At What Age Should Children Get a Cell Phone?

Technology has evolved at an alarming rate over the past few years and cell phones have been at the very center of that evolution.

It used to be that a cell phone was simply a mobile phone that you could make or receive calls with on the move and then came along text messaging.

These days though cell phones have become hand held computers with full Internet access.

Almost everyone you know now a days carries a cell phone, they have become an important part of today's lifestyle and they are so popular that most children carry a cell phone too.

Parents buy phones for their children mainly because they see them as a safety net, they can contact their children at any time and their children can contact them too especially in an emergency situation.

Giving your child a cell phone for their personal safety is actually a good idea but because today's phones have full Internet access they can also lead your child into danger.

Cell Phones And Child Predators

Chat rooms, Facebook, email and messenger services are now available on most cell phones and although they are a great addition to any phone they can leave your child exposed to predators who scour the Internet looking for victims.

There are cell phone applications that allow you to track where your child is but remember if you can track where they are a complete stranger can do that too.

Cell Phones and Cyber Bullying

is also on the increase, children can be cruel to each other and cell phones have given them another media to attack their victims, we read reports every week about children trying to kill themselves because of cyber bullying.

Pornography On Cell Phones

With full Internet access on most cell phones, your child could be visiting pornographic websites without your knowledge. Even if you put a bar on adult sites on your child's phone, they can often discover a way around it.

Cell Phones Have Camera's Too

An ever growing trend amongst teenagers is to send nude pictures of themselves to the girl or boy that they are dating. When the lovely couple split up two days later, one or even both of them in an act of revenge begin sending the pictures to all of their friends, who in turn send them to their friends and soon enough there are nude pictures of your son daughter all over the place.

There are many factors to be considered before you decide whether or not your child is ready for a cell phone of their own.

• Is your child mature enough?
• Is your child responsible enough?
• Can you trust your child not to use their phone during lessons at school?
• Do you have safety concerns which merit your child having a phone?
• Can you afford the extra expense?
• will your child take good care of a phone?
• Does your child understand what types of apps are alright to download and how to surf the Internet safely?
• Does your child know what they should and shouldn’t share online?
• What sorts of words and pictures not to send?

The most important thing to ask yourself is simply can you trust your child to be responsible and avoid any situation that could lead them into danger.

There are no real hard and fast rules about how old a child should be before they get a cell phone, at the end of the day it is up to the parents of each individual child.

If you as a parent do not feel that your child can be trusted with the responsibilities that go along with owning a cell phone then of course the answer is don't get your child one.

If you believe that your child is mature enough and can be trusted to stay safe and look after their phone then maybe it is the right time for them.

Try them out on a prepaid simcard that way they have a usage limit that they cannot go over that way you know that you wont receive an enormous bill at the end of the month.