Should parents give pre-teens phones?

Kids with cell phones! Hell no “We can always keep in touch.” What a lame excuse for ruining a kid’s life with cell phones! Its mysterious how parents are willingly purchasing phones for their children, in anycase, what were the means of communication, keeping in touch (whatever you may call it) before this cell phone era? As a matter of fact, phones will always and always affect all spheres of any kids life. A law banning underage phone ownership should indeed be considered. In fact, parents should rethink about that extravagancy that comes with giving phones to their young children. Here is why kids should never own cell phones: If there is anything to blame for ripping kids off their childhood innocence, it should be cell phones. With all the modern mobile provisions like internet, surely any kid would miss talking to their mother but concentrate on getting spoilt while they broaden their knowledge about unnecessary things! It is not a surprise that many kids today are aware of sexual affairs before they are even adolescents. For crying out loud, there are many ways a parent can keep in touch without providing kids with cell phones. Be it at school, home, you name it—there is at least one person who is mature and responsible enough to contact parents in case a child needs them. It’s totally harmless talking to your child on someone else’s phone. Phones only distract kids from their academics. Imagine a class where all kids have phones; obviously the teacher will be speaking to him/herself as they enjoy as they browse through various phone applications. Not to mention the cases where teachers will be at loggerheads with kids because the kids have better phones that theirs. Like they say, charity begins at home. Giving a kid a cell phone will only ruin their sense of discipline and pollute their moral principles. Even adults are often distracted by their phones, would it be a surprise if a kid dodged homework because of a phone call? Indeed it’s a bad world. There are many people out there who prey on immature kids. Phones come in as a milestone for sugar dads/sugar mums to totally disrupt teenagers.No wonder phones are a common gifts from sugar dads. Why on earth should parents become ruthless policemen/women or incompetent spies because of a simple gadget that they offered to their kids? Telephones wreck child-parent relationships since many parents get nosy about every detail on their child’s phone. Wait a minute, who buys airtime for these kids? An innocent phone gift would easily become a centre of destruction when kids against all odds search for airtime. When you get an unpleasant surprise of a pregnant teenage daughter, or maybe children who are petty thieves, you will definitely regret why you offered that temptation you call a cell phone. The dangers of equipping a kid with a cell phone cannot be ignored. In anycase, the “get what is necessary” principle should apply. Plain truth, kids can’t manage cell phones and there is better ways to keep in touch. ‘A stitch in time, saves nine,’ better confiscate all these kids’ phones before its too late. lillianean@yahoo.com