Posted on 01/01/2007 1:45:53 PM PST by Coleus
Joe Skarimbas was just learning to read when he decided he was ready to join the digital age. "When he went to first grade he said, 'When am I going to get a cell phone?'" said Joe's mother, Tara Skarimbas.
The Leonia family decided to hold off on getting young Joe a phone until he turns 10 and starts walking home from school alone. But his mother understands the temptation to get her son, who turns 8 this month, a cell phone as soon as possible.
"Just for safety purposes," she said, glancing toward the new Disney Mobile kiosk during a shopping trip to the Paramus Park mall last week.
As the adult and teenage cell phone market becomes saturated, cell phone companies are targeting younger and younger users. This holiday season several companies -- including Disney, Verizon, TicTalk and Firefly -- are pushing brightly colored cell phones specially designed for children as young as kindergartners.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
This is so very true. Every time a new "time-saving" invention comes along, it just changes expectations. Because of e-mail and fax machines, clients of the company I work for expect their documents immediately. Monday used to be "washday." Women took all day to do the wash. Now we have washing machines, so people just change clothes much more often. Whenever I'm in an airport waiting room, I notice that almost everyone is on a cell phone. How did they get by before they were invented? The invention of cell phones changed expectations so that now, people are expected to always be available, and it has become a necessity.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, all those time-saving inventions do not really save us any time at all because we simply adjust to the new expectations.
Still true: the US was a "free country"...
Around here, they've gone one better: no lockers. The kids look like mini-Sherpas lugging all their stuff home each day.
If I had a kid, it would never set foot in a public school.
A cell phone is more than "more nicer" and convenient, particularly if you're female. It can save your life.
If parents want to specify that's it's to be used only in emergencies or for family communication, that's fine, but every girl (and boy) who goes anywhere alone these days should have one.
The GPS capability could be handy if you are wondering where your schoolkid is.
Last month my son called me from his classroom to inform me that the entire school was in lock down due to a couple of students showing up at school with guns and making threats.
I was able to communicate with him during the entire four hour ordeal and provide updated status to concerned parents that were not able to communicate.
When you add the ability to utilize GPS to determine where your children are at all times the value of having a fully charged cell phone at all times has become a necessity in our household.
*sigh* Darling Daughter didn't call me when they evacuated her high school (and 2 others) for a bomb threat. Kids...
wow, 126 posts, 1,723+ views, on New Years Day, in 3 hours. what does this mean? Boredom, good topic, slow thread day, bad football games??? I left to have dinner and all these posts!..... to some parents: some have to recut that new fancy umbilical cord that rings. On the phone, IM'ing all day, text messaging all day, inside all day, video games for hours. Let them go out and play, breathe some fresh air, have exercise and let the sun's rays hit their eyes. There may be some reduction in the childhood depression, the cutting, the bulimia and anorexia and all the other "diseases" nobody ever had 50 yrs. ago.
Boredom mostly, I'd guess.
Other than that, the rest of your post is sage advice.
I was able to communicate with him during the entire four hour ordeal and provide updated status to concerned parents that were not able to communicate. >>>
yea, so he could stick his head out to report to you what was going and get shot in the process. Arm the teachers and lock up all those Emotionally Disturbed kids. End of problem.
I think it's a good, timely topic. I've never had a cell phone (I'm one of those few holdouts) and if I ever have children I'll have to deal with this issue, so it's been interesting to see the responses on this thread.
Anyone care to add more? I am, obviously, a HUGE fan of cell phones >>
thanks.. I have one more to add: they are the cause of many car accidents.
I reported the same situation to the police in my parents neighborhood. The told me the sex offenders were well within their rights to live close to the elementary school. I hung up on the cop.
During a lock down all students are locked in their class rooms with no exit for any reason. Therefore my son had no way to "stick his head out".
Students were freaking out, crying and using bottles to relieve themselves. Every parent standing in the parking lot wanted to know what was going on inside because the police told us nothing.
If you do not see a benefit to communicating with your child during a crisis then nothing I say can convince you other wise.
During this ordeal the teacher that was with my son's class took the bottle that a student just pissed into and rubbed it on his face and pretended to drink it as a joke.
Funny guy huh?
I'll tell you why they need them--the school administration is not your child's friend--they are part of the police. If your child is called to the office, he/she could be questioned without you being notified, given a breathalyzer without you being notified, removed from school premises without you being notified. Your child needs a cell phone for his own protection because the school will not and does not protect them--does not protect his/his rights and does not care about them. Secondly, if your child gets into a situation with bad "friends" and needs to call you to get him/her out of there, the "friends' may not let him use thier phone, may let him out of a car somewhere he/she is not familiar with or cannot walk home from--your child needs a phone. It's not that expensive--true you don't understand it, apparantly, but the world has changed and your child does indeed need a phone.
And had you not have had a cell phone, would it have taken you more than 7 minutes to find a pay phone and call? Would you have even bothered to find a pay phone and call it in?
And just how do you communicate with said "GPS tracker" to find out where they are? And how do you tell them you are stuck in traffic and will be late picking them up at school? And how do they tell you some after school event has been cancelled and they got out early? Etc.
For an 8 year old? I'd go for 16 if they have a job and are driving.
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