Cell phone for a second grader

On Sep 10, 10:42 am, Banty wrote:
Why does a seven year old need a cell phone?

I know of two girls that have had cell phones since they were eight.
Both had them due to divorced parents, although for very different
reasons.

The first is in a shared custody situation, which makes it difficult
for anyone not intimately involved with the situation to know where
she is at any particular time. With her own phone that moves with her
from location to location, her friends can call her directly.

The second sees her father somewhat rarely, and isn't comfortable with
him. Having her own phone with her so that she can call her mom at any
time made her feel much more secure when staying with him.

Neither of these is a general case, and probably neither of these
applies to the OP. But these are examples that make sense to me.


Liz

On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:33:55 -0500, "Donna Metler"
wrote:


If I were in a situation where many families didn't have a phone, I could
see the point. However, I taught in inner city schools for 9 years, and
usually a family would have a cell phone. If you're in a situation where
you're depending on temp jobs, looking for work, and living hand to mouth
with relatives, having some way people can get in touch with you and offer
you work is essential, and is often the last thing to be dropped because it
IS a stable contact. Now, it is the case that many children in these
neighborhoods have little supervision, because the parent (usually only one)
is trying to get by and isn't available during the day, but honestly, if
someone didn't necessarily have a parent at home, I wouldn't be comfortable
allowing my child to play there, cell phone or no cell phone. There's too
much of a safety risk with young children and unreliable supervision. I'd
prefer to go and get the friend myself and bring them to my house to play.

I'm not sure where that fits into what I was saying, but I agree that
I wouldn't want my child playing at a home that is poorly supervised
by an adult.

If you wouldn't feel comfortable letting a child use YOUR cell phone because
you think they might drop or damage it (and I've dropped mine multiple times
and the thing is still working fine), how can you trust a 7 yr old with one
on a day to day basis?

I'm assuming the kid-centered phones that have limited features like
the Firefly are a little sturdier than mine. Or maybe they aren't, I
don't know. But if I felt my dd needed a phone I'd make sure I taught
her how to handle it properly and put it in a safe place I suppose.

Finally, I'd seriously consider that most schools have policies against cell
phones, especially at the elementary level, and confiscate same to be picked
up by a parent later (at most Middle and High schools, the phone is supposed
to be turned off and in the locker during the day, and if it rings or is
seen during the day will be confiscated). It is likely you could get an
excemption from said policy if there's a good reason for your child to have
such a phone, but cell phones in a school setting DO cause quite a lot of
problems. Avoiding the extra features helps (and is likely to improve your
chances of getting said excemption), but just the "ooh, cool new toy no one
else has" is an issue in and of itself. Maybe your child is the exception to
the rule, but most 7 yr olds simply aren't mature enough to not show off.

My dd just isn't impressed enough by that kind of thing to even care,
to be honest.

Nan

Banty wrote:
In article , Penny Gaines says...

Banty wrote:
[snip]
Yeah and she fixed up Banty, the stay at home soccer mom living on a munincipal
bus line GOOD. ;-)

You mean, the Evil Twin Banty :-).



And she's *really* nasty, believe me!

Lucky we know the Good Twin Banty then :-)

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

"genkuro" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 10, 10:42 am, Banty wrote:
In article , Beth
Kevles
says...

Arrgh.
Why does a seven year old need a cell phone?

Probably because you aren't in the same environment. Both my wife and
I work. My mother-in-law watches the kids. There is no public bus
system here. That means moms, dads, grandparents, and nannies pick up
the children. Through it all, my son was left at school
accidentally.

That's an adult management problem, not a kid-needs-a-cell-phone problem.

On Sep 11, 9:14 am, Barbara wrote:

at least two families whom he regularly
visits usually ignore their land lines

Going off on a tangent here -

Why do they ignore their land lines? Just curious.

-- Zip

"Zipadee" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 11, 9:14 am, Barbara wrote:

at least two families whom he regularly
visits usually ignore their land lines

Going off on a tangent here -

Why do they ignore their land lines? Just curious.

My dad used to unless he was expecting a call because he reckoned it wasn't
ever for him. However he then discovered that this put the phone bill up
because they would then leave a message on the answer phone asking for
whoever to call back. Now he usually says something like "try phoning back
at *** I'll tell them you called" if he can't sort it out there and then.
He's not very good at remembering to tell you that you've called, so it's
much better that they call back.

(Heard down the phone line after calling a friend and getting through to
their husband:
"Margaret, it's Debbie on the phone. She called yesterday and I said you'd
call her back straight away")
Debbie

"Zipadee" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 11, 9:14 am, Barbara wrote:

at least two families whom he regularly
visits usually ignore their land lines

Going off on a tangent here -

Why do they ignore their land lines? Just curious.


I don't know what Barbara had in mind when she wrote that but I know a
number of folks who screen their incoming calls via either the caller id
machine or answering machine and only answer if they want to talk to whoever
is phoning in. That's at least in part due to the plethora of sales calls
that used to abound before the national do not call registry.

Aula

"Aula" wrote in
:


"Zipadee" wrote in message
oups.com..
.
On Sep 11, 9:14 am, Barbara wrote:

at least two families whom he regularly
visits usually ignore their land lines

Going off on a tangent here -

Why do they ignore their land lines? Just curious.


I don't know what Barbara had in mind when she wrote that
but I know a number of folks who screen their incoming
calls via either the caller id machine or answering machine
and only answer if they want to talk to whoever is phoning
in. That's at least in part due to the plethora of sales
calls that used to abound before the national do not call
registry.

yes, i'm a call screener/nonanswerer. i worked CS at an ISP
for many years & in retail before that. i'm also not
particularly social... so i only answer if it's family or a
few friends.
the national Do Not Call list is somewhat useless. if you
*ever* donate to any charity, every charity & professional
fundraiser under the sun will be calling you at least monthly
looking for donations... and Do Not Call doesn't apply to
them. apparently neither does "take me off your call list"
so, if i do not recognize the number or the name on caller
ID, i do not answer.
lee

In article , enigma says...

"Aula" wrote in
:


"Zipadee" wrote in message
oups.com..
.
On Sep 11, 9:14 am, Barbara wrote:

at least two families whom he regularly
visits usually ignore their land lines

Going off on a tangent here -

Why do they ignore their land lines? Just curious.


I don't know what Barbara had in mind when she wrote that
but I know a number of folks who screen their incoming
calls via either the caller id machine or answering machine
and only answer if they want to talk to whoever is phoning
in. That's at least in part due to the plethora of sales
calls that used to abound before the national do not call
registry.

yes, i'm a call screener/nonanswerer. i worked CS at an ISP
for many years & in retail before that. i'm also not
particularly social... so i only answer if it's family or a
few friends.
the national Do Not Call list is somewhat useless. if you
*ever* donate to any charity, every charity & professional
fundraiser under the sun will be calling you at least monthly
looking for donations... and Do Not Call doesn't apply to
them. apparently neither does "take me off your call list"
so, if i do not recognize the number or the name on caller
ID, i do not answer.
lee

I'm a call screener, too. (But that's not the same as 'ignoring'.)

Occassionally, there's a call from, say, a friend of my son borrowing his
parents' cell, and there's no caller id or one I don't recognize, and I dont'
pick up.

But that's what this thing called an "answering machine" is for. I'll pick up
if the caller identifies himself and his purpose, or at least by the end of his
message we understand what's going on.

Banty

Zipadee wrote:

On Sep 11, 9:14 am, Barbara wrote:

at least two families whom he regularly
visits usually ignore their land lines

Going off on a tangent here -

Why do they ignore their land lines? Just curious.

Maybe because they are getting debt collection calls.

Maybe because they don't want the kids to answer the phone.

My son got rid of his landline phone and had the number transferred to
a cell and then lost the cell (or rather it got down behind the
dashboard of the car and was hard to retrieve). So the calls that
went to the message center were never picked up. My sister is also
prone to lose her cell phone.

After they got the landline back, I don't know what the number is.

We dropped the caller ID because most calls we get are either wrong
numbers or solicitations. We answer if we are here. If not, we
don't.

The phone I ignore generally is the cell phone, which I have turned
off unless I need to make a call.