Sunday, September 21, 2008

Do Your Kids Have a Cell Phone?

I came across a recent iReport on CNN asking people to voice or text their opinion on giving their own kids a cell phone. Some interesting reports were submitted. Below are some of the highlights:

1) While most parents seem to think safety was the number 1 reason for giving their kids a cell phone, they also voiced concern over those rather "large" cell phone bills that would come in each month (one had a 500 dollar bill!).

2) Many families have unlimited text messaging but very limited calling, therefore the primary communication is via text to save on calling minutes.

3) Some parents who wanted their kids to have cell phones, bought them the pay-as-you-go plans or the restricted phones such as Tic Talk or FireFly in order to have a lot of control over the phones and plans.

4) A few parents posted that they felt giving their children cell phones encouraged responsibility such as their kids having after-school jobs to pay for their plans (or extra features they would like), and having their kids for any overcharges.

5) A few parents did not agree with giving their children cell phones, citing "not responsible" enough to handle the expensive devices as a main reason.

What is your opinion? Does your child have a cell phone? If so, what age did they get their first ell phone. What was your reason for giving them a cell phone? Take the poll!

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