What Age Do You Let Your Kid Have A Cell Phone?

I listed to a dad on Instagram talk about how he will not let his kids have a cell phone until they are 16. And, when 16 happens it will only be a basic flip-phone. When they turn 18 they will be able to purchase on their own the fancy phone of their choice.

I whole-heartedly disagree with this dad and I think he needs to reexamine his principals.

Do they also not have a tablet/laptop? How do you teach a kid to integrate themselves into the world without having the

Gee dad, thanks for making me have to catch up with rest of the world.

Safety is the biggest reason this gets under my skin, but it’s more than that.

My husband has three boys from a previous marriage and we have our three year old son. The youngest of my stepsons is eight and we got him a cell phone. The other two boys (12 and 10) also have phones.

My favorite part about the three boys having cell phones is that they can easily communicate with their dad in between the household shuffle. I love that the kids call and text their dad during times they are not with us.

I know YouTube isn’t the best place for kids to hang out, but we can’t shelter them from the world. They are going to learn about stuff. Ask any parent how they feel about the school bus.

From time to time we catch the kids watching something inappropriote, but mostly they watch stuff about their games or stupid foolish things. This morning I heard said eight year old watching something about how astraunauts bathe in space.

It goes both ways.

Restriction does not harbor curiosoty, learning, and exploration. Facets I highly value and would feel I’m denying my kid if I restricted them from owning technology.

The dad from the Instagram post didn’t mention what his reasons are. I imagine it has something to do with how we don’t need cell phones, or he didn’t have a cell phone growing up. I say, so what.

I believe technology enhances our brains.

We humans have the world at our fingertips and it’s an amazing thing. To me, if I have an opportunity to give my kid the world, I am going to do so.