Jump to content
[[Template core/front/custom/_customHeader is throwing an error. This theme may be out of date. Run the support tool in the AdminCP to restore the default theme.]]

My boy turned 13 yesterday


Big F'n Dave
 Share

Recommended Posts

My son will be 14 in March.

 

That is NOT as scary as having a 16 year old daughter (17 in August).

 

We got both of them cell phones when they were 13. Not so much because they needed them but more for our benefit. It makes them very accessible to us when they are not with us. This is especially helpful when they are returning from school activities on the bus (so we don't have to wait in the parking lot for the bus).

 

Obviously now that my daughter is driving it is a requirement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No matter what her friends are doing, my daughter will not have a cell until she is at least 15-16. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I just don't see any reason for kids younger than that to have one. :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my children now 20 and 19 did not get a cell until they were about 16 or so. Once they started school activties in the evening we wanted to make sure they always had a way to reach us on someone else in case of an emergency.

 

Be sure to lay down the law on how it is to be used. Also, ensure your current plan covers unlimited texting if you will allow him to use it for that purpose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No matter what her friends are doing, my daughter will not have a cell until she is at least 15-16. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I just don't see any reason for kids younger than that to have one. :wacko:

 

My kids have one so they can be reached by ME when they are with friends, at school, at a school function, on the school bus, etc. And I wanted this kind of access waaaaay before 15 or 16.

 

Furthermore I have a GPS location service on each of their phones so I can locate their phones any time day or night ... as long as they have it on (and they very rarely have them off) and it is in service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My kids have one so they can be reached by ME when they are with friends, at school, at a school function, on the school bus, etc. And I wanted this kind of access waaaaay before 15 or 16.

 

Furthermore I have a GPS location service on each of their phones so I can locate their phones any time day or night ... as long as they have it on (and they very rarely have them off) and it is in service.

 

I figured that was going to be the response by someone. I don't think I personally would let my kids carry their phones to school, so I probably wouldn't call them at school or on the school bus, so that would leave school function and with friends. If they are supposed to be at a school function or with friends, then I know exactly how to get ahold of them anyway. :wacko: Maybe its growing up in a smaller town or the fact that my four sisters and I all grew up just fine without cell phone, that I dont see the need for them. Hell, I didn't get my first cell until I was about 20. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a different world nowadays, you old geezer.

 

For our situation, the middle school my son attends is not in our town. It's not too far away, but it isn't walking distance. There's one public phone for students to use if they need to stay after, etc. There are 1200 students in the building. We decided, like others, that we wanted to be able to reach HIM when we wanted him even moreso than the other way around.

 

As far as the texting goes, we do not have an unlimited text plan. He has to pay his own freight on the text plan. We started out with him opting for the $5/mo. 250 texts. When we realized he hit 800 mid month in December, we pushed him to up it to the $15/mo. 1500 text plan. For this, his job is to scoop the cat litter box. :evillaugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now, we're actually considering getting a phone for my (soon-to-be) 11-year-old daughter. Reason being, I'm going to get rid of my landline phone and I don't want her to have to borrow a phone from one of us to call her friends. In addition, I'll save $35 a month by going completely wireless. :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My kids have one so they can be reached by ME when they are with friends, at school, at a school function, on the school bus, etc. And I wanted this kind of access waaaaay before 15 or 16.

 

Furthermore I have a GPS location service on each of their phones so I can locate their phones any time day or night ... as long as they have it on (and they very rarely have them off) and it is in service.

do the kids know about the GPS?

 

 

i see no good reason for kids not having a cell phone....safety first. it came in handy many many times.

 

congratz on making it to the teen years.....now you just have to make it through them.

get ready for the boy to challenge you, if he hasn't already.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I figured that was going to be the response by someone. I don't think I personally would let my kids carry their phones to school, so I probably wouldn't call them at school or on the school bus, so that would leave school function and with friends. If they are supposed to be at a school function or with friends, then I know exactly how to get ahold of them anyway. :wacko: Maybe its growing up in a smaller town or the fact that my four sisters and I all grew up just fine without cell phone, that I dont see the need for them. Hell, I didn't get my first cell until I was about 20. :D

 

The kids are not allowed to use the phones in class or even have them on ... if caught the school confiscates them. They are allowed to use them between classes. So I can send a text to my daughter and she will get it between classes (they have 12 minute passing periods). My 13 year old son calls us when football practice is over (never the same time) so we can come get him. Not all of my communications with my children are of an emergency basis where I call the school and have them paged to the office. I grew up just fine without a cell phone as well. But the world is a vastly different place than it was when I grew up.

 

There are a ton of ways that our lives are made easier because of the ease of communication.

 

The only time communication happens from a school bus is when they are returning from a sporting event at an away game ... they call us when the bus is nearing the school so we can come get them (not my daughter any more as she is driving).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information