| May 18 @ 11:29 AM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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Angel178
Posts: 22,004
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My 9 year old daughter and my 10 1/2 year old son sat me down this morning and talked to me. They said that their frinds at school (lots of latch key kids) have cell phones. They told me they all text each other. I told them no.....now I'm the "worst mom EVER)
How young is too young? I feel that the earlier they get cell phones, the earlier they can get into trouble. Am I wrong? I can monitor the house phone....they can delete a cell. Am I really over protective thinking it's rediculous? I don't think so.....other opinions?
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| May 18 @ 11:32 AM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 20,887
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 While I would love to think that it would be a safety thing for them to have one, I think I would check with all their friends mom's or dad's and find out why they have them too.
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| May 18 @ 11:32 AM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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Loreli
Posts: 19,326
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If a child is responsible, IMO, 12 is early enough, and the first time it was abused, it would be toast.
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| May 18 @ 11:40 AM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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Pete73052
Posts: 19,368
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You can get a full print-out of who they call or text message and when - every month. For younger children, I would set a time limit on phone calls - like 5 minutes... and a cut-off time at night. You know this means you will have to get unlimited everything on your phones, right?
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| May 18 @ 11:53 AM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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Angel178
Posts: 22,004
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I agree on the 12 year old thing.....
Here's the problem....my daughter and my friends daughter were at my job all day on Friday....they were texting each other on our cells..... When I read the text later, they were talking about some boy.... 
My daughter just turned 9.....I don't need to give her more options to grow up faster!!! It freaked me out to read the messages 
I'm not ready to deal with this....I haven't even had any kind of "talk" with her....and now she is checking out boys.... 
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| May 18 @ 12:01 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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Heaveninawildflower
Posts: 14,787
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Angel, having a cell or not having a cell won't make a bit of difference as to how fast she's maturing...but whatever you do, hurry up and have that talk! Information is the best protection you can give her...looks like she's more than ready for that talk, whether you are or not. She'll get information from somewhere, and if it's not you, it will probably be her friends (thinking back to my best friend,when we were in our teens...her mother never told her a thing, she thought she could only get pregnant DURING her period)...
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| May 18 @ 12:16 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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Pete73052
Posts: 19,368
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I had to have the talk with my daughter at age 10. She was already interested in boys.
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| May 18 @ 12:23 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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Jalon
Posts: 794
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It is my opinion that children do not need cell phones. I would have no objection to my (hypothetical) child chatting on the phone under my roof but as for a cell phone, when they get a job and pay for it themselves, then they can have one.
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| May 18 @ 12:28 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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Angel178
Posts: 22,004
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You are right about the cells......I'll hold out and be the suckest mom 
But.............the talk
Noooooooooooooo  She's just a baby......I'm not ready
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| May 18 @ 12:36 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 20,887
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I remember "the talk" I told my mom everything she needed to know.
At 10 years old, I had "started".  
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| May 18 @ 12:43 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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LipGlossQueen9
Posts: 9,940
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OK....
When I was nine, my friends and I talked on the house phone for HOURS...sometimes, literally all day (in fact, most little girls did)...I fail to see how giving a kid a cell phone is any different, unless you don't have some sort of plan that provides for free minutes like Verizon does.
We also used to talk about boys all the time when we were nine...and that was nothing that our parents were scared of...it wasn't sexual and we weren't planning on doing anything sexual. Nine year old girls have crushes on boys, and they like to talk about it; it's normal.
Giving your kid a cell phone does not mean they will get into trouble, unless you don't teach your kid to turn it off in school.
My sister got a cell phone when she was twelve and it hasn't caused her to turn into some hoodlum...seriously...cell phones don't turn good kids into bad kids, nor do they make them grow up faster...
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| May 18 @ 1:12 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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Angel178
Posts: 22,004
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Thank you LGQ....I was only worried cause I'm a mom.. I wanted my little girl to be little forever....not talking about boys.....
You are right...cell phones don't make good girls turn bad, it just opens lots of doors that i'm not ready to be opened....
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| May 18 @ 1:17 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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LipGlossQueen9
Posts: 9,940
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Well, I mean...all it does is make communication more instant when a kid is not at home to talk on IM...I don't know if your daughters use IM or not, but basically what text messages are are mobile IMs. They provide an instant way for people to communicate...sometimes it's a bad thing, but it's usually harmless. My sister texts all the time, usually about stupid things (I consider it my duty to go through her inbox every once in awhile).
The only thing I think you'd have to worry about with buying your kids cell phones is cell phone usage in school. Kids get in a lot of trouble for that...you'd have to institute strict rules about the phone being off in school or staying home while the kids or at school. That's what my mum did...though I was 16 when I got my phone and I kind of didn't listen to her.  My sister listens to her, though. 
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| May 18 @ 1:21 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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Gallows_Humor
Posts: 6,377
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I would suggest that you talk to his/her closest friends...and see how many of them have their own cell phone.. if it is about equal..  deny.. but if a strong majority have them.. maybe try a " family cell phone" that is tied in with some rules.. that way if you feel you are making a mistake.. it wont be as hard to control the situation..
I would prefer a 10 year old child text over a phone to his/her friends.. rather than surf the Internet and email... ( even with parental controls..I feel it is a bad idea)
another question is.. does your lifestyle require the convenience of their having a cell phone.. ? ( have they ever been somewhere where you wanted to talk to them (now) and had to wait until they were by a phone where you knew to call) I am guessing that this is not the case...
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| May 18 @ 1:23 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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robodad
Posts: 5,584
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Angel, just buy her a bra, instead 
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| May 18 @ 1:24 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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Angel178
Posts: 22,004
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LGQ...I agree with you, but...........
My son was talking about his friend who texts....and sorry...too young....
My daughter was texting in front of me and when I tried to read it she covered it....later I read it (felf like I was reading her diary)....she was asking the other girl...."so, tell me about .....) wow....she is too young, or I'm too nieve....
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| May 18 @ 1:27 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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beckyiv42000
Posts: 11,715
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Angel Im with Heaven on this one its far past time for "the talk" especially now a days... unless you are waiting for the school to give them one and some do in the 5th grade or letting her "find out " from her friends or even worse her not know what can happen or what sex is and have something terrible happen. oh and yes you should have it with your son too.. Now about the phone . .. I have a 13 yr old boy and a 10 year old girl and neither of them have phones.. I see no need ...when they are IN school they don't NEED one and if they are home there is the house phone.... or wait.. hmm maybe not letting them sit and text or talk all day and have them play outside would be a good thing??  My oldest didn't have a cell till she was old enough to earn the $ to pay for it herself.and in high school and needed to call about a ride home since the school was a bit far away .. The only reason I see a child having one for is EMERGENCIES like when on a field trip or something .. not for everyday use.. BTW the little girls talk enough during school ... believe me.. having tutored for years you hear a lot ...and some of its scary .. heck by 7 they were yakking about boys and whats worse is how the little boys talk about girls yep you need to have the TALK with both of them
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| May 18 @ 1:27 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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LipGlossQueen9
Posts: 9,940
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Question: do your kids use AOL, MSN, MySpace, Google, or Facebook Messengers?
If you answer "yes" to any of these...then how is texting any worse? I'm not trying to get you to buy your kids a cell phone, though I do see many benefits attached to having a cell phone, but I'm just trying to get you to perhaps see the whole "texting" thing from another point of view.
I wouldn't want my mum looking at my texts, either...and it's not because they're inappropriate.
I don't let her read my MD blogs. I just don't like her to read my stuff.
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| May 18 @ 1:30 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast....
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ash_is_unforgetable
Posts: 837
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Personally I think if you give into this then next time "all the kids at school" have something, then they will want whatever that is too. And in my opinion I think 9 is way to young to have a cell phone to talk to friends with, if it was for emergencys only and would only be able to call a family member I feel that might be different. And as far as text messages, how do you know you could monitor that, because I know atleast on my phone you can delete them, so once they got smart and if for some reason they didnt want you to know something then they would just delete the message, as far as my cell phone plan it doesn't say WHO you text to or what the text said (on the paper bill) it only says how many incoming and outgoing texts where used.
Good luck with your decision, yes they do grow up to fast and there will be many other times where you will be a mean mom too lol.
Ash
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| May 18 @ 1:36 PM |
Kids grow up sooooo fast.... |
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Gallows_Humor
Posts: 6,377
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Personally I think if you give into this then next time "all the kids at school" have something,
this is a totally different subject, as a cell phone . texting is part of growing up.. not a designer pair of sneakers.. the only question is.. imho.. how old should they be..... 
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