...to think that kids really don't need mobile phones?

[Arana]

I've noticed a lot of occasions where a child (usually between say 10 and 16) has committed some misdemeanour, and is to be punished. So often though I hear "oh I can't take away DS/DD's phone, they need it for emergencies."

What sort of emergency does a 15 year old need a phone for all the time? For a true emergency (fire, car accident etc) there are phone boxes (there's still plenty around), and I'm sure nobody would object to someone borrowing their mobile phone to call an ambulance.

Mobile phones make life more convenient I'll admit - it saves you coming home first if you want to pop round to your friend's house etc, but surely part of the punishment of having your phone taken away should be curtailment of the lifestyle it enhances?

My kids aren't old enough to (allegedly) need phones, but from a personal point of view if I leave my phone at home when I go to work, it just means I have to keep my commitments, and make a phone call using a land line if I have to change anything important.

I can't believe how old I feel writing this, but I never had a mobile phone until I was 17 (30 now) and I feel like kids are in more danger from having mobiles (exposure to unsolicited texts, photos, bullying) than I ever was from NOT having a phone.

YABU and YANBU

A phone to many people is a necessity now...just because we managed without them as kids, doesn't mean they aren't necessary for some families.

However, it's perfectly easy to remove a child's phone as a punishment and give them an old PAYG family phone with a quid credit on for emergencies.

You didn't have the internet then, either. But I bet you NEED it now.

I suspect most parents give their teens phones so that the parents can contact the teen, so they don't want to take away a piece of kit that helps them keep tabs on their kid.

But why do they even need a payg phone for emergencies?

it's perfectly easy to remove a child's phone as a punishment and give them an old PAYG family phone with a quid credit on for emergencies.

I find it amusing children

When my two go out they both have their mobiles. I can ring them whenever I want to get them to come home, or tell them something, or find out what their plans are.

DS2 cycles home from school so I like him to have his, DS1 catches a bus from school so he rings me when he gets to the bus stop so I can pick him up. I can ring him if I am going to be late.

We use them to communicate and it makes life so much easier.

But why do they even need a payg phone for emergencies?

When was the last time you saw a coin box? I havent seen one in years.

But why do they even need a payg phone for emergencies?

Well I don't know where you live but I live in a London borough and there are no working phone boxes anywhere near me.

Jumping agree 100%. I'm beggared if my precious spending money is going on phones for non-contributing members of the household.... pfft!

my mum wishes blackberry was invented years ago.

no more constant knocks on the door just the vibrating of a BBM :)

YANBU, no one (adults included) really needs a mobile phone but they make life much easier. Its like saying no one really needs a washing machine. But I would hate my washing machine being taken away from me as a punishment. i would die

And i would dispute the public payphone, they have been declining in numbers for years, and cost a bloody fortune!

No, I don't need the internet day in, day out. I use it, because it's convenient, but I don't need it other than for things that have changed because of it (e.g. internet banking, emails, looking up legislation at work).

I'm not saying that kids shouldn't have mobile phones, but that a week without any sort of phone (payg or otherwise) as punishment isn't going to kill them.

My 9 year old wants a mobile because all his friends have. Its annoying. I don't know how man years I can resist .... ?!

Yabu - I shall be buying a mobile phone for dd when she is 11-12 (currently 10) and off to secondary school. She will have to travel several miles on the school bus followed by a walk and I shall want the reassurance that she has arrived okay. Not an 'emergency' use granted, but hardly frivolous either

It won't kill them but if they needed to ring home in an emergency how guilty would you feel if they couldn't....considering there are rarely any working phone boxes around?

It's no different to (years ago) removing a child's emergency phone box money as a punishment.

If I was going far from home, my parents would always make sure I had coins for the box...although if I didn't at least I could reverse the charges.

DD is 10 and will walk home from school when we go back. I will be driving home from work and collecting her younger sisters and want her to be able to contact me if needed, ie it's raining so we can arrange a pick up point.

Other parents were quite startled that I wasn't providing a mobile for my DS when he started secondary school - he walked to school just over a mile away through a heavily populated village with shops etc all along the way. I figured that any emergency to and from school was unlikely to go un-noticed, and he had standing instructions to go straight to the nearest shop if he needed any assistance.
Eventually relented several years later when everyone else had mobiles for a trip abroad.
I didn't see the need to be able to communicate with him while he was in school - anything urgent could have been passed on via the school, and he was able to ring home on request (and did so three times in seven years, due to a broken bone and 2 school-related tragedies).
DC3 refused a mobile aged 11 as he didn't want the responsibility of possibly losing it on a trip abroad. Coped perfectly well without one away for 5 days.
They are a luxury item IMO and I would have had no qualms about taking them away as a punishment had the need arisen.

If they exist why not use them? It's not the 70s any more.If things exist to make life easier and to eliminate worry that's a good thing isn't it?

My mobile isn't internet enabled - I have a phone, a nice phone, it does what it says on the tin - it makes phone calls and does a bit of texting. Tho' you'd be hard pressed to get me to reply and texting is just irritating.

My 13 year old has a mobile, we call him or he calls us to keep us updated on where he is, he was also badly bullied last year, we was beaten up and left crying and scared, he called me because he wanted someone to walk him home.
In the 2 years he has had the phone it has me £34 that includes the cost of the phone, not at lot for piece of mind.

dd1 (11yo) has a phone - £10 PAYG which never has more than £5 credit on it. It doesn't have a camera or internet - I regard it as a useful tool rather than a luxury item.

oops pressed send to soon ... surely if it is reasonable to ask a teenager to search out a working phone box (& have money for it) in situations where they urgently need to contact someone then adults could do the same - is a mobile phone essential for anyone? No, but they are handy!

Exactly, they are useful tools nowadays and perfectly normal.

There was a time when indoor toilets were seen as a luxury but thankfully the world has moved on...

when DC have a phone i will never use it as a punishment, because i want to be able to contact them at all times.

it will be a good old grounding with plenty of housework like skirting boards and coving. kitchen cupboard ect.

4 of my children go to schools over 10 miles away.
I like the fact that should anything happen while they are on the bus then I can get hold of them!