Text Messaging

[EricL]

We are having a battle of wills with my 9 year old at the moment - we think she is too young for a moby phone although she wants one cos her older friends have one.

There really is no need for them to have one at their age i think, and would not use it properly anyway.

Our views have been vindicated by her two friends falling out over nasty text meesages being sent and making up stories about each other.

Now we have a letter from her Primary school saying that some pupils MSN messaging service has been used to send abusive messages to pupils by someone who has discovered passwords and is sending stuff posing as the pupil. Parents are threatening to call Police in if it doesn't stop.

Kids don't seem to realise the impact of these messages they send. They seem to think that sending something by text is not the same as saying it to someones face.

This worries me for the future really.

Anyone else getting pressure from theirs and refusing? I think they don't need a phone or MSN type thing til they are at secondary school. It just causes problems like this otherwise.

I suppose this is another example of the differing views of parents on these matters. Some seem to get their little bundles of joy all these adult things way before they actually need them and it just seems to annoy me.

Ear piercing, bras, motorised scooters are some other things she has wanted way before her time as well.

My 10 yr old has a mobile, as do most of her friends. It is used very sensibly for occasional texts and to let me know when to pick her up/if she's arrived somewhere etc. Doesn't have to be all doom and gloom.

Both boys got their phones when they were 12 (for their birthdays) after much nagging from them.

Now, it's me nagging them to take them with them! The novelty soon wore off.

I got them pay as you go phones, with £20 credit to start them off, but told them it was their responsibility to keep credit on them (min £5 all the time).

I do think 9 is a bit young, although I also think girls might be a bit different - i.e. they do more talking to others!

My DD has a mobile and she is 9, I never thought that I would get her one,but it is DP's old one, and the only time she uses it is to call me on the way home from scholl, her and DS walk home.

I haven't shown her how to send a text and she has asked once or twice, but has not nagged. She got £10 credit last Dec and still has £6.70. I think that I feel alot more secure that she has one, as it is a long walk home (3/4 mile).

She has however called me to tell me that DS needs the toilet . And I have had to drive down the road to fetch them - which kindof defeats the purpose .

She loves the independence and I love the fact that I am saving the environment by not doing the school run (by driving out of my way to fetch them) and am earning extra as I don't have to leave work for an extra 1/2 hour to stand at the (terribly clique) school gate.

In my case a mobile phone was a win - win. However she certainly wouldn't have got one otherwise.

I think it would depend on the reason behind her wanting one. My 2 sons are only 4 and 18months but my best mate's daughter is 13 so we have discussed this at length.

As my mate's daughter didn't need one every day they let her borrow an old one of her parents if she was going somewhere where she may have needed it to get in touch, (away on a school trip etc)

Although she walks home from school it is a very short distance and travelled by lots of other children and parents so there was little danger.

She wanted one to keep in touch with her friends who she sees every day and rings for free in the evenings. She would much prefer her pocket money to pay for nail varnish etc

Does she only want the phone because her friends have them or to text them etc?

I refused point blank to buy ds a mobile until he turned 12, he pleaded, he implored, he stormed off in a huff etc.
But I just didn't see any reason for him to have one, he wasn't allowed one in school anyway(which would have been the only reason for him to have one, as he walked home without an adult). Of course he disagreed but, as I'm the parent, he didn't get much say in it.