Kids with Cell Phones, How Young is Too Young?

An anonymous reader writes "CNet is reporting that the average age of a child receiving their first cell phone is continuing to drop. A report carried out last year showed that the average age of a child's first cell phone was just eight years old and is expected to drop closer to 5 years of age this year. The author raises the obligatory medical questions that have been argued about in adults for years. Just how young is too young for a cell phone?

Comments

It's Great!

[Quick Sick Nick]

Five year olds NEED cell phones, guys. Duh. How else are they going to handle buisness calls and stay in touch with family and friends when they go out on their own?

Re:It's Great!

[jmp_nyc]

My six month old still gets a little confused when the phone gets held to his ear and he hears a familiar voice coming from it. I think we'll hold off on buying him a cell phone until he's old enough not to use it as a teething toy. ;-)

-JMP

Nokia FeotalFone 772

[krell]

Because there is no such thing as too early.

Re:Nokia FeotalFone 772

[Bruitist]

You'll have twins calling eachother up... "Dude, stay in there! It's not worth it, they just dragged me out by my legs and spanked me!"

I don't care how young they are,

[Megaweapon]

just stay the f*ck off my lawn!

Who wants a phone that old?

[GuruBuckaroo]

the average age of a child's first cell phone was just eight years old and is expected to drop closer to 5 years of age this year.

Man - I know they're kids, but who wants an 8-year-old cell phone? I try to get a new one every two years or so. Of course, I keep my Motorola Lugable radiophone just for kicks...

south park"

[krell]

"Dude, stay in there! It's not worth it, they just dragged me out by my legs and spanked me!"

In your best Cartman voice, of course!

WTF?

[gstoddart]

When I was 5 years old I couldn't convince my mother to buy me a new GI Joe .... there's no flippin way I could have gotten a cell phone, even if they did exist.

What the hell does a 5 year old need with a cell phone? Call the babysitter to tell them you'll be late because you're power lunching with Billy on some cool mudpies? Call AAA if your Big Wheel breaks down? (Assuming they still make Big Wheels ;-)

Crap do I feel old now.

Re:Just freakin great!

[Anonymous Coward]

Like my life on the road isn't hectic enough already with soccer moms in their SUVs changing lanes without looking because they are on the phone. Now I'm going to have to worry about running over little kids stepping away from the ice cream truck with their cellphones stuck to their heads.

I would call that culling the herd...

Re:How young is too young?

[drinkypoo]

i got mine when i was 15.. but then again i was working 40 hours a week and paid my own bill.. my parents objected but because i was paying for it they didnt' say anything

They objected, but they didn't say anything? What did they do, send you a memo?

Re:How young is too young?

[Who235]

Text message. . .

Re:preprogrammed phones for kids?

[Anonymous Coward]

do you really want your daughter stranded in the middle of nowhere without a way to call for help when her looser friends forget to pick her up?

Her "looser" friends? I would hope that my daughter wouldn't hang out with such sluts. But then again I would hope that my daughter isn't the loosest.

Re:preprogrammed phones for kids?

[porcupine8]

You seem to have an amazingly oversimplified view of how easy it is to keep kids safe. I'm not a parent yet, but even I know that every parent, even the best, is likely to have one or two panicky moments when Junior was right by their side a minute ago and now is nowhere to be seen. It only takes a few seconds, and if your kid can call you when they wind up "lost" three aisles down from you it can prevent a lot of panic on both ends.

Heck, I had a scary experience as a kid that shows you can't be too careful. We were at TG&Y (a now-defunct K-Martlike store), and I was walking a couple steps behind my mom. I was like 3-4 years old, it's one of my earliest really clear memories. I stopped to look at a purse or something else pretty on a display, got maybe 5-6 feet behind mom as a result - and a second later, someone had grabbed me from behind, with their hand over my mouth. Luckily, when the person swung me around I saw my cousin standing there - my "kidnapper" was my aunt, who happened to see us in the store and noticed that I was lagging behind. My mom walked maybe 10 feet or less before she noticed that I was no longer right behind her, but it was enough.

Some of your other reasons make more sense, but saying that a parent is a failure if they lose sight of their kids at some point is really unnecessarily harsh. Ask your parents if YOU ever got away from them for a few seconds in a crowd.

Re:preprogrammed phones for kids?

[Jon Luckey]

Clicky
Clicky, too

"I thought again of the eldritch primal myths that had so persistently haunted me since my first sight of this dead antarctic world--of the demoniac plateau of Leng, of the Mi-Go..."
-- H.P. Lovecraft,AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

While the Mi-go phone is extremely cool, you might want to wait for the DeepOnes® waterproof model, or the exceptionally cute Tcho-Tcho® version

Re:preprogrammed phones for kids?

[aardvarkjoe]

The punishment for going over was more than he could bare.

So your parents used the hanger, too?

Re:preprogrammed phones for kids?

[jesuscyborg]

> [Cell phones] also [have] a handy little kidtracker GPS

So that's why my mom insists on continuing to pay for my cell phone despite the fact that I am living on my own and making a six figure salary! Better leave it at home next time I troll a Vampyre club and strip joint...

RIAA has made it necessary..

[spasm]

Five year olds need cellphones so they can call their lawyers when RIAA sues them for filesharing. Duh.

Re:preprogrammed phones for kids?

[Cro Magnon]

I have a mental image of two terrorists trying to find a target in Iowa. "I told you to turn LEFT at the 5th corn stalk, Achmed!". :)