When is a child old enough to have his or her own cell phone?

I believe 8 years old is young to have a phone, but then again your the parents and have to make the decisions in life for your children. Im not trying to be mean when i say this next thing, but if you were going in a crowded place with your child then you need to be responsible for your child and have him by your side at all times, do something for his safety because someone could easily take him in those types of places and they wont let him use the phone so a phone at that age may not be the best thing or maybe it could help him as well but then again i do not have kids and really dont know. My cousin is 9 and does have a phone and only uses it when he gets out of school to call his mom and let him know where he is, since she picks him up from a local nursing home that he walks to from school, its only maybe 500 feet away from his school.

Well, I guess it all depends on the circumstances. Like in your case, you do not have a phone at your house so a cell phone is necessary. But I think 8 is still a bit young. I'd probably give my son his own phone when he's 10, when he's already in middle school. I just don't want to give my son too much of a responsibility at that age.

Not being a Parent Myself,I'd say they should probably get a phone when they're old enough to be out unsupervised,and probably for the same reason as You describe..keeping tabs on them..Otherwise,if they're not old enough to be arranging their own social lives,why do they need a phone?

I don't think that young children will have enough responsibility to take care of a cell phone. Once a child is reaching the teenage years, they have more of that responsibility that they need.

i didn't get my cell phone untill i was 14, yes thats right, 14. i felt left out because everyone else had one, but i respect my parents decision on waiting that long. i think 8 years old is entirely too old to have a cell phone. i work at a day care that also offers after school care, and to think that one of my 8 year old kids could have a cell phone is just crazy. i'm not trying to be mean at ALL, trust me. i understand that you are the parents and ultimately you make the decisions. who knows, i might change my mind when i have a child and get him a cell phone at a younger age as well. but 8 years old is, in my opinion, way to early to give a child that kind of responsibility.

I got my daughter an inexpensive pay as you go phone at 8 for Christmas. I told her if she lost it, she wasn't getting another one. She took good care of it - now that her father and I are separated its nice to have the direct line to her when she's with her dad and he likes it for the same reason. I see it as more or less harmless - I don't understand why some people make such a fuss about it.

I didn't receive my first cellphone until I was in my first year of middle school, I got it mainly because that is when I was doing after school activities like baseball or going around the neighborhood and my parents would call me when I needed to come home or I would call them if I needed a ride. I must have been at the youngest 10, I have some friends who didn't get a cellphone until high school. I think 8 is far too young to have a cellphone, and if he only uses it for playing games on then it would have been better to invest in the DS. Overtime the cellphone will cost more to do phone bills.