Children and Cell Phones

One of the biggest disagreements among parents involves their children's use of wireless devices like cell phones. The question is no longer if your child will have one, but when she will. Determining the right age to give your child a cell phone is not a conundrum with a simple, one-age-fits-all answer. While there are some general guidelines and recommendations that apply to most families, the final decision is up to you.

Many parents consider middle school a good time to consider a cell phone for their children. A child engaged in frequent afterschool activities may need to contact a parent for an earlier pickup, and public pay phones are becoming harder to find. A home-schooled child or one who is picked up by Mom every day may not have the same need to contact a parent as one who rides the bus or stays after school for a soccer practice that may be canceled or finish early.

It's important to check the rules and policies of your daughter's school and extracurricular groups. Most schools do not allow cell-phone use during school hours, and will often confiscate a student's cell phone if he breaks this rule. Your child needs to be aware of the rules, and to understand and respect the consequences of not following them. You also need to establish household cell-phone rules, such as the inappropriateness of answering calls or texting during family meals, and who is responsible for the monthly bill and any extra fees (which will accrue when your daughter inevitably uses more minutes than she's allowed).

With a younger child, you may consider limiting whom he can even call from his cell phone. There are cell phones specifically for children who would only need to call a parent or grandparent. Rather than a full keypad of numbers, the phone has buttons for Mom, Dad and Grandma. You program the appropriate numbers, and the phone does not function beyond this purpose.

For any age, you can limit the number of minutes or texts your child is allowed each month. Additionally, many cell-phone carriers have plans that enable you to see a list of incoming and outgoing phone calls, sent and received texts and, in some cases, a transcript of those texts. According to many parents and parenting experts, finding the right age for you child to have a cell phone should depend upon need rather than want.