Do 12 year old girls NEED cell phones?

Post Reply New Topic

Do 12 year old girls need cell phones? What do you think?

Apparently my daughter is the only 12 year old girl without a cell phone.

We got her a prepaid phone, and she ran through 1000 minutes ($100) in 2 weeks. So, that was the end of that.

Her friends all have the fancy chocolate cellular telephones. And, when they break their phones, their parents buy them new ones.

Right now, out daughter continues talking on the telephone (using a regular telephone) until about 3 am.

I understand the need for adolescents to socialize, but it shouldn't be on your dime. Seems like the prepay should come out of her allowance (or she can flip burgers evenings for a bit of extra cash, like many of us did...).

Ah, parenthood!

well.......... I would have to say no. But I realize that many kids that age do have cell phones. You could tell her that she has to buy her own plan and pay for it. That might change her mind? I can see why it might be hard for her being the "only one" that doesn't have one. The parents that replace their daughters phones for them are teaching them irresponsibility.

NO.

12 year old girls don't need to talk to other people on mobile phones. They can use the home phone to talk to friends for short periods, can they not? Mobile phones are horrendously expensive to talk on, and should be used responsibly. Kids are also affected more by mobile phone radiation.

It's crazy. Kids that young don't need mobile phones. It's more of a fashion statement and accessory, than something they actually need.

Why is a 12 year old allowed to talk on the phone until 3am? This issue is about more than the costs of a cellphone. It's about boundaries and appropriateness. Of course 12 is too young to go get a job (besides a paper route).
Who is she talking to at 3am? other 12 year olds? older people?

Frankly cellphones are overrated. I just bought one 2 weeks ago and put 30 minutes on it and it's for emergencies only. Only 2 people know the number, the school and my husband. I only did this so I don't sit at home during the school day and wait for the school to call me. They always do.

I've never had a cell phone, don't have one now, and don't ever want one either. None of my children ever had one and still don't. Now that they are out of their teen years, they don't want a cell phone. They are saving their money for better things in life (like a house and a nice car).

The parents that buy their kids cell phones and pay for their children's phone calls should be ashamed of themselves. Those irresponsible parents are allowing their children to train them as if the parents are the children and the children are the parents.

Whoever has the backbone these days to not cave in to pre-adolescent peer pressure is doing the rest of the world a big favor!

I've never needed one but then I'm a 49 year old man; I can't speak for 12 year old girls.

Maybe they 'need' it to be like their friends (perhaps they don't want to be different).

I think you did a smart thing to buy a prepaid phone and see how it went from there . . .

Do 12 year old girls need a cell phone? No. Do they use cell phones to "fit in with the crowd?" Yes. Only you as a parent can make the decision as to whether or not your daughter actually needs a cell phone. Sometimes fitting in with the crowd is important -- and if it is, and the cell phone usage is expensive, then having your daughter pay for it in one way or another is perfectly appropriate.

My 10 year old SON was asking for a cell phone last year -- and I said "Who in the world would you call?" and he said "YOU!"

Needless to say, as sweet as this was, I am not getting him a cell phone.

We lived in California in 2001, and EVERYBODY had a cell phone except my kids. I had my 15 year old son BORROW mine whenever he went somewhere, just for our convenience. He did not get a cell phone until college. Last year, we gave our 15 year old daughter a cell phone, again, for our convenience. Yes, EVERYBODY but her had one by then. And then, everybody BUT her had a cell phone with a camera in it. Now that our 11 year old son sees that his siblings have one, and some friends have them, he's interested in getting one as well. BUT, until he has activities that keep him away from home, I'm not planning on getting him one for a long time.

Kris

I dunno.

Maybe there Pimp gives them one rather than their parents.

A 12-y.o. doesn't need a cell phone, but if she's not getting into trouble with it, let her have one. Make her buy her own prepay cards with money she earns from you doing extra chores. Set a maximum amount she can earn a month, something reasonable like $30, and and increase it as she gets older. If she breaks her phone, make her save up her chore money to buy a new one. The staying up until 3 sounds like a problem to me too, since she still needs a good night's sleep at her age. You can probably eliminate this by picking up the extension and telling her it's time for bed... this will be so embarrassing that she'll probably start hanging up at a reasonable time.

Edited to add: Alternative, I find your post extremely offensive, and I'd imagine the parents of 12 y.o. girls on this forum will, too.

Buy her a pay as you go sim card for the phone and give it a £10 limit, it will still receive calls so if her friends parents are stupid enough they can pay.

I voted yes

the world is crazy today, crazy dangerous the girl needs to be able to make contact

she does need to learn to use it responibly though

to understand that she cant use the phone if she doesnt have it

so it was a new toy, she got excited. she had too much time to start out with she didnt know how fast those minutes would go, 1000 seems like a lot of minutes i couldnt imagine myself doing anything for 1000 minutes... something like that is too easy to lose control of if you arent careful.
this is just another part of growing up and learning to be responsible.

I think anybody old enough to phone home or dial 911 should have a cellphone. Phoning their friends should be kept to one minute per call - it's not a conversation thing, it's a safety thing.

I agree that it's probably good for emergencies. But chatting on it to her friends all the time? Nope.

There have been enough sad cases of abduction, assault and murder to convince me that a cellphone won't save you. A 12 year old girl shouldn't be in a situation that's "dangerous". I mean this is a screwy way of looking at life.
Depending on appliances to keep you safe is very misguided and just dim. Someone really bent on hurting you will get past whatever weapon you may have if you don't know how to use it quickly enough. And if you are quick enough, you don't need a weapon in the first place.
It's like the families that move from the inner city to the suburbs and then let their kids play outside unsupervised. They act all shocked when a perp abducts and kills one of them.
Safety isn't in a place or appliance or a weapon. It's in your brains.

I think kids should have cell phones. But. Until children are old enough to pay for their own plan (earning it) then they should only have prepaid phones for emergency use only. That is to call home & for parents/family to be able to contact them at all times. The safety of this outweighs not having one at all. I believe the disney phones have more control over them (you can track where she is from your end) but last I looked the Virgin Mobile plans are the cheaper pre-paid phone ($20 US every 90 days keeps it active) On the high-end phones that is your call... but for a 12-year-old, they should be lucky to have a phone at all.