indra
ONE love, blood, life
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
- Messages
- 12,689
I think everyone remembers being a teenager and spending hours on the phone - it was just a different kind of phone. I would never (in a million years!) expect my child to go get a job to pay for a phone. Kids have enough to deal with - school, homework, sports, etc. Why not let teens live a little? Life's gonna be hard enough later. So many times I hear how kids shouldn't have this, and kids shouldn't have that, but no one can ever really tell me why they shouldn't. In my opinion, as long as they are doing well in school and are responsible with their chores, etc etc, there's no reason why they shouldn't have cell phones.
I didn't. Well, I did once, but since everywhere except the tiny town (pop. a bit under 400) we lived closest to was a toll call, that single call cost about $75 (this was the 70s or early 80s). $75 we didn't have at the time. We were really tight financially at the time and I'd just blabbed away a pretty sizable chunk of our monthly income. My mum didn't pitch a major fit or anything, but I hated that I'd put her in such a bind just because one day I felt like yapping about something that could easily have waited until I saw that person. So, yeah, I never did that again.
Other than not being able to afford the cost (hell, some months I sweat over my $35 phone bill) I think the reason why many people want their kids to pay for their own phones (and other non essential stuff) or at least the minutes above a certain basic amount is keep them from having a sense of entitlement and also to teach them that if they want things they can save up for it and get it themselves instead of waiting for someone else to get it for them. I think many people know at least one person who at 30 or 40 years old is still running to mummy or daddy to bail them out of their latest fuck up because they never quite learned the difference between want and need. To people who see a cell phone for a teenager (or perhaps anyone) as a want, giving a kid one with unlimited minutes blurs that line at a time when it needs to be made more -- not less -- clear.
Of course, a person who sees a cell phone with unlimited minutes for a kid as a need or a safety device will view it more in the same category as basic food or shelter. And that is fair -- people can have differing opinions on whether or not kids should have cell phones (and also whether the minutes should be limited or unlimited).
One good thing to know in any case is that 911 calls can be made from any cell phone (provided it has a charge), even if it's not activated or there are no minutes remaining (such as on a prepaid phone). That's a good safety feature for those who don't want to (or can't afford to) give their kids cells with unlimited minutes.