Many parents struggle with this issue when their children come of age. Cell phone or no cell phone? There is no written rule that says, when a child reaches X age they should have a cell phone it’s up to a parents to decide.
Smart phones have also complicated the conversation because most phone can do so much more than just receive calls. Phones are like mini computers, they can access the internet, take and send pictures, text, play music, games and videos, send and receive e-mails and so much more. Now the phone conversation is so much deeper, because you have to consider the ramifications behind one of those innocent mistakes that so many children make without thinking, that will be forever archived and capable of doing irreputable harm in their future. Your child comes home from school with that, “But everyone else at school but me has one” song and dance, and they can”t possibly understand why you are making a big deal about this because it is only a phone.
As parents, it is nice to know your children are safe. There is peace of mind knowing that they are only a ring away in case of an unexpected delay or an emergency, but that doesn’t always make the decision easy. There are so many nightmares about kids who text and drive, or kids who post inappropriate pictures to Facebook, or kids who don’t answer the phone when their parents call because they are busy doing other things because they don’t want to be embarrassed. Not to mention that astronomical cell phone bill because the kids went over the data or texting limit on the phone plan.
As a parent you have to be creative and I love what this mother decided to do, she set up an iphone contract when she gave her 13 year old a phone. The inclusion of words like this is mom’s phone, and you must answer the phone when mom and dad calls was genius. Most of all I appreciated the creativity and accountability she is exercising on the front end by making the child not only agree, but actually read and sign the contract. In this high tech world we live in, this iphone contract is a creative and refreshing response to a problem that many parents face. Perhaps there is something in it you can use when you are weigh the decision in your family.
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