Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

We also had access to lots of pay phones.

Lame. There was no pay phones at parks, neighborhoods, and athletic fields. That is where most kids are. Also, anywhere there was a pay phone also has free land lines you can ask to use. Oh and every living human adult has a pay phone you can ask to borrow.

It depends on where you were. Yes, there were around here. No, you don't ask to borrow a strangers phone. I might make a phone call for you but I'm to handing over your phone. If anything I'll call the police to report neglect if your child is injured and you were not supervising and they had no way to contact you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

We also had access to lots of pay phones.

Lame. There was no pay phones at parks, neighborhoods, and athletic fields. That is where most kids are. Also, anywhere there was a pay phone also has free land lines you can ask to use. Oh and every living human adult has a pay phone you can ask to borrow.

It depends on where you were. Yes, there were around here. No, you don't ask to borrow a strangers phone. I might make a phone call for you but I'm to handing over your phone. If anything I'll call the police to report neglect if your child is injured and you were not supervising and they had no way to contact you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

Seriously. When no one else had cell phones either. There may have been a pay phone here or there, but mostly out on your own for hours and hours staring at age 6/7. Now all adults have them and every store/business has a phone. Your kid really doesn’t even need one and if he had one, it can be for dialing a few numbers only, not a $700 smart phone with monthly services all paid for by Mommy and Daddy.

Ok, so you had neglectful parents. At 6/7 we were not off on our own. Not all iPhones or smart phones cost $700. And, yes parents should pay for phone service. What next, you expect your kids to pay for their own food and clothing. You sound as selfish as your parents were to you. I have no issue with my child having a iPhone or other phone. Yes, I will pay for it. It is for me, not for them.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the article. No social media allowed for my 5th grader. We limit screen time and no phone allowed. We will get a flip phone that texts when DC is 13 if needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

We also had access to lots of pay phones.

Lame. There was no pay phones at parks, neighborhoods, and athletic fields. That is where most kids are. Also, anywhere there was a pay phone also has free land lines you can ask to use. Oh and every living human adult has a pay phone you can ask to borrow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

We also had access to lots of pay phones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

Seriously. When no one else had cell phones either. There may have been a pay phone here or there, but mostly out on your own for hours and hours staring at age 6/7. Now all adults have them and every store/business has a phone. Your kid really doesn’t even need one and if he had one, it can be for dialing a few numbers only, not a $700 smart phone with monthly services all paid for by Mommy and Daddy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

HAHAHA that is how bad parents just giving their kids a cell phone. generations and generations of kids survived without cell phones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My teen doesn't have a cell phone.

What's your excuse, OP?

Humm...ok, so your point is what? How sad if they have an emergency they cannot contact you or someone for help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Phones are devices. Maybe instead of blaming the phone, you should step up your parenting and monitor the devices and have more family time.

This.

I think it's totally crazy to blame technology for the fact that parents aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing.

My 12 year old has an iPhone. He does not touch it from the moment he starts breakfast until he gets home from school each day. He carries with him in case of emergency (my choice, he'd rather just leave it home). He isn't addicted to it, it doesn't interfere with his grades or his extra curriculars, his relationship with us or his sister, or his responsibilities at home.

And all of that said, he's an introvert with some special needs so I don't feel the need to shove him back outside to play with the neighbors after school every day when what he needs is some downtime to decompress.

Anonymous wrote:Parents need to lead by example. Next time you're out at dinner, I dare you to find a table that's a family with teens where the parents and teens aren't all on their phones from the moment they are seated. It's really rare.

I saw a family this weekend that could have been 4 strangers eating together, there was that little chatting. The kids had earbuds in and were watching videos on their phones all through dinner. The parents put their phones down to order and then were right back on until their meals came.

We have a no devices at dinner rule and that applies when we're out of the house. The only exception is if we're at dinner for a special occasion and want to take a photo, but even that is very rare. As soon as they got phones, sensible rules were put in place. When the rules were broken, phones were taken away. So many of my kid's friend's parents are afraid to take away phones as punishment. "But what if there's an emergency! How will they reach me?" If your teen isn't capable of functioning in the world without a phone for a few days, you've got major issues.