am I wrong to give my 10 yr old daughter a mobile phone?

[cutekids]

she's walking with her 2 younger siblings to school now.we got her a cheap mobile phone just for safety reasons.ie:let me know when they arrive/leave school etc.
a letter went out on Monday asking that pupils hand over their mobiles during the school day-which is fine by me-and,if possible,avoid letting the children bring them in at all.
i told my dd1 to hand the mobile over as requested and to ring me once she's outside the school gates but apparently her teacher-who is also the deputy head-shouts at pupils who use their mobile phones even if they're out of the school grounds.who's in the wrong?me/him?

I'm very anti children having phones and was against giving into peer pressure where my 10 yr old DS was concerned but he was being bullied over a number of things, having problems at home and started going out in what is let's face a difficult society to grow up in. We bought him a phone and I have absolutely no regrets despite compromising my own principles!!.
He rarely uses it as a phone, but the games and music functions are a source of fun.
As long as the phone is not being used inappropriately in school time I do not think the teachers have any right to question your decision.

How, exactly, are you protected by having a mobile phone? And what from? My dd has one. It doesn't protect her. Except, perhaps from the disaster of not being able to go shopping after school at no notice, or from a cold wet wait at the bus stop for the next bus. With her phone she can ask permission to go out, or beg me to come and collect her when she's missed the bus. It's useful, and helps us organize our busy lives. It is nothing to do with safety. The only risk she runs is of being knocked down by a lunatic in a BMW - and her phone is not going to be much help to her there!

I suppose from our point of view it is a kind of emotional protection for when he feels vulnerable. He wants his independance but struggles with the challenges life throws at him, we can text each other and i send daft messages so as he develops the skills to deal with some kids that are basically not very nice, he knows he has my support without having to run home every five minutes. which was one of the many things he was being teased about.
He also threatened to run away and again I feel reassured that IF he ever did and got in a state he would have a contact....not many public phones around here.
He knows to contact me if he can't get home by agreed time so i know if i don't hear from him it is because something is up. Maybe not protection as such but definately peace of mind which is just as important.

,

I thought the health guidelines were that no one under 17 should use mobile phones, due to the fact that children' skulls are thinner and the potential health risks?

he-he, i think my sons skull is solid!!!!
but joking apart i find most of his friends and him use them for texting ad music, and we are so close to so many masts I think we are fried anyway!!

ds has a mobile phone aged 7. We have recently moved 100 miles away from friends and family and he uses it to text his friends back home. He also carries it when he is out playing with his friends so that I can call him to come home.

As per health guidelines he is encouraged to text rather than talk on the phone.

We live in the country so there are no payphones around and lots of fields and forest areas.

;)

There are lots of excellent reasons for giving dcs mobile phones - it's just that "keeping them safe" isn't one of those reasons!

What irritates me about DD1 having a mobile phone is that instead of having to be back at the time she is told, she can ring to request endless extensions - another ten minutes please mum, followed by another and another....