At what age should kids have mobile phones?

There should be no set age, as the age change's depending on the kid. Some children are better off with one at age 10 some not untill over 16.
 
@ Von Luck

Got any kids yet? I used to think the same as you, but as soon as I had a kid, I became one of those over-protective parents overnight :D

Where did you grow up - inner city, town, village? I grew up in a tiny village until I was 9, and then we moved to a small town. I now live in Swindon, which is incomparable to the places where I grew up. I'd feel more secure if my son was growing up in the same kind of environment that I grew up in, but that ain't gonna happen.
 
I think I was 14 when I got a mobile phone for the first time. I recall that it was totally unexpected and was more or less only for people to get in contact with me when I was out.

I'd generally say around 14-15 seems like the ideal time to get a mobile. Like ScarySquirrel said; phoneboxes are there for a reason. Children need to learn some independance and common sense at some point. How many youngsters these days even know what phoneboxes are?

At the same time though, if the mobile was perhaps an old model, on PAYG, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about their age. For newer, flashier models though; I think they can have one of those when they can pay for it themselves.

The whole discussion, is of course subjective and it really should be based on the particular child and parent concerned. If the parent feels they've earnt it, etc. rather then mere concern -- then they're ready.

I was never spoiled as a child and I'll be damned if I ruin any kids of my own (if and when). It seems (and I don't mean to drift off on a tangent here) that kids these days seem to get anything and everything they want thrown at them. I mean, I'm a twenty-something year-old bloke and I've seen kids half my age (if that) with things I've wanted for a long time but not had the money. It seems that materials these days are expected rather than earnt. I recall that when I was younger, when my brothers and I got a console we were extremely greatful. Sadly, I don't see many children behaving this way anymore.

The question is; how do you raise a child today without spoiling them and making them feel hard-done by? Such is the polemic of an affluent society I guess. It seems simple to just not give into children's demands, but a lot of the commodities today are much cheaper than when we were younger, it becomes difficult not to. Somehow, you have to teach children the virtues of patience, gratitude, etc. Nietzche, I'd imagine, would be turning over in his grave.
 
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Think i was 19-21 when i got my first phone, If i had kids id make them pay for it and id keep tabs on who they were calling etc wouldnt want no scum harassing (my daughter if i had one) etc :)
 
Only a nutter would give a kid a flashy phone tbh :) PAYG can be picked up for £10 nowadays(brand new etc.. bog standard basic ones)

I will admit to being spoilt as a child, to be honest im still spoilt at 21, but my parents always took the view of a phone is a phone, if i wanted a better one its my burden, but luckily I used to get my older sisters old phones after upgrades :) But it was stil my responsibility to keep it topped up if I wanted it, maybes every so often I would get a tenner off parents to put on it if I had no money and they wanted me to be able to ring them so they had peace of mind.
 
Depends really, I'm not sure. I don't see why mine would need one at 10 or 11 though and I wouldn't like the idea of them having on that young.

Depends on what they do outside school, activities etc as well as going out.
 
I got my first phone at 19/20 I think but that's just about when they started to become affordable. 2-3 years previous you needed a briefcase to lug them around with! :p

I think when they are old enough and sensible enough to be able to use it sensibly and manage it's cost/expense. I would never buy them one, they'd have to buy it themselves.
 
Kids should have phones when they are going away from their parents for any length of time. I got my first phone at 13, when pay as you go had just come out and I don't think I was too young then. At that age and younger, I regularly had to use friends phones or payphones to let my parents know where I was or if I was going to be home later than they expected.

When I started going away on trips regularly for various orchestras, a mobile was really needed if I wanted to speak to my parents at all. There was one payphone in the whole place, and most of the time over 100 teenagers, so there would be a huge queue at every break.
 
When I was 13 mobile phones were bigger than me :p

I coped fine as a teenager without a phone. The world hasn't changed that much has it? It just meant we were more organised and if anything more reliable.
 
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