Would you get your 8 year old a cell phone?
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This past week my daughter participated in her first inter-school track meet. Hubs took time off from work and we decided to go cheer her on as a family.
When we reached the stadium it was hard to spot where our 8 year old was in the sea of athletes.
Thankfully my camera has an awesome zoom feature. It took a little while but we finally spotted where our daughter was and headed over to the other side.
A few of her friends to have phones that they carry to events like these but Hubs and I feel she’s still too young to have her own phone.
That got me thinking…
Would you get your 8 year old a cell phone?
Considering either Hubs or I drop and pick her up and wait with her for public events, I’m thinking we would hold back for now. But I can definitely see the wisdom in going for a cell phone especially if you drop your tween/tween at public events and need to contact them during or after the same.
Picking the right phone with the right plan is extremely important though. The internet is a crazy, crazy place. Avoiding a web browsing addition to your plan would be awesome but not always possible. Thus, a close to secure plan with parental controls would be what you would want for your child.
With a Virgin Mobile custom plan you can build, control and manage your child’s mobile plan. Your monthly price for the plan starts at $6.98 and is based on what you choose to add to the same.
Considering sending texts would be the most used, spending $10 for unlimited texts for the month would definitely make sense.
I love that it really lies in the hands of Mom and Dad to create the plan that works best for their child and it really is so much more affordable than a standard plan.
Plus you can check how much your child uses the phone, text and web and details of usage via the parental control settings.
You don’t even have to invest in a high-end phone. Affordable phone sets like the LG Pulse smartphone are available at Walmart for $79.99.
So what do you think?
I feel like 8 is too young for a phone. I think with all the concerns about social media, it’s best to let a kid just be a kid for as long as possible.
We homeschool so one of us is always with our kids so probably not. We had the great debate over email this year that I posted about. 😉
My daughter had a cell at 8 years old. It was great for her being in the situation she was in – she lives with her Dad every other weekend and two nights a week, she needed a form of communication for her parents (myself and her Dad) when she was at each of our homes. Plus she had sports and other activities where it was easier to allow her a bit more freedom having a cell phone.
My eldest got a phone when she was 9 but she was traveling across the country on a plane without an adult. I guess you just have to know your kid and their responsibility level.
Kiddo is 9 and no way would I get her a cell phone now. Shes just not responsible enough. She forgets and misplaces things all the time. Not to mention, she divides her time between here with her father, her mother and my MIL (yup, she gets a few nights a week) and its wonder kiddo can keep her head on straight day after day. I do know that her mother bought her a Tracfone for emergencies. She lost it the first week. They found it eventually. She doesn’t keep it charged or use it.
Having said that, I do know some kids who are very responsible and take very good care of things. But, really, at that age are you really going to be calling people? I know I wasn’t. I was outside playing. And, I fear a smartphone would only cause them to play games instead of interacting with real people.
Depending on the situation an eight year old with a cell phone is okay. If it is being monitored by a parent it would be fine. Sometimes it is important for your kids to be able to get a hold of you when they are at a after school activity.
In our family, our kids get a phone at 11, but don’t get actual cell phone service on it until they are 13. I think it depends on the needs in your family.
If he was on a school bus or in some other situation where I didn’t know exactly where he was at all times, I would say yes. I never thought I’d say that, but I def. side with yes. No internet…just the phone.
I guess it depends. If they needed one, yeah. Because we don’t have a home phone and if I went back to work and my child was home alone I’d say yes, for sure, without a doubt.
I’m so not ready to think of little kids with cell phones. Good to know about Virgin Mobile and I’ll check out the plans.
I would not get my eight year old a cell phone. I am not sure what age my children will get one. This is something that my husband and I need to talk about. I cannot imagine my eight year old needing one- I mean I didn’t have one until college, but it was a different time then. I like this plan though and will keep it in mind. Thanks!
my 8 year old had a cell phone. It was a simple 10/mo plan. But they kept leaving it places and it’d get rained on. so we stopped. lol
My son finally got one this year and he is 112. It was necessary to get him one because of schedules etc. But 8 might be too young
Absolutely not. That is much too young. My 10 year old wants one and I feel he is too young still.
I dont have kids but I will be honest I hate seeing super young kids with super smart phones that cost over $200?! They are too young for that, and I understand in these ages kids need phone but this one definitely looks more reasonable for a child!
Four years ago I would have definitely said no to buying an 8-year old a cell phone, but I’m not sure what I would say now. Sometimes I wish my five-year old had one!
I have a soon-to-be 8 year old and with the world being as it is, I’m definitely considering it! This looks like it would be a great option!