[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Dialed In: Cell Phones for Kids here

[docvon]

I am a parent of 3 children 6y/o, 4y/o, and 18 month old. I am currently looking for a cell with GPS for my 6y/o. The school that he attends is less than capable of keeping track of him. Last year on the 1st day of school, while in Pre-K (he was 4y/o and attend for speech delay) they put him on the wrong bus to come home, his whereabouts were unkown for over 2 hrs, needless to say I completely lost it. This year, just 4 days ago, he is to stay for after school care on Thursdays only (this just started 2 weeks ago). My husband arrived home @ 5:45 PM before going to the school to pick him up. Upon arriving home he found our son outside our house. He had been home about 2 hrs by himself. He went to a less than helpful neighbor's house where he was told to go home and lock the door.My son may be speech delayed but he is fully mentally compatent. If by giving him a cell I can keep track of him, something the school can not manage, it is well worth it!Thanks,Danielle Vaughn

[WEWVP]

For manufacturers to state that a selling point for their phones for children is for their own safety seems a bit far-reaching to me as no child under the age of 12 should be without responsible supervision at all times.

Parent of 2

[caskey100]

I may not be a parent but I would like to throw my 2 cents in as I was once a pre - teen only a few short years ago.



I din't have a cell phone until I was 15. Which was around the time I was learning to drive and it would become absolutely neccesary for me to carry a phone at all times. But I think all children by the age of 10 should be equiped with some sort of phone. Granted it doesn't have to be a fancy one. It can be one of he small one's that verizon offers that allows them to call up to 8 contacts.



Anyways, my point is that with todays uncertanties and the fact that kidnapping and such is becoming large a kid should have a phone. Becase by the age of 10 a typical parent will let their kid roam around the neighborhood and such and a phone is an easy and cheap way of telling them to come home. And in the case that something as tragic as kidnapping does occur there are ways to actually trace the phone via GPS to try and find them. Verizon evens offers and application that allows you to track where your kid is going at all times while their phone is on. It also can show how fast they are doing it. (For parents that worry about their kis with cars).



In today's tech world the beginig age of cell phone usage is becoming younger and younger, as well it should be.

[fredfromsj]

I agree that a child should be supervised at all times and I don't like the idea of providing children with cell phone. However, I do want to know where my 6 yr old child is and if she needed help she has the option to call me. Coming back from Disneyland last weekend and seeing a handful of children separted from their parents, a simple device would have been helpful.

The device I am seeking is simple:

1. Programable 3 - 5 buttons - One to call me, one to call my wife and others programmed to call approved contacts

2. Incoming calls can only be of the approved numbers.

3. GPS tracking included

4. A panic button that will alert anyone in the vacinty

I would like the device to be made by a non-profit organization so there is not a chance of commercialism. If Disney or other manufacture wants to be involved, they must understand the mission of this device. They can offer this device in their promotion characters but that should be it. No additional ads or unwanted calls.

[maddiG]

i am 13 and i have already had a couple of cell phones. I think thatkids should have prepaid phones and that way they cannot go over minutes and will teach them to be responsible because once the minutes are gone, you dont get any more for the month. That is, if a teen buys their own phone and they pay for their own minutes that is responsible, but if they run out of minutes two days after putting minutes on it, then well, that might be irresponsible. Also teens and kids should have phones if they have after school activities or go to friends places alot

[Gavtray]

MadiG has a point, I believe that children need to learn responsibility and the only way to teach that is to give them some responsibility. Cell phones are useful not only for Safety and security but also in teaching valuable money management skills, I know adults today that sill don't understand the fundamentals of money management. I don't think however that paying $99 for a glorified walkie-talkie is going to achieve this end, I feel it's far better to purchase a $10 Tracfone and give an allowance so that the child can buy and load their own minutes then manage the use of those minutes for the whole month. A reward can be given if they don't spend them all before the end of the month. If the phone gets lost or damaged you can make them replace the handset with birthday money - this only works if the handset is cheap to begin with. The final responsibility is to learn not to use the phone while studying or in school hours, if we don't start to trust our children in small ways, they will never be trustworthy.

[kellyg577]

docvon, on 30 October 2006 - 09:49 PM, said:

I am a parent of 3 children 6y/o, 4y/o, and 18 month old. I am currently looking for a cell with GPS for my 6y/o. The school that he attends is less than capable of keeping track of him. Last year on the 1st day of school, while in Pre-K (he was 4y/o and attend for speech delay) they put him on the wrong bus to come home, his whereabouts were unkown for over 2 hrs, needless to say I completely lost it. This year, just 4 days ago, he is to stay for after school care on Thursdays only (this just started 2 weeks ago). My husband arrived home @ 5:45 PM before going to the school to pick him up. Upon arriving home he found our son outside our house. He had been home about 2 hrs by himself. He went to a less than helpful neighbor's house where he was told to go home and lock the door.My son may be speech delayed but he is fully mentally compatent. If by giving him a cell I can keep track of him, something the school can not manage, it is well worth it!Thanks,Danielle Vaughn

Kids def need to learn responsibility, and the way the world is today, cell phones are more or less a necessity once they reach middle school. I finally caved in and bought a kajeet phone a few months ago and am pretty impressed so far. Lots of parental controls, and my kid loves the phone. He loves texting, so I got him the unlimited texting and 150min/month plan. Pretty affordable at $20 a month. And they have a gps locator for if you want to track your kids during the day. If you have any hesitation about buying your kid a phone but feel like you need to, kajeet's the way to go. Here: http://www.kajeet.com

[Ibrad09]

I disagree that kids under the age of 15 need a cell phone, and I am 13! Yes, I would like to have a cell phone but I have no need for one. All kids do is text, some parents may want their kids to have one for safety reasons. If safety reasons are involved I think the parents should get their kids a phone but if not they don't need one.

[tizzle]

docvon, on 30 October 2006 - 09:49 PM, said:

I am a parent of 3 children 6y/o, 4y/o, and 18 month old. I am currently looking for a cell with GPS for my 6y/o. The school that he attends is less than capable of keeping track of him. Last year on the 1st day of school, while in Pre-K (he was 4y/o and attend for speech delay) they put him on the wrong bus to come home, his whereabouts were unkown for over 2 hrs, needless to say I completely lost it. This year, just 4 days ago, he is to stay for after school care on Thursdays only (this just started 2 weeks ago). My husband arrived home @ 5:45 PM before going to the school to pick him up. Upon arriving home he found our son outside our house. He had been home about 2 hrs by himself. He went to a less than helpful neighbor's house where he was told to go home and lock the door.My son may be speech delayed but he is fully mentally compatent. If by giving him a cell I can keep track of him, something the school can not manage, it is well worth it!Thanks,Danielle Vaughn

Sorry for the double post, pushed the wrong button. I remember back when I was younger a cell phone could have saved me a lot of time and walking. Having GPS could save parents from being worried if a kid goes missing for a few hours. You can also be sure the kids are where they're suppose to be. Sure, kids won't know how to be responsible with the phone, but that's where parents come in. Be sure to set rules for the phone. There are service providers out there with great parental features.

This post has been edited by smax013: 13 January 2010 - 11:39 AM
Reason for edit: Removed advertisement/spam info

[SusanCarver]

I think it's good for kids to get phones when they go into middle school, which is usually when they branch out socially and start distancing themselves from their parents.

[JamesWed]

Seriously! Get the kids cell phones! Is it really worth it to find out too late that "damn! if only they had a phone." Whether it be for getting picked up from school, to phoning in case of an emergency, or even being tracked down. It's not expensive. You can pick up a tracfone, and minutes for less than $20. And the responsibility is GOOD. Sure, it's bound to happen that they use the minutes doing things other than what you want to pay for. But if that's what they want to do, then they got to work for keeping the phone topped up. Unfortunately it does mean checking constantly on the phone whether there are minutes, but that's the same with homework, and chores. And quite frankly, I'm more than happy to depart with a couple of dollars for less of my own chores.

[OtherMother]

I got my first cell phone in college, which was great, and I would normally hiss at the idea of putting another electronic device in a child's hands. There are enough mind-numbing distractions out there, except... I'm a loving step mom and my step son has adored and grown up with me since he was one year old. His custodial biological mom, however, is the typical embittered divorcee who lies to her son every day and tells him that his daddy and step mom don't want to see him. It's a frustrating and sad situation, but his father and I want to reassure him daily that we love him and can't wait to see him every weekend (court allotted parenting time). Yes, he's only 4 years old, but access to his own phone will help provide emotional security despite his mom's lies, and that will be using technology to connect people rather than distancing them.

[laurie32]

tizzle, on 13 January 2010 - 07:50 AM, said:

docvon, on 30 October 2006 - 09:49 PM, said:

I am a parent of 3 children 6y/o, 4y/o, and 18 month old. I am currently looking for a cell with GPS for my 6y/o. The school that he attends is less than capable of keeping track of him. Last year on the 1st day of school, while in Pre-K (he was 4y/o and attend for speech delay) they put him on the wrong bus to come home, his whereabouts were unkown for over 2 hrs, needless to say I completely lost it. This year, just 4 days ago, he is to stay for after school care on Thursdays only (this just started 2 weeks ago). My husband arrived home @ 5:45 PM before going to the school to pick him up. Upon arriving home he found our son outside our house. He had been home about 2 hrs by himself. He went to a less than helpful neighbor's house where he was told to go home and lock the door.My son may be speech delayed but he is fully mentally compatent. If by giving him a cell I can keep track of him, something the school can not manage, it is well worth it!Thanks,Danielle Vaughn

Sorry for the double post, pushed the wrong button. I remember back when I was younger a cell phone could have saved me a lot of time and walking. Having GPS could save parents from being worried if a kid goes missing for a few hours. You can also be sure the kids are where they're suppose to be. Sure, kids won't know how to be responsible with the phone, but that's where parents come in. Be sure to set rules for the phone. There are service providers out there with great parental features.

Thank you for your posts. I have two children, and I am determined to protect them any way I can. I will be purchasing a Kajeet.

This post has been edited by laurie32: 11 December 2010 - 04:43 AM

[mitoki]

Its ridiculous for any person under the age of 16 to have a cell phone, i my self am 16,don't own a cell and to be honnest its terrible what its doing to social relationships. no one talks to anyone in real life any more there to busy texting. prolly the worst thing is people who walk and text, i've had friends who have almost got spattered across the pavement because there heads were bent over when the went to cross the street, paying no mind to on coming traffic, or walking in to walls. what relly ticks me off though is parents who are too busy texting to pay attention to there children. A child dose not need a cell phone, if they need a phone i imagine a supervisour or the school has a phone to reach you with. Its relly annoying at school because everyone is texting their friends/parents/relatives/dog during class and not working on there school work. It may seem a safe option but relly if theres an emergency at school and the kids call the parents and tell them whats going on, i think the last thing a school needs is hundreds of worried parents comming to pick up there kids where the teachers have no idea where they are, Not to mention code reds where the led light of a screen is pretty much a dead give away to any intruder with malicious intentions.

[CarolynSouhrada]

I take care of a 50 year old mentally disabled family member. I bought him a Migo phone which has only 4 button with 4 numbers programed in. The 4 buttons is about as far as he can go with numbers. A phone with lots of button confuses him. The only problem with the Migo is the button are on exposed all the time. Which means when we get home there are often length messages on the answering machine because the buttons accidently got pushed in his back pack or cell phone. I am looking for a simliar phone that is possibly a flip phone so the buttons do not get accidently pushed. A cell phone is important to a disabled person that knows they are an adult but can not comprehend numbers past ten. Can anyone suggest something?

[amphi]

PCWorld, on 20 July 2006 - 10:27 AM, said:

Post your comments for Dialed In: Cell Phones for Kids here

A good thing about this is parents will know more of their children's activity. Not only his location but because of his location, they will know if he is hanging out with the bad crowd.

[mimi77386]

My grandson of 7 goes to his Dad's house on the terms of the divorce. We never know where he is, one time he call from a girlfriends child cell phone to say he was left alone with a 9 and 8 year old in an apartment. His Dad will not let him call his Mom. As least with his own phone and her being able to locate him it would help her peace of mind. MIMI

My grandson of 7 goes to his Dad's house on the terms of the divorce. We never know where he is, one time he call from a girlfriends child cell phone to say he was left alone with a 9 and 8 year old in an apartment. His Dad will not let him call his Mom. As least with his own phone and her being able to locate him it would help her peace of mind. MIMI