...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.

Last year my DD's school coach was delayed by an hour and a half when there were two accidents on local motorways. Lots of the children were worried. She was able to call me and tell me where she was but, most importantly, she was also able to get reassurance that no matter how late she was I would be at the bus stop waiting for her.

For that day alone I think her phone was worth every penny.

I can't remember the last time I saw a coin phonebox. They all take cards now. I'd much rather DD had a phone than my credit card!

I think I'd pay more attention to your opinion OP if you did have children that were over 12. Both of mine had very basic £10 phones PAYG when I was paying for them. DD now has a posh one that she bought. DS still has his el cheapo one.
Working phone boxes are few and far between, if things change or go wrong I'd rather they could communicate with me ASAP and vice versa.
5 people have my mobile number. It's a tool.

I'm sure my mum would have loved it if my sister or I had a mobile when we were about 8 and 10. We'd gone to the park with a friend and the friend and I got split up from my sister (who was the older one). We thought my sister would just go home so we went back and there was no sign of her so my mum sent us back out looking for her. My friend and I split up and by the time I got back my sister and friend had made it back and my mum had called the police because I was missing. She'd given me and the friend money for the pay phone but there weren't any on that route even though this was almost ten years before mobile phones became commonplace - there was one in the park which was broken.

i don't even know how much the minumum you can put in a pay phone, it was 20p the last time i had to use one over 12 years ago.

how much is it?

my 12 and 11 year olds were given cheap crappy phones for the birthday before starting secondary school.

i wouldnt ever take them away as punishment- they have them for a reason so to take them away would be stupid.

It's 2p isn't it McHappy?

More like 30p!

Can you still reverse the charges?

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/apr/26/bt-sells-phone-boxes-demand-declines

www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/18586631

that is why i plan to get my DC a mobile before i allow them out unsuppervised

after some googling

Cash
The minimum fee is 60p (includes 40p connection charge). Local and National* calls are charged at 60p for the first 30 minutes, then 10p for each subsequent 15 minutes or portion thereof.

and some payphone take £2 :s

my dc s secondary school encourages children to have mobile phones . When they have had ve close school early they do not want to be ringing 800 parents or another time coming home from a trip the coach broke down in calais and they were going to be 5 hours late ,its much easier for the kids themselves to contact their parents

I understand why parents want their children to take their phones with them when they go out. But in the class room? I'm an emergency operator and the amount of calls we get daily from kids messing about in school is ridiculous. It's a real bugbear of mine as it isn't a simple case of ending the call once I establish it's just kids messing around. There are strict procedures we have to follow which mean genuine emergencies are held in a queue. It would be great if schools could implement a 'no phones in the classroom' rule.

Kids will be kids though. I remember calling 100 when I was about 12 and asking for maxpax and thinking it was hilarious

At DS1's school phones get switched off and are put in bag at 8.50 and aren't allowed to be seen again until the bell rings for hometime at 3.30. If they are seen at any point in between they are confiscated.

I live in a town of 8,000 people and there are only 3 public phone boxes of which 2 are in the town centre, a 10 minute walk away from where i live if you walk quickly!

I have a very nice mobile but with a rather crappy battery. I found myself without charge a couple of weks ago, exactly when I needed to text/call dh to meet me & the dc after a day out.

Once I found a callbox, it only took cards, & it cost me £2 to say 'We're outside Dudley Zoo, wtf are you? Get your arse here! '

So I'd say secondary age children probably do need a mobile of sorts. A very old one, with no internet access or camera, & a couple of quid credit on it.

Anything else is for fun not safety, & I'd need to be convinced I could trust them with it.

Payphones?? Haven't seen one in years....

DS and DD1, who are at secondary school, have mobiles, mainly because plans tend to change in the afternoon - missed buses, rescheduled pick-up times etc.

I don't regard them as luxury items, just something which makes family life more organised, and it wouldn't occur to me to confiscate one as a punishment. The only person who would suffer is me, when I turn up at school/the bustop to collect them, and they're not there!

If you only let your children out of your sight if they have a mobile phone why not just go the whole hog and electronically tag them.

is that legal :)

I could try that, Novack.

Not so good for your family though I reckon - the damp under your bridge might short them out.

Lol @ the image of millions of electronically tagged children

My children have been out all summer without theirbmobiles because they were only in the park 2 minutes away but now they are going back to school over 10 miles away they will have their phones with them!

My boy is 14 and has no phone. He doesn't want one, and I have no need to contact him during a normal school day. He's independent and resourceful and doesn't want to waste life telling me he's managed to walk to school without being run over

My then-young-teen was in London on that failed second bombing attempt two weeks after 7/7. With a friend who's a born Londoner, but neither kid had a clue how to get back from Camden without the tube. I directed them via mobile.

Long gone are the days when there was a working payphone every few street corners and you made sure kids had the right coins when they went out. Mobiles are now a basic safety precaution.

What's the point in having technology if you aren't going to use it to make life easier?

We had a twin tub and a mangle when I was young it worked perfectly well but who wants to "make do" when newer stuff is available - that new electric washer was soooo exciting!!!

And pay phones? I haven' seen one, working or otherwise in years!