Children and mobile phones

[lis351]

Mr11 was telling me today how another student in his class (grade 5/6) was in trouble for receiving a text message in class. In truth, she was probably more in trouble for having her phone on and volume on, rather than receiving the actual message.

But I was wondering, how many 10/11 year olds are carrying mobile phones these days?? And what age would you think it appropriate??

I had not thought to give my kids a phone at this stage, even though they walk to and from school and take bikes/scooters to local parks without my immediate supervision.

[lis351]

Lis how would you find/contact your kiddies in an emergency (i gather they are in their teens) if they have been gone for 2hrs

They have to give me a truthful idea of where they are going (Which park, which shop for a drink etc.) and if they change their minds, they have to come home and report in. Its not like theyre going miles away, into the next suburb, but I do need to know which direction to head in if I need to find them. The closest Ive had to an emergency so far is being called in to work, I found them inside of 2 minutes.

[cherry*135]

I went to school in the 1960's-70's. My mother believed there was a baddie around every corner. We lived in the country and the school bus stop was a long way from the house.. anyone could drive by and snatch a child and no one would have seen them.

There were occasions where children in the district were approached by strangers in cars, lucky the children ran off and weren't abducted. There was also a high school girl brutally murdered, conned into going off with a man, who approached her on the street.

It did make me scared then (waiting at the bus stop by myself when a car came down the road), but as an adult has had no effect. When people (neighbours, stock agents) drove past me when I was walking home from school bus stop, and offered me a ride home I always said No, cause that is what I was taught to say.. even though these people were known to me.

Having said that, I did visit other friends from school at their homes and  we went to play in the river bed and other places far from their house.. where we could have drowned or been snatched.