What cell phone does your 12 year old have?

[Anonymous]

Blu from Amazon for $25. The plan runs $10/month on t-mobile. No data. Calling not encouraged. Text used to inform of activities ending and it's time to pick up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a serious question because I am facing it now with my 9th grader: for those of you who buy your kids smart phones instead of dumb phones with keyboards and texting, why did you make that choice?

DC says virtually all classmates have smart phones, and in this case, I don't think it is an exaggeration. I get that not everyone has the same principled objection to them, but I sincerely want to know why parents make the positive choice of a smart phone.

Will be phone shopping for DC this week so very interested - and not snarky, promise.

What is your principled objection? I got them for my kids because I can't see why not, it's not a financial hardship, I don't see them as something all that great (would rather have a great bike than a great phone), I can monitor them through the cloud functions. Just never saw any reason to say no n

What I meant was that many people have listed reasons against buying a smartphone; I wanted to know the reasons in favor (other than just "why not?", which doesn't make sense to me, either, given the various risks listed above.

Would you please enlighten me vis a vis monitoring via the cloud? How does one do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that you think my kid shouldn't have an iPhone 5 because you can't afford one.

Oh I can afford one. I just don't think it's sane to give a $500 phone to a 12 yr. old. Over-indulgence is a form of abuse according to some experts.

Bet your daughter has Uggs. I don't think it is sane to buy kids shoes they outgrow in one year.

See how that works? You may make decisions I think are stupid but it is your money.

Stop being so judgemental.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that you think my kid shouldn't have an iPhone 5 because you can't afford one.

Oh I can afford one. I just don't think it's sane to give a $500 phone to a 12 yr. old. Over-indulgence is a form of abuse according to some experts.

Bet your daughter has Uggs. I don't think it is sane to buy kids shoes they outgrow in one year.
See how that works? You may make decisions I think are stupid but it is your money.

Stop being so judgemental.

No, my DD wears tennis shoes pretty much all the time (New Balance, if you must know -- from Sears). As for your opinion that it is "not sane to buy kids shoes they outgrow in one year" -- well, that would mean your kids go barefoot ALL the time b/c the nature of kids is that their feet tend to grow at least one size in a year. Since shoes ARE required at school and in most public venues, I would assume that your children stay at home 100% of the time -- OR you are making a stupid comparison that has no basis in reality.

There are things kids NEED -- i.e. shoes. Things that are nice to have -- i.e. access to a telephone to call mom/dad. And there are things that are far beyond any need or practical convenience, but that you may choose to give your child -- i.e. an iphone5. IMO, a TWELVE year old has no business being responsible for a $500 item at school, at other people's houses, --essentially all the time. I also choose to spend my money in other places and don't want my kids to expect the latest and greatest when they've done nothing to earn it. But, that's my view. If you don't care about losing it or creating entitlement, then go ahead and give your kid an iphone5. I still think it's a dumb move, but you can spend your money and raise your kid as you like.

[Anonymous]

My kids, 13 and 11, don't have phones but to answer why smartphones are good and why we may buy them one...

They are more likely to FaceTime with grandparents.
Quizlet is an app that has flash cards
Learning ally reads books to them
Dragon dictate is good for writing papers.


Right now they borrow my iPad for these things but I think they could use a phone for this.

I agree with the entitled part, because it all adds up, $150 cleats, $300 lacrosse sticks, $500 ski club, $2000 soccer club fees, etc.

Kids need to understand that all this cost a lot of money and they can't just have everything they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a serious question because I am facing it now with my 9th grader: for those of you who buy your kids smart phones instead of dumb phones with keyboards and texting, why did you make that choice?

DC says virtually all classmates have smart phones, and in this case, I don't think it is an exaggeration. I get that not everyone has the same principled objection to them, but I sincerely want to know why parents make the positive choice of a smart phone.

Will be phone shopping for DC this week so very interested - and not snarky, promise.

What is your principled objection? I got them for my kids because I can't see why not, it's not a financial hardship, I don't see them as something all that great (would rather have a great bike than a great phone), I can monitor them through the cloud functions. Just never saw any reason to say no n

What I meant was that many people have listed reasons against buying a smartphone; I wanted to know the reasons in favor (other than just "why not?", which doesn't make sense to me, either, given the various risks listed above.

Would you please enlighten me vis a vis monitoring via the cloud? How does one do this?

Big thing is photos and videos. Also GPS. You just connect devices through the cloud and you pick the features you want to share. It's pretty convenient.

[Anonymous]

Kids now 12 and 13 both have iPhones 4. We gifted them phones in 3rd and 4th grade when we started dropping them off at the pool for winter swim, football practices, travel soccer etc. The phone travelled in swim backpack etc. the original flip phones have been upgraded over the years. There was one loss along the way but we got a replacement for $50.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read thru all the posts ... But there is a big difference between buying an iPhone for your child and your child getting a hand-me-down iPhone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that you think my kid shouldn't have an iPhone 5 because you can't afford one.

Oh I can afford one. I just don't think it's sane to give a $500 phone to a 12 yr. old. Over-indulgence is a form of abuse according to some experts.

Bet your daughter has Uggs. I don't think it is sane to buy kids shoes they outgrow in one year.
See how that works? You may make decisions I think are stupid but it is your money.

Stop being so judgemental.

No, my DD wears tennis shoes pretty much all the time (New Balance, if you must know -- from Sears). As for your opinion that it is "not sane to buy kids shoes they outgrow in one year" -- well, that would mean your kids go barefoot ALL the time b/c the nature of kids is that their feet tend to grow at least one size in a year. Since shoes ARE required at school and in most public venues, I would assume that your children stay at home 100% of the time -- OR you are making a stupid comparison that has no basis in reality.

There are things kids NEED -- i.e. shoes. Things that are nice to have -- i.e. access to a telephone to call mom/dad. And there are things that are far beyond any need or practical convenience, but that you may choose to give your child -- i.e. an iphone5. IMO, a TWELVE year old has no business being responsible for a $500 item at school, at other people's houses, --essentially all the time. I also choose to spend my money in other places and don't want my kids to expect the latest and greatest when they've done nothing to earn it. But, that's my view. If you don't care about losing it or creating entitlement, then go ahead and give your kid an iphone5. I still think it's a dumb move, but you can spend your money and raise your kid as you like.

Just because I give my kids expensive things does not mean they are entitled. Again your judgement. Since you have never met my kids you don't know how they are, what they appreciate and how responsible they are. My point about shoes is you don't need to buy kids expensive shoes like UGGS but I see it all the time. At $200 a pair for one season, I think that is pretty entitled.That point went over your head. So who is the stupid one?

And how do you know my kids haven't earned anything? They do chores,the oldest drives the others to practices and games, etc. we are a two parent family both of whomwork out of the house family. Having an iphone for all of them makes it easier for them to get their emails (which even the 12 year old gets from teachers as well as changes to practices etc. Your only point is that you must be entitled and spoiling you kid if they get an iphone.

I will make my choices as I see fit. Your judgmental attitude about parents that do make these choices of expensive items is annoying. Parents like you who think their choices are the only right ones are the ones that create the most problems for everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that you think my kid shouldn't have an iPhone 5 because you can't afford one.

Oh I can afford one. I just don't think it's sane to give a $500 phone to a 12 yr. old. Over-indulgence is a form of abuse according to some experts.

Bet your daughter has Uggs. I don't think it is sane to buy kids shoes they outgrow in one year.
See how that works? You may make decisions I think are stupid but it is your money.

Stop being so judgemental.

No, my DD wears tennis shoes pretty much all the time (New Balance, if you must know -- from Sears). As for your opinion that it is "not sane to buy kids shoes they outgrow in one year" -- well, that would mean your kids go barefoot ALL the time b/c the nature of kids is that their feet tend to grow at least one size in a year. Since shoes ARE required at school and in most public venues, I would assume that your children stay at home 100% of the time -- OR you are making a stupid comparison that has no basis in reality.

There are things kids NEED -- i.e. shoes. Things that are nice to have -- i.e. access to a telephone to call mom/dad. And there are things that are far beyond any need or practical convenience, but that you may choose to give your child -- i.e. an iphone5. IMO, a TWELVE year old has no business being responsible for a $500 item at school, at other people's houses, --essentially all the time. I also choose to spend my money in other places and don't want my kids to expect the latest and greatest when they've done nothing to earn it. But, that's my view. If you don't care about losing it or creating entitlement, then go ahead and give your kid an iphone5. I still think it's a dumb move, but you can spend your money and raise your kid as you like.

Just because I give my kids expensive things does not mean they are entitled. Again your judgement. Since you have never met my kids you don't know how they are, what they appreciate and how responsible they are. My point about shoes is you don't need to buy kids expensive shoes like UGGS but I see it all the time. At $200 a pair for one season, I think that is pretty entitled.That point went over your head. So who is the stupid one?

And how do you know my kids haven't earned anything? They do chores,the oldest drives the others to practices and games, etc. we are a two parent family both of whomwork out of the house family. Having an iphone for all of them makes it easier for them to get their emails (which even the 12 year old gets from teachers as well as changes to practices etc. Your only point is that you must be entitled and spoiling you kid if they get an iphone.

I will make my choices as I see fit. Your judgmental attitude about parents that do make these choices of expensive items is annoying. Parents like you who think their choices are the only right ones are the ones that create the most problems for everyone else.

Pot -- meet kettle. You call kids with Uggs "entitled" but no one should call your iphone5 kids "entitled"???

The PP called the comparison "stupid." PP did not call YOU stupid -- but again, pot -- meet kettle.

GREAT -- you'll make your choices as you see fit. Again, the PP was clear that you could do as you wished. Why so annoyed and defensive about how your spend your money? No one has to agree with you -- and clearly not everyone does. Funny how upset you get about other people not agreeing with your choices. Defensive much?

[Anonymous]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/tech/social-media/apparently-this-matters-jerry-jones-billionaire-flip-phone/index.html?hpt=hp_t5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny that you think my kid shouldn't have an iPhone 5 because you can't afford one.

New poster here. A little defensive are we? Who said PP couldn't afford an iPhone? PP is just smarter about how he spends his money and doesn't want to spoil his kids. People who are secure and able to think for themselves don't have to have the latest and most expensive model of everything. That's usually reserved for teenagers and adults of a similar maturity level.

My kids didn't get a cellphone till their 13th birthdays in seventh grade. At that point they got a free or very low cost phone to start and switched to a reasonably-priced smartphone when they were able to upgrade in a year or two. If they wanted something fancier, they had to pay for it with their own money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that you think my kid shouldn't have an iPhone 5 because you can't afford one.

New pp here. I was going to keep my thoughts to myself, but your post compelled me to chime in. It has nothing to do with money, but has to do with not raising entitled children that are hard to please adults. The pp you responded to wasn't being rude, but I guess I will be. I can afford an iPhone for my kids., don't assume that pp can't either. The whole idea is that it's a different value system. Also, kids that age don't need that kind of access to the Internet.

+1

This +1000

[Anonymous]

The invisible kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that you think my kid shouldn't have an iPhone 5 because you can't afford one.

New pp here. I was going to keep my thoughts to myself, but your post compelled me to chime in. It has nothing to do with money, but has to do with not raising entitled children that are hard to please adults. The pp you responded to wasn't being rude, but I guess I will be. I can afford an iPhone for my kids., don't assume that pp can't either. The whole idea is that it's a different value system. Also, kids that age don't need that kind of access to the Internet.

+1

+2, but in this area expect this frame of mind to be met with this: