30% of people think that kids should have their first computer between the ages of 13 & 18
- 4% of people think parents should wait until the kids are over 18

A Child's First TV
- 27% of people think kids should have their own TV by the age of 9
- 20% of people think kids should have their own TV between the ages of 9 & 12
- 30% of people think kids should have their own TV between the ages of 13 & 18
- 23% of people think kids should be over 18 before having their own TV

Pretty strong consensus that around 13 is a good starting point for the phone discussion, while TVs and computers find extremely mixed results. I'm still looking for the answers myself. My seven-year-old daughter already has a computer (with heavy lockdown on what it can do), but she's years away from getting a cell phone. A TV in her room? Unlikely, but she can watch videos on her laptop in a pinch. It's actually never come up in discussion.

What do you think?

When should kids get cell phones? : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

[7teen]

As a parent of 2 kids (with a 3rd on the way) here has been my take...

They'll get cell phones when they turn 16. It will come with the car they get.

As for the tv and computer stuff, I have opposite stands. My 5 year old has one in his room now with a dvd player, but no cable hooked up to it. He rarely watches it except for maybe once a month when he wants to watch a movie. He's fine watching the tv in our living room. I'm sure as he gets older, we'll pay the 5 bucks for an extra DirecTv box in there. I don't have an age for that, just whenever he wants his own tv probably. Maybe 10 years old or something!?

As for the computer, he uses the one we have in the living room. I don't see a need to let a kid have a computer in their room period. They can use the family one. My kids will likely NEVER get a computer in their own room.

[imported_elp6n]

It's all subjective I say.

In one household I have a niece and nephew, ages 7 and 9.
Both have TVs in their rooms. I say BAD idea. It's bad for these two because they cannot be trusted to follow the rules and they dont follow the rules. They dont get enough sleep because the tv stays on essentially all night. 9 year old also has a game system and computer in her room. BAD idea. Kid has become completely and totally electronic dependent, rarely comes out of her room when I come over, fights with her brother if he so much as looks at her electronics, etc. Neither has earned these privileges, they just demand them and have always had them. Wouldnt trust either one with a cell phone until they're 42 years old.



In another household, I have a niece and nephew ages 14 and 9.
14 year old has a cell phone, and a tv in her room.
TV has basic channels - she's usually tuned into animal planet or food network.
Cell phone has limitations - texting turns off overnight, no camera phone.
She has a cell phone because she's in different activities at school and outside of school and has friends she visits. Nice for her to be able to contact the parents and vice versa. Think she's had the phone a little over a year.

9 year old has small tv, no cell phone. Kid rarely uses the tv anyhow. Fortunately he's a self-entertainer using imagination and random things and toys around the house.
He could be trusted with a cell phone when the time came.

These two have earned these privileges over the years.
If they find themselves in the position of being grounded, the privileges are removed.

Computer is in the family room. Each user has their own login. The parents have the parental controls set accordingly for each kid (e.g. login ability for the 9 year old shuts down at 8:00 pm). Family has a Wii, set up in the living room.