More kids are getting cell phones at a younger age

How old were you when you got your first cell phone?

For Shane Whitener, it was after college, when he got his first professional job.

For Erin Sigmon, it was when she turned 16 years old and got her license. Cell phones were still carried around in bags then, and used only for emergencies, but her dad wanted her to be safe, Sigmon said.

Or it could have been when you were 8 years old.

That's right. Children as young as 8, and sometimes even younger, are now getting cell phones of their own.

Kids with cell phones
Luke Houston is 11 and in fifth grade. However, he was 8 when his mom gave him a cell phone.

"It was sort of a big deal," he said. "I asked for one to call my friends and in case of emergency."

Houston said he uses the phone daily, because his parents are divorced.

"I call my mom and stepdad, to tell them goodnight and they tell me they love me," he said.

He said he also calls his friends with the phone, and occasionally will text them.

Samantha DeSanthis is another young student with a cell phone. A sixth-grader at Clyde Campbell Elementary, her parents bought her a cell phone in August.

"I'd wanted one because it was cool," she said, adding that she'd wanted one "for a long time — three years."

DeSanthis said her parents gave her a cell phone because she is on a soccer team and she sometimes needs to call when practice ends early or unexpectedly changes times. Her parents gave her her dad's old cell phone to use when he upgraded.

Emily Childers, 12, is one of the students in sixth grade without a cell phone. But she really wants one.

"All my friends have one," she said. "I'd text my friends on the weekends when I was at my house, if I got one."

Childers said she's wanted one for years because the phone at her house is in the living room.

"Everyone can hear me," she said.

Tzuleigh Phillips, a sixth-grader at Newton-Conover Middle School, thinks students should be older to get cell phones.

"You should be at least 12. If they use it too much, they burn up minutes," she said. "At 12, you're more mature."

Phillips got a cell phone for Christmas when she was 10. Initially, the phone was never far from her grasp.

"I used it 24-7 when I first got it," she said. "Now, I only call my friends or text everyone once in a while."

Classmate Summer Johnson is an example of what can happen if you abuse your privileges. She got a cell phone for emergencies when she was 10 and was told not to text with it.

Johnson tested the waters on the no-texting rule.

"I texted a friend. I asked 'what are you doing?'" Johnson said.

Her parents found out she sent a text when the cell phone bill came, and took her phone away.
Ian Danner is a sixth-grader at Clyde Campbell Elementary. Although his parents gave him a cell phone a few weeks ago, his mom just grounded because he made a bad grade in school. Being grounded includes no cell phone.

Danner, who said he texts his friends frequently on the phone, said that having his cell phone taken away is tough.

"I talk to my friends and my cousin all the time," Danner said. "It's hard when I'm grounded, because I talked to my cousin almost every day. We're like brother and sister. I miss not talking to her the most."

He said he can't believe how much he misses not having a cell phone.

"I can't wait to start texting everyone again," Danner said.

Cell phones in schools
Laura Ingenito is the assistant principal at Clyde Campbell Elementary. She said cell phones can be OK for middle-schoolers.

"Middle school is when they start having more extra curricular activities, and cell phones make it easier to pick kids up," she said. "We just bought my nephew one, and he's in seventh grade."

She said so far, there have been no problems with her nephew's experience, and she likes being able to call him and know that he's going to be the only one picking up the phone.

However, Ingenito said there have been a few problems with cell phones at Clyde Campbell. Students are allowed to have a cell phone at school, but it cannot be turned on or out in the open. If it rings in class or a student is caught using it, teachers will usually take the phone away and the student can have it at the end of the day, she said. However, some students will use the cell phone to call their parents, Ingenito said.

"If you're sick, you still need to go to the office to be picked up," she said.

Scottie White is a sixth grade teacher at Newton-Conover Middle School. She said middle school students don't need cell phones.

"There is no reason for them to have them at school," she said. "We survived through school without cell phones. With high school and driving, though, that's different."

White said if an athletic or club time is changed, an announcement is made over the loud speaker, and students can use the phone at the front office to call their parents.

A few weeks ago, White caught two students texting each other in class. They could have been cheating on an assignment, White said.

Assistant Principal Shane Whitener said cell phones are a distraction in class because students aren't able to focus.

"I get a phone every day," he said. "The first time, students get it at the end of the day. The next time, mom's called."

Whitener said there are about 30 students who have their cell phones taken regularly.

White, who has been at the school for nine years, said that about five years ago, she started noticing more students with cell phones. In the last three years, that number has increased. This year, White estimates that about 60 to 70 percent of the student body has cell phones.

Why parents get cells phones for their kids
Lisa Shea is a mother who just purchased a cell phone for her 10-year-old daughter's birthday.

"I probably wouldn't have done it, but my husband and I have mobile phones, and we don't have a home phone," Shea said.

She said if she did have a landline at her house, her daughter likely would not have received a cell phone until she was 13 or so, when she has more after-school activities, and would need to call for a ride.

Shea said right now, she is the one her daughter primarily calls.

Cheryl Danner got her 11-year-old son Ian a pre-paid phone, in part because her husband travels a lot. She said Ian is a good child, and he can use it to talk to his friends.

He doesn't get the phone for free, though.

"He has to earn his minutes. He has to do his chores — keep his bedroom clean, empty the dishwasher, take out the trash," Danner said.

The phone cost about $20 a month for 60 minutes, with free texting. If Ian lets his chores or his grades slip — like he did this month — then Danner takes away his phone.

"He's grounded for two weeks, and it's been about to kill him," Danner said. "But if he gets his grades up, then he gets the phone back."

Jennifer Nelson is another parent who bought a cell phone for her children. Nelson said she got daughter Kathryn a cell phone for Christmas when she was 13 and in seventh grade, and her older child, Andrew, a phone when he was 14 and in ninth grade.

"Once he was in high school and going to more late events, like band, he needed to call for rides," Nelson said. "I felt it was time for him to have a phone."

Nelson said she got her daughter a cell phone because Kathryn was using her own frequently.
One thing Nelson didn't do was put limitations on the phones.

"I didn't give any restrictions with the cell, and I wish I had, but it's too late to go back," Nelson said. "Before 7 a.m., I'll see (Kathryn) text messaging, and late at night she will be, and that bothers me, but I never put any strict rules into place."

Although she said Andrew got his cell phone because it helped Nelson know when to pick hip up, Nelson said she felt like she and her husband may have given Kathryn a cell phone prematurely.

"I think we gave in to our daughter a little bit," Nelson said. "She would have been fine waiting until high school."

She said she does believe that teenagers — especially high school-aged kids — should have cell phones, in case there is an emergency. She just thinks they need to be aware in case there is an emergency.

"It bothers me when we're out shopping and their heads are down, texting. I worry that something could happen when they're texting with their heads are down," Nelson said. "That's something that I talk to them about — to be aware of their surroundings."