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 ...
It's certainly made me more productive. Many's the time I had to cool my heels waiting for someone to show up for an appointment. Now they can call me to tell me they're going to be late or need to reschedule, or I can call them to ask when they'll be arriving. The only time I think modern communications are detrimental is when your work can contact you whenever they want (like vacations, dinner, at a movie, etc.), as opposed to what used to be "office hours." Luckily, that sort of thing isn't an issue for me.
I only use my cell phone for emergencies. IOW almost never, maybe 4-10 minutes a year. This type of thing is perfect: no monthly bill, just buy some minutes once a year.
http://www.tracfone.com/home_page.jsp
Dear SoftballMominVA,
LOL. I have been threatened with calls to Child Protective Services when folks discover how much I deprive my sons. Especially the cable TV! That just OUTRAGES people!
Most folks are kidding, although when we first moved in to our current neighborhood, and folks found out that we homeschooled...
"Hey, have your kids ever told you to turn the music down because it's too loud?"
No, I haven't. Usually, they want me to turn it up. Way up. Especially when listening to the "Ode to Joy," or "Rhapsody in Blue," or some other favorite.
If we're playing rock 'n roll, they just tell us to turn it off. ;-)
sitetest
Unless your child is confined to home until 18, it's not a bad idea for them to have a cell phone. When my kids are old enough to go out with friends to the mall, movies, etc., they carry a cell phone. It's for SAFETY.
Yeah. Only about 2200 in my zipcode.
Not all my childhood friends grew up and survived. I don't know if a cell phone would have saved them, but it is one tool that does allow for increased communication.
My kids get one when they start driving (one of four so far). I send my phone with the younger ones when they go someplace w/o me, library, post office, etc.
That way, they can call me if something comes up or I can call them and tell them to come home because dinners ready.
Well said.
How long a list do you want?
As one with 17 (going on 25) year old daughters.
The phones are for us, not them. They carry or they stay home. They answer when we call or they stay home the next time. They check in when required or they stay home the next time.
Other than that, they can use them to chat with their friends.
Teach them how to use a pay phone.
I work across the street from a grammar school. Sometimes my coworkers and I will go for a walk past the school on our breaks. I see the kids outside at recess. Many of them have cell phones, even kids who appear to be as young as eight. It really threw me for a loop at first.
LOL
There are plenty of people in LA...
"...because as she told me it wasn't worth the time on her feet to pay off a conversation she could have free on the land-line."
Yep. My boys learned early that any chore I could find for them to do would be a thousand times worse than screwing up and not listening to me in the first place, LOL!
Mean Moms Unite! :)
Most places don't have pay phones. The pay phones that are still around mostly take cards. And as for asking to use the phone, forget it.
Oh, you mean the kids who can't drive themselves home when they misses the bus?
I see the kids outside at recess. Many of them have cell phones, even kids who appear to be as young as eight. It really threw me for a loop at first.
You want to get really thrown for a loop, think about how different the world looks to them than it looked to you at their age. The internet is a "no big deal" thing, just as cars are to you. Any question they have can be answered in seconds, and there is no reason why they can't communicate with someone in Germany, France or India on a daily basis.
I got my daughter a Net 10 for Christmas. I told her I'd pay $15 a month for 300 minutes. Once those are gone, she's done until the next month. It costs 50 cents for a text message and we get no surprises.
My son's middle school (in an upscale Silicon Valley neighborhood) has a full time campus Cop.
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