At what age you do think a child should be when they recieve a cellphone?

I noticed myself this christmas that a lot of my childrens friends had mobile phones for presents. My second eldest child is 9 and he has hinted about having a phone a couple of times but I will not get him one. He does not go anywhere to warrant having to have one for that reason and then there is also the cost of having one to take into consideration, as it is just another bill to pay. I think if and when he starts going out with friends away from home then I would probably think more about it then but certainly not until he is a lot older.

my kids are 12 and 15 both girls they dont have a cell phone or a phone in there room. they get 45 mins a day on the home land line and that is it. i had free phone when i was a teen and i know the stuff you can get into on one. lol. i deal with teens all day long where i work and i listen to parents complain about my kid does this or that. well if they did not give the kids the tools to do it then maybe it wh=ould not be happening. now ther are some cases where i see a cell is a good idea. like they go to a football game and you are not there or to the movies and you drop them off. but to just have one no. this is what a few parents here started doing. they get a cell with a cheap plan like 30 month for limited minutes etc or a prepaid one is great too cause you get 20.00 on it. when the kid goes to like the movies or the mall or a friends house etc they give them the phone. it can only be used for calling home or a parent etc. when they get back home the phone goes back to the parent. if they use there minutes that month and there has not been a big emergency to why they called home 50 times then once the minutes are gone they dont get to go anywhere. lol it keeps them safe to where you can find them and they can call you etc but it keeps them from being able to just text and call everyone. one parent has a phone here with 60 mins a month no texting just a basic phone after the firwst month the kid learned it is a emergency phone not a call me and chat.

I think it depends on the child and the circumstances. Our son was 10 but my husband works away from home and we wanted our son to have a direct line to dad if he needed or wanted to talk to him at any time. I would only suggest that the younger the child the cheaper the phone, the first couple of years we replaced phones due to a lost phone, a stolen phone, and 2 broken phones, kids are still kids and just because we supply them with grown-up toys doesn't change that fact.

I think that maturity means more than age on this one. If they are a child that is responsible, takes care of things, can be trusted with a key to the house, then they are probably ready for a cell phone. I would start out with a pre-paid first to control how much can be spent, then move up to bigger and better as trust is earned. These days, I do think that cell phones are great if used properly and the child is responsible enough to not lose it or misuse it. Good luck with your decision....

Luckily my kids are not old enough to worry about this yet. It will be hard because we don't have a land line and now most schools have removed pay phones. What is parent to do. When I was in middle school when I was done with my activities I called my parents on a pay phone to come pick me up. If the schools don't even have them it is hard to have kids with out cell phones. I know when they get to that age though I will tell them I will be checking up on who they call and the number of minutes they are allowed to us. I am not a fan or a middle school age child having a cell phone but i also don't want my kid being that one that is always asking to borrow a friends phone to call their parents.