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Kids with Cell Phones, How Young is Too Young?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the how-often-are-they-on-their-own dept.

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?

6 of 514 comments (clear)

  1. Who wants a phone that old? by GuruBuckaroo · · Score: 5, Funny
    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...
    --
    Poor means hoping the toothache goes away.
  2. WTF? by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  3. Re:How young is too young? by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Funny
    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?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Re:How young is too young? by Who235 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Text message. . .

  5. Re:preprogrammed phones for kids? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

  6. Re:preprogrammed phones for kids? by jesuscyborg · · Score: 5, Funny

    > [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...