Alright all you bloggers out there. I need your opinions and advice. Last year Dirk and I got three cell phones, one for me, one for Dirk and one for the kids since we didn't have a home phone. Now Dirk's job got him a blackberry phone and is paying for it, which frees up a phone. James, being in junior high, has been using the kid phone whenever he has to stay after school or has activities. We currently have a house phone. The question is...what do we do with Dirk's old phone? We can't disconnect it since our contract is until next January. It only costs us $10 a month since it's in a family plan. Jenni wants it really really bad and has taken to carrying it around with her, even though she never calls anyone. Emma likes taking pictures of everyone with the camera on it. I have a lot of trouble giving a 9/almost 10 year old her own cell phone. So I want your advice. Do we just let Jenni and Emma use the phone if they are going somewhere (gymnastics, friends, piano lessons, etc) or do we stick it on the shelf and never mess with it again? Speak up!! I want to hear your opinions.
5 comments:
We have struggled with this for the past couple of years. Kaitlyn is now almost a teen and Todd still refuses to allow her a cell phone. The girl doesn't even have her own landline in her room. I'm all for letting the kids having a phone, especially as they get older and are away from home more and more.
My kids aren't that old yet, thank goodness.
I really don't like seeing kids with phones, but I suppose they feel like losers if they don't have one when all their peers do. I guess there's noting wrong with letting her use it when she's at activities, cause I'm sure it would make it easier to arrange pick-ups, etc. Maybe you could just make sure she knows that it's a family phone that she has the use of, and that it's not for talking on for hours - or texting instead of talking to real people.
I'm really not that old, but sometimes I feel like I am! When we were kids we all survived just fine without them. Took a quarter to put in the pay phone outside the school when practice was over. Now parents shriek and rage if they can't be in contact with their kids every second of the day. I'm sooo glad that I got out of teaching just before kids started bringing them to school. One more headache for teachers to deal with, I bet.
Wow! My girls (the 11 & 8 yr olds) have been BEGGING for phones, but I'm just not giving in...yet. I say keep it as an extra "family" phone that one of them can use when they are going to be somewhere without the family. Good luck!
Jenn
I didn't even carry around a quarter. Whenever I needed my parents to pick me up, from say, the pool, I'd make a collect call and my parents would NOT accept and we'd just know that was code for, "Ok, coming to get you."
I'd probably let them take the phone with them to activities, ONLY to call me when it was time to get them etc. Dallin's already asking for a PDA!
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