More children are getting mobile phones

LAFAYETTE – Caleb Haines got his first cell phone at age 8. A year later, he said he couldn’t imagine a world without cell phones or the ability to send text messages.

“I wouldn’t know what to do,” Haines, 9, told the Journal & Courier.

A growing number of children are becoming part of the cell phone nation at young ages. According to national data from Chicago-based C&R Research, only 7 percent of children ages 8 to 11 had cell phones in 2003. But by last year, that number had grown to 26 percent.

During the same period, the percentage of children ages 12 to 14 with their own cell phones nearly tripled, rising from 21 percent to 58 percent, according to C&R Research.

Researchers said some children are asking for phones at younger ages because they want to stay in touch with friends, or perhaps just keep up with them in the technology world.

But parents often buy their preteen children cell phones for safety reasons – to make sure their child has a way to reach them and that they have a way to contact their child.

Michelle Gilbert, a Verizon spokeswoman for Indiana, said children typically receive their own cell phone by middle school. She said many parents are adding lines to their family share accounts and text messaging plans for youngsters.

“They understand that this is how that generation communicates,” she said. “The biggest reason is they want to be able to stay in touch. They want to know that when they want to reach their child, they can do so.”

Gilbert said society was much more critical of parents giving children who were under driving age cell phones a decade ago. But people have become more accepting of the trend.

Robin Gritten of Monticello said her two oldest children, a 15-year-old and 12-year-old, have cell phones. But her 10-year-old daughter, Brielle Gritten, does not.

“I don’t believe younger ones need it,” she said. “I think it’s just for show.”

Caleb Haines’ mother, Nicole Haines, said she used to think children shouldn’t get cell
phones until they became teenagers, but as the culture changed, so did her reasoning.

She and her husband gave their oldest son a cell phone at age 12, and Caleb got his at age 8. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if their 4-year-old daughter received a cell phone at age 5.

“I’m a little more protective of her,” Nicole Haines said.