The Big Question

The View co-hosts discuss what the right age is to give your kids a cell phone. Are they mature enough to handle it? According to a survey, most teens have a cell and 31% of kids age 8-10 have one.

One question you might want to ask your kids is what the purpose of the phone will be. It is one thing to have a phone for emergencies, but another to have an entire life that is going on that is hidden from their parents. If getting the phone means their parents having to run 24-hour security on it, you might want to rethink the decision of buying one for your child. If these are some of the things you are worried about, but you still want your child to have a phone for safety reasons, getting a flip phone is a great idea. Yes, they still exist! You can also limit access to who your child is allowed to call on the phone.

Another issue to think about is who your children will come in contact with when they have access to technology that is available on many phones. Explaining to them that it is not them you don’t trust but all of the creepy people out there is something that is important for them to understand.

Other rules to be really strict about when allowing your kids to have a phone are taking it from them at night so that they actually get some sleep and even more important, making rules about phones while driving.