Should kids get Cell phones?
- No way my kid gets a cell
- My kid needs his cell
0 voters
So should kids get cell phones or not? I am ambivalent, but saw that this generated a lot of interest in the China Daily online.
Miss 10 doesn’t have one but it would be handy if she had one to tell us that Guides has finished early or that calligraphy class is running late.Or " I’ve forgotten my raincoat/homework/shoes/band instrument/head/pencil case" etc. which is a daily occurence at our house.
Does Miss 10 need to run up a NT2,000 bill chatting to a school friend? NO! I understand that simple no-texting, programmed-numbers-only models are available in some countries.
As an English teacher in Taiwan I say “No.” simply because I’ve had more than one young student who was stupid enough to forget to put his phone on vibrate mode and then be denied the privilege of “going to the bathroom”. If I were a parent I would want to say “No, I didn’t have one when I was a kid so why should you? Now let me play my playstation game in peace” but it is more likely that I’d just say “Ask your mother.”
I’d say yes on this condition. I think if you explain to them that it is not a toy and used only when necessary, it would be great for kids to have them.
Why would they even need one?
[quote=“navillus”]
I’d say yes on this condition. I think if you explain to them that it is not a toy and used only when necessary, it would be great for kids to have them.[/quote]
Really? Might as well hand them a gun then, as they are obviously mature enough to listen to this sound advice?
I remember reading about a special cell phone just for kids. As I remember it had only a limited number of number it could call to or receive from.
My first reaction to this thread was, “Who cares?” It’s up to the parents.
My kids, 10 and 12 have had one each for around 2 years now. They don’t bring them every day, only when there is some activities that have unpredictable start/ending times and when they will stay overnight.
They have been pretty responsible in their use, and only once had a bill that was explained with “a friend called that sex-phone”, during a baseball camp - result was no cell phone for 3 months after that. Lesson learned - do not lend your phone to your “friends”.
[quote=“Edgar Allen”][quote=“navillus”]
I’d say yes on this condition. I think if you explain to them that it is not a toy and used only when necessary, it would be great for kids to have them.[/quote]
Really? Might as well hand them a gun then, as they are obviously mature enough to listen to this sound advice?[/quote]
Well, I think there is a slight diference. If a cell phone is misused once or twice it can be discussed and perhaps something can even be learned from it without anyone getting hurt. I would absolutely give my daughter one as soon as she is able to punch the numbers.
I thought you didn’t have an opinion on this Edgar. It appears to be taking shape.
Navillus
I really don’t have an opinion on cell phones and kids, but I did have trouble with the parenting style illustrated in the section you quoted, hence my facetious remark.
Sorry if I mislead you.
BTW did you realise that facetious is one of only 2 words in the English language with all 5 vowels in order?
When my kids get syphilis, I will give them cell phones and put them on a plane to the bullfights.
I think even at 2 years old my daughter is capable of recognizing right and wrong and knows that she is not to touch certain things(my computer, electrical outlets, etc.) Why would anyone find it so hard to believe that a child could be responsible with a cell phone. I think it is all about trust and the child not wanting to abuse that trust.
Facetious. What’s the other word?
Completely off topic but abstemious…FYI I don;t know what it means and haven’t yet bothered to look it up.
Sorry I am something of a dinosaur and believe in my parents/grandparents style of parenting. In our house the phone, stereo etc were all within reach but never got abused because if we touched them we died a horrible lingering death. There were of course no cell phones at the time but I am sure they would have qualified for lingering horrible death treatment.
Xmas presents were handled in a very clever manner to ensure that they weren’t squeezed or unwrapped prior to the day, they were esprinkled wth magic dust (imaginary) which if it was disturbed lead to …yes you guessed it lingering horrible death treatment. Of course we just found the presents before they were wrapped.
I grew up in a house pretty much opposite of yours Edgar and I would have to say that the ideal parenting style lies somewhere in the middle of the two. In high school I would hang out with guys from homes like yours, and I know this is a generalization, but I found that they were useless to do anything hands on. Be it change a car tire or put a shelf together, they were lost. One guy I know called his mother from college to ask how to use a washing machine. But again, this is only my experience and everyone is different. Kids need to get their hands dirty from time to time to learn. This may sometimes mean going to the repair shop (or paying for phone calls you shouldn’t have to) but I think it may be worth it.
Navillus
Interesting view point but way off. Mum held down two jobs and I pretty much raised my sister from the age of 8. Pretty handy at cooking, cleaning, ironing, car maintenance, fitting kitchens, bathrooms etc.
Of course I learned under supervision before I was let loose on these things, and most of the handy work was done with hand tools as opposed to power tools, but thats 'cos we was poor.
My son figured out how to find and play all the games on my moto. He’s six. I can’t do it.
JD
Use of parents phones under supervision is definitely not in question.
[quote=“Edgar Allen”]JD
Use of parents phones under supervision is definitely not in question.
[/quote]
what supervision?
I just met an American who has 3 kids 11 to 14 and they all have phones. She justified it by saying that they have to do alot of travelling after school. On one hand I can see it being okay, a parent in these times need to have reassurance that their children are safe and be able to keep tabs on them. Especially in America. But then the downside is that it feeds into a mindset of immediate gratification/materialism for these kids who many don’t have the lessons of value of money and earning something.
Here I don’t think the kids need them at all being that having stay at home moms are very common, hence mom is able to keep closer tabs on the kid, that’s if she can stop shopping for hours on end.(okay, low blow but very tongue in cheek).
This is somewhat of an academic question because my wife got a cell phone for our THREE YEAR OLD daughter last week. As for the ‘why would they need it?’ question: Our daughter goes to English school daily, and is independent enough that she already goes off with other people to friends or to the park. If something happens when she is out and she needs to get ahold of us then it’s there. If we need to get ahold of her if she is late or plans change or whatever, we can call her phone. Sure, the people she is with probably have cell phones too, but we don’t always have their phone number conveniently available and they might not have ours on hand either. I admit that it kinda freaks me out nonetheless, but I suppose it’ll numb me up for when she comes home with peircings and tatoos.