Studies show that the average age children get their first cell phone...

[sabot3ur]

got my first when I was 14, only used it for contact with parents and a little with friends. it was pretty basic and didn't have texting, but now there's a whoooole world of difference in my life, I couldn't function without my cell phone now hahaha.

I don't really see it as a bad thing, they're amazingly convenient. but at 8 years old I see no need for one.

 

[gsdx]

^ Indeed we do.

We are a vanishing breed, but there are still a few of us wandering the Earth.

 

[Chris1984]

I was 19 when I got mine. It was merely a private line for me at the time. Didn't do much on it but make/receive phone calls. now, I use my phone for everything. I have games to pass the time, email, texting, weather, movies, tv, shopping, GPS, you name it and my phone does it. I couldn't live without it.

 

[honooryuu]

my first cell phone wasnt even mine. it was an extra phone line my dad put on his plan and he had every other line blocked on the phone except to call either his cell phone, my stepmoms cell or the house phone. i tend to agree with the thought that children are too young at 8 to be getting a cell phone. my parents policy was that i had to be able to pay for it until i got my own plan.
i do like the idea of the chaperone service or something similar. that way the kids are still safe, and the parents can still keep track of the kids.

IF i ever have kids, i will impose the same rules on them about cell phones.