Cell Phone Age
Sure its also the age you can date, drive at night, and its NCAA March Madness (coming soon!) but the real reason 16 is sweet is the cell phone. We have purchased three 16 year old cell phones.
Here comes baby Ike. He is the most darling 13 year old boy. He is also obsessed with getting a cell phone. He is the only 7th grader in Colorado who doesn't have a cell phone. He claims he needs one in case of an emergency. But he is surrounded by 7th grader (and 6th grader) cell phones, so he can borrow theirs.
Here is something to chew on:
- NPR reported a recent study that show that children under the age of 15 spend an average of 5 hours a day on their cell phones.
- A Korean study found that teens who used their cell phone 90 times a day (apparently not unusual) scored significantly higher on tests measuring depression and anxiety than students who used their phones a more sedate 70 times daily.
- 30% of teenage cell phone users have received "sexts" sexually explicit texts.
- 37% of teens felt they would die, a long and painful death, if they didn't have a cell phone.
- 39% of teenagers said they lie about where they are and what they are doing when they use the cell phone.
But these aren't the reasons we wait until 16. It is more a right of passage than an issue of trust or worthiness. Honestly, I'm not ready for him to grow up and a cell phone screams "GROWN UP!" He is the one person in our house who maintains eye contact with me during conversation because he isn't texting. I worry about the girls calling and texting. Currently they are forced to stop by the house to talk to him (using the parent's phone is unheard of) and I like to meet them and watch the awkward flirting.
We will probably cave and get him a phone before he is 16. That will open a whole new can of worms with the older kids and will kick off years of accusatory exclamations: "We never got to do/have/travel/act/buy/say/watch/listen to that!"
But for now we are holding strong. Just say no.
14 comments:
I bet you see a lot of awkward flirting--Ike is such a handsome 13 year old! Three years is a long time to hold out and listen to the "I'm the only one. . ." I'd probably cave, too.
Love the stat about a long painful death. LOL, these kids have no idea what painful means! (neither do I, Thank goodness!)
Cell Phones are the standard 5th grade graduation gift here. hahaha, that whole sentence is just ridiculous to me! 5th grade graduation? Cell phones???
Hold strong.
have i told you yet that your my hero? i think i have but i'll say it again. your my hero.
Good job, Robin! As a former fifth grade teacher, I witnessed these 10 year olds "Needing" a cell phone. They text WAY faster than me. I think 16 is a good age for a cell phone, and I would LOVE to watch Ike awkwardly flirt. Maybe next time I'm in Colorado...
Side note- did you see Oprah on Monday? She did a show on cell phone usage while driving. Driving drunk, you are 4 times more likely to get into a car accident. Talking on a cell phone (even w/ a bluetooth), you are 4 times more likely to get into and accident. TEXTING while driving, you are 8 TIMES more likely to get into an accident.
I will NEVER talk on my cell phone or text while driving again. I am a born-again cell phone user.
Lisa - that is amazing! i had no idea the accident rate was that high. Just to set the record straight - Ike doesn't flirt. He just stands and looks uncomfortable.
apparently, my 6th grade son is one of only TWO people in the entire 6th grade class without a cell phone. he is MORTIFIED.
bummer.
Awesome post. In our neck of the woods, it is not surprising for 1st and 2nd graders to have cell phones! It's ridiculous. Maybe you could get Ike one of those phones that only has three buttons: mom, dad, and home. No texting. He would be so proud.
I am hoping that by the time our kids get phones they will have GPS and shock-collar type apps so that we will know where the kid is at all times and if he's not where he belongs, BZZzzzzzzzt! I will also need the phone to tell me what the kid is doing and thinking and keep him on the straight and narrow. Has anyone invented that yet?
I love this post! My kids don't have their own "personal" phone either. I call it the "kid" phone and it only calls 2 numbers. My cell and home. Anyone can call it for free though. I take it at night. I agree that kids with cell phones waste too much time. Tell Ike that rest assured, Andrew and Claire will not have phones when we move back.
Here here! We had the same rule until my husband caved and bought his baby girl a cell phone at 15. He said it was for her protection.
Good for you. My 15 year old sister has one, but she isn't allowed to text, just talk. I also have 15 year old cousins who are mortified ot talk to an actaul person. 'Why can't I text him!??" is usually what they say. so sad.
I'll be the same way with my kids.
Don't cave in. Just don't.
What a good thing to be embarassed about.
A little embarrassment about being without can be good. Get him the stuff that will give him healthy confidence, like the Nikes.
I'm sure there are some other research studies out there as well which you can access to arm your self with e.g. cell phone usage and 1. hearing loss, 2. brain cancer, 3. cauliflower ear
Don't cave in.
Good Idea- wish I'd have held out longer! But I must say, once they have one it becomes a pretty powerful leverage tool! ? Haven't done your chores? No cell phone! Bad Grades? No cell phone! Plus, you can really get alot from them as they "earn" their phone and/or privileges.... In the meantime, enjoy the torture!
This was good. We got rid of our land line a year ago and bought an extra cel line ($10/mo instead of $46/mo for land line). We ported our land number to the new cel and called it the new home phone. But as Bill, Ausin, and myself all had cels, Rocky kind of absorbed the new home phone. Now I just admit, he has a cel.
He doesn't text much though, he goes in fits and spurts with texting. It isn't so bad I as thought it could be.
I am glad he has it actually. I can always reach him and he uses it very responsibly.
Our hold out is the driver's licence. No licence till the Scout Eagle Project is done. Austin turns 17 in a few months and just finally kicked the project into gear. It got approved the other day. He could have already been driving for 2 years... go figure.
Samantha is going to think she's abused because she'll never get a cellphone.
Unless it's one of those phones that call only call 3 numbers- mom, dad, 911...and it has a GPS tracking device.
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