Cell Phones for Kids

Technology is advancing and with it we have to advance. However, I don't think that giving a toddler a fake cell phone toy is going to help. In this article from the Science Times called They're Old Enough to Text. Now What? the writer talks about the cell phones offered for different age groups of children. Why do children need these phones, what happened to the good old home phone? I am 20 years old and I didn't have a cell phone until I was 17. In the last three years I have seen more children with cell phones than I have ever seen in my life and I don't agree with what I am seeing.

Grade schoolers shouldn't have cell phones, they open a whole new world of danger. The fact that the article had to mention that there are things parents have to talk to their children about the safety of using the cell phone should tell anyone with common sense that CHILDREN SHOULDN'T HAVE CELL PHONES.

Another concern raised in the article was about the LeapFrog Text and Learn. In the article it states, "A talking dog named Scout leads children through various activities, giving parents a little time to check their own toys for new e-mail. The Text and Learn can't actually send or receive text messages, but it may keep little hands out of your briefcase or purse." I would hope that a 3 year old wouldn't be sending text messages. What happened to giving a child a classic favorite toy, like a teddy bear? You have to spend $21 on a toy that looks similar to your cell phone, who got the idea that it would make kids keep their hands off your "toy"?

My whole point in this is, yes technology is advancing, but you don't have to start advancing your children when they are 3. They are still developing their own ideas of the world around them, when they are old enough to write a paper, let them make their own decision to open up the world in another way.

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