Next week my daughter is going on a missions trip to work in a homeless shelter. She is very excited and nervous about this trip... she will be working in the kitchen for the day and will come home later in the evening... I love the fact that my kid has a heart for service...She is always helping the elderly with their groceries at the store, up the stairs at church or whenever she runs across someone in need... she also loves working in the daycare at our church.. She is however, not very charitable towards her younger sister.... but that's a different blog...
I received a letter from the director of this trip and he told us to be sure and have our kids bring their cellphones because they did not know what time they will be arriving back at the church.. That really got my goat!!! I don't believe children should have cellphones.....and my kid is cellphone deprived.... I called the director and told him she did not have a cellphone and could she use the office phone to call me... He said the office is closed..he said she could use a friend's cell to call me but they like the kids to have their own... why, I ask... for safety purposes.. Is this missions trip unsafe? I ask... Well no he says... So why does my kid need a cell phone for safety purposes... He stopped and said you know what I don't know....(he laughed) she could use my cell if she needs too...
When I was a kid, I never had a cellphone..they did not exist and I was able to go many places and experience many different things...without a cellphone.. Why are today's children so attached to their cellphones? Excuse my French but it just so Stupid!!!! Everyday when I pick up my kids from school... I see dozens and dozens of kids flip out their phones and start texting, calling, and sharing what they see on their phones.... Can't they wait till they get home? The funny thing is most of them are texting/ calling each other from about 20 yards away!
Today on the way home from school - Nikki (my 7th grader) was trying to explain to me that she felt like a baby because ALL of her friends had cellphones....and she just needs one... She said it's kinda like when she got her locker at the beginning of the year.. and how she felt so grown up.. She thinks that if she gets a cellphone - she'll feel grown up... No one ever calls her at home so why do you want a cellphone I asked her...You know what her answer was.....They'll call if I have a cellphone... and because I want one......
My reasons for Just Say No To The Cellphones...
Many kids are texting in class and the teacher is oblivious.. Grades are dropping
Families are having less time together because kids are too busy texting their friends
Kids lose their cells ALL the TIME.. (in one outing I took 13 girls and 4 of them lost their cells)
Homework is not getting done...
Kids are getting bullied more often..
Opens the doors for the kids to sneak behind their parents' back much more easily.
Texting in the movies drives me INSANE!!!!
Kids are not learning patience... they want everything now...
I can understand letting a child use a cellphone if they have game practice and need to be picked up and phones are not available.... there are exceptions to a child using a cellphone but I don't believe they should own one..... But that's just me..... What do you think?
I totally agreed with you UNTIL my now thirteen year old didn't want anything for his thirteenth birthday except a cell phone. His two best friends had one and like you mentioned, most children already had one.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was so against it for all your mentioned reasons and found out a way to make it work in my favor. We're teaching responsibility, time management, money management, and cell phone minute management with his Tracfone that he only gets 30 minutes a month for. He has to earn these minutes by doing extra chores and showing initiative. I know, I'm a hard momma, but whatever works!
Texting is less expensive than a call on his phone, so he tells his two friends (lol) to text him, but even that is rare because he has to watch his minutes - I encourage him to use the house phone to save his minutes.
You know what, I think it's all about them just wanting to fit in - especially at this age. You sound like you have a sweet daughter and she is already grounded. Why not reward her with a Tracfone (smile). Come on, Mama...you'll be happy you did and so will she.
Okay, did I convince you? LOLOLOL. When you see how happy she'll be, you'll be so happy you let her have one.
Momweb - I like the idea of earning the minutes! If she stopped losing things.. I may consider your idea....lol but gosh it's really hard to over come my issues.... thank you for your idea!
ReplyDeleteJacob - 12 - got one last year. A Tracphone. We bought the phone and a card that doubles all the minutes he adds to it. We bought it for him when he really started being gone from home by himself - like to the parks and such.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't very many pay phones any more -- have you noticed that? He doesn't carry it on an everyday basis and that could be because HE buys all the minutes. In all the time he's had it, he's probably used less than 90 minutes.
Perri
I'm going to have to do some research on the Tracphone. Thanks.. My daughter never talks on the phone not because I don't allow her - my other daughters talks all the time.. Yesterday Nikki asked if she could have a phone in her room and I am good with that.... Thank you Perri and Momsweb
ReplyDeleteMy son will be 12 in one week and has had a cell phone since his 11th birthday. He lost one about two months in, but paid the co-pay himself to get another, and has had that for 10 months. He does use it for texting friends, but puts it away when asked and turns it off during meals, movies, homework, etc. Heck, after about a month of having the phone, the novelty of it wore off and we had to remind him to bring it with him when he left the house!
ReplyDeleteOne reason my wife and I wanted to get him a phone was for safety purposes. If he gets lost, stranded, abandoned, flat tire on his bike, or otherwise needs us, we are a phone call away. True, we didn’t have cell phones when we were kids and we survived, but I can think of dozens of times I had to search for a payphone (back when there was one on every corner) to call my parents to pick me up, confirm dinner time, etc. This also brings in the convenience factor – being able to coordinate pickup times from friends’ houses, finding each other inside Wal-Mart, the list goes on of the practical, everyday uses we find for his phone. He even uses the camera to take pictures, upload them to animoto.com to make short movies!
Then there’s this, Kelly, and I’m delving into an area here that’s very personal to you and none of my business here, so be prepared. Your daughter isn’t asking for a tattoo, multiple piercings, a Mohawk. She just wants a phone. Something all of her friends have, something that isn’t evil, immoral, or otherwise destructive. She’s resenting you more than you know, and will never look back and thank you for not getting her a phone when she asked for one. This problem has become way bigger than it needs to be. She’s being teased about it, and every time she is – she thinks about how you are the cause. That’s a dozen times per week that she is reminded of how she resents you for this decision. My suggestion? Make a few simple rules about phone use with a clear understanding of what the consequences are for breaking these rules, and let her have a phone. Heck, if you still aren’t ready for a full-featured phone, get her Firefly – fireflymobile.com, with a deal that if she can keep that without losing it until Christmas, she can get a regular phone. Then she pays the $50 co-pay if she loses the regular phone. Okay – I’ve said way too much. Thanks for counting to ten before sending me a scathing reply on Facebook
Tom, thank you very much for your imput.. I will forward your well written opinion to Dusty - I think my biggest concern is that Nikki loses everything - her ipod (she bought), her club card - her money, purse, and recently a very large check in a big envelope - from my car in front of the club to her tennis coach inside of the club..... I like the ideas of the pay as you go and I do think you're right about the novelty would wear off. Thanks I appreciate you...
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