The perfect age for a kid to have a phone?

Question

I was wondering when do you girls think it's appropriate to give Your kid (or future kid) a phone.

I had my first phone at 17, ten years ago. But it was somewhat like a luxury still, not a necessity like now.

I'm just wondering!

Thanks

Answer

It is still not a necessity.  We just treat it like one.

Answer

Their own phone with data and Internet? When they are 18 and can get their own contract. They can have a pay as you go one at 16 if they buy it themselves. Before that we will have a family phone that only has emergency numbers in it that they can have for sleep overs and such. A phone is not a necessity. I think it's disturbing that people give all these electronics to their kids. Get off the iPod and cell phone and play outside. Do arts and crafts something that is beyond the Internet.

Answer

I say maybe 12 or 13 depending on the child and their maturity

Answer

When I got my license, I got a phone :)

Answer

As a teenager myself I got my phone in 5th grade and I definitely feel like I was too young for a phone. Even a simple one because smart phones wernt a thing

Answer

I've gotten lots of criticism but my son got one when he became a latch key kid in the 1st grade. My neighbors in my apartment building would watch him go inside and lock the door and he would call me when he got home. He would be home for 20min before I arrived but he would call me on his cell and I'd keep him on speaker phone until I got there even though my neighbor had a key and watched my door to make sure he was ok. Now he uses it when he goes outside to play with his friends if they are going to leave the front yard. My new neighborhood is safe and has lots of kids but my son has restrictions on when and where he can go and if he doesn't answer his cell he gets in trouble. 
*I know,  I know... let the bs and criticism begin*

Answer

I got my phone when I could afford it and that was in high school. It was like a luxury, I worked to pay for it. I would give my child a phone at a young age only temporarily, just for when they're away for sports, sleep overs, etc., just to be able to contact them, that's the use for it anyways. When they get older and want a phone to contact their friends and all, they'll need to earn it. Materialistic things aren't free in life, you've got to earn it.

Answer

Get a flip phone or basic phone for them to take to birthday parties or field trips or something they can take with them if they might need to get ahold of you if something happens. Then they can get a basic smart phone when they get into middle school or high school.
I had a brick of a phone in middle school, and that was just fine for me. I didn't get an actual smart phone till I was about 16. Then someone stole it and I had to wait and save up money to get a new one when I was responsible enough to have one.

Answer

I got my first phone in 4th grade, so I was 9. But all the little girls who are 5-11 at my dance studio have I phones haha. I guess that is okay if they will need to use it often.

Answer

I got an emergency phone when I was 12, used for calling my mom when I was done with after school activities and to call if I was stuck at school (sometimes my dad forgot to pick me up...) but it was a prepaid disposable phone, so it wasn't really a big deal.

At 16 I got a smartphone that was broken and I had that for a while until a guy I was with purposefully lost it at a concert so I couldn't talk to guys. (My mom was there, thank goodness)
And for my 18th birthday I got my first brand new phone.

I think that it was a good age, as I still view phone's as a luxury, and take very very good care of it.

The perfect age for a kid to have a phone?

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