If you saw a ten year old girl with an iPhone....

notaperfect10

My son is 10 and has an iPhone. It's not too young. We just got my 8 year old daughter a cell phone too. Both my kids can probably compute you all into the ground. It's different for these kids. You don't even have to show them how to use it, they just grab it and do it. They know everything. It might depend on where you live. In the city, all the kids have them. It's safer. It makes you feel secure. If I lived in a more rural area, I might feel differently. It comes in handy a lot that we can talk to each other. I didn't know that people judge me for it. It's commonplace where I am for kids to have phones.

This. As a parent I can't think of a better way to keep track of them. It's a part of life for their generation. As for it being an i-phone I'd just think lucky kid!

NormalSaneFLGuy

I'd take the iphone away from the kid, dunk it in a toilet bowl, and tell the girl's parents to stop buying Apple products for their children if they don't want them to grow up to be hipsters.

Smartphone for a kid? They don't need it and it's a waste of money.
If you got money to waste, have at it. As long as you got parental controls on it, it's cool.

Hell, I saw a news report about people buying ipads for their pets to play games on.
So who is anyone else to judge you for how you spend your money?

I'm more pissed off at people making $40k a year who take out $450k mortgages, then ask for pity when they surprisingly can't pay their $2500/month mortgage once the 2 year interest only clock runs out. Now that's poor money management and stupidity.

candice382

I say forget 'em. If you as a parent feel your child is mature enough for a phone then so be it.

I would suggest certain limits or restrictions though as friendly advice.

Restricted calling times

Restricted internet maybe

Really depends how she handles the responsibility really.

I do not believe in ever overstepping my boundaries on another person's children unless they are out of control or it is an emergency situation.

This is not one of those times so I find it uncalled for.

^^^^ My thoughts exactly^^^^

dodihere

It wouldn't be any of my business and its not my place to say anything.

LOL. My son didn't get an iphone untill he turned 17 (last year) because I refused to pay for it. Somehow, he managed all these years without it and wasn't kidnapped or molested.

jcpmoore

I'll be honest- I don't see a reason to give my kids a phone before they're 17. At the moment they are 5 and 7. We'll see what happens. I probably have seen a 10 year old with a cell phone. Maybe an iPhone. I just really don't go around looking for reasons to berate other people's kids. It's reason enough if they stick their noses into my business. I see no reason to start something.

Where I live, bullies are enough issue to deal with daily. I don't need to borrow trouble that isn't.

DMZ_1

All of this makes me glad not to be a parent right now.

There's social pressure as an adult to have the hippest, coolest phone. Can't imagine what it is like for children, who have enough social pressures as is without worrying about tech.

muddyventures

I think that is too young to have a phone, but I wouldn't say anything about it. I sure as heck wouldn't berate the child for it. Simply uncalled for.

This.

Second this.

This.

Our children have to wait until high school, but we do have an extra cell phone we call the traveling phone. The traveling phone goes with the child that needs it. We are going to go with I-touch and have them text from the i-touch, and they get that in 9th grade. We are trying to minimize our monthly expenses and with four kids I can't see them all having a cell phone plan, everything is just too expensive.

terri0527

Each person has there own way of parenting. I say to each his own AS LONG as you are trying to raise a child that will be an asset to the world. Berating any child that has a phone, especially when you don't know the circumstances is totally unacceptable.

sheila569

My cousin's 9 year old son has an Iphone and I think she's an idiot for giving it to him... But the bottom line is, its her money, its her kid... none of my business so I didn't say anything.

My 14 year old daughter has a cell phone (touch screen with parental controls for internet usage and texting) but not an Iphone.

Reinventing_Me

We had an 5.9 earthquake here in the DC area not too long ago - an uncommon occurance. My middle school aged son was at school and though we immediately tried to reach each other, cell towers and land lines were jammed and we couldn't make calls BUT TEXTING WORKED and if I remember correctly, he was able to see news updates as well. The school was evacuated so there was no way for the school admins or students to monitor the situation from inside the school. We were all terrified but I felt so much better knowing my son and the other kids was safe. That kind of peace of mind if worth all the smartphones in the world to me.

MissTattoo

We had an 5.9 earthquake here in the DC area not too long ago - an uncommon occurance. My middle school aged son was at school and though we immediately tried to reach each other, cell towers and land lines were jammed and we couldn't make calls BUT TEXTING WORKED and if I remember correctly, he was able to see news updates as well. The school was evacuated so there was no way for the school admins or students to monitor the situation from inside the school. We were all terrified but I felt so much better knowing my son and the other kids was safe. That kind of peace of mind if worth all the smartphones in the world to me.

We had tremors here but I remember immediately calling my mother (because my daughter is with her while I work) and my fiance. I tried calling the landline first at the store where my fiance was and the lines were down and all circuits were busy so I couldn't get through to his cell phone but texting did work.

mewaybright

Well I see a lot of people stating that 10 is too young for a phone but I believe it is a situation by situation thing. My kids have had phones since my son was 11 and my daughter was 8 (9 years ago) there were no iPhones or Droids then but they were carrying phones. Every parent has a situation or style of parenting that is not yours or mine and it is not our place to deride the parent or child for the parent’s choices in parenting so long as it is not a hazardous situation for the children.

I see nothing wrong with bestowing responsibility on your children...

juliecat1

It's no ones damn business! I hate when people get nosey and point out other people 'flaws'. Obviously someone screwed up teaching you tact and manners.

Mine has an one but wasn't allowed to get one until she was old enough to prove she could take care of it and respect my rules on it. She got it for her 11th Bday. We FaceTime and text each other on it a lot. I quite like that her friends call her directly now and not use my phone for hours on end. she's gracious enough to share it with her little brother and sister when we are somewhere boring and they need some entertainment.

NoAdditives

I would be jealous. End of story.

Kids today have all kinds of techno-gadgets that adults have. It's not a big deal to me. My 3 1/2 year old wants an iPad for her birthday. I'm sure my dad would get her one if she asked him. I'd be a little irritated that she got one before I did (lol) but she's used one at her friend's house and probably knows more about it than I do.

Rosa1213

Well, I'd be concerned if I saw a 10-year-old with an iPhone, so I'd probably ask if it was hers. If she said no, then I'd tell her to be careful with it, but if she said yes, I'd say "ok" and go about my merry way :flowerforyou:

zyxst

I\d be jealous that a 10 y/o has an iPhone and I can't manage to pay all my bills every month. Would I say anything to him/her about it? Nope.

bobbymathews

Personally, I think that's too young to have a phone. If and when our kid gets a phone, it's going to be one of those "you can call 911 or mom or dad and that's it" models. As he grows and matures, we'll see when/if he can handle more.

That said, you're the parent, and the choice is yours to make. Definitely rude on the part of whoever that person was.

coliema

I wouldnt say anything. None of my business.

^^That.

Worry about your own children, not anyone elses.

m16shane

All this "adults shouldn't talk to strange kids" stuff is just weird to me. When I was a child it was the case that any adult could tell you off. If I were, say, dropping litter, I'd expect an adult to scold me regardless of whether they knew me or not.

Now it seems that even if you see a child blatantly behaving badly, you as an adult have no right to speak to them about it. Te comeback you get from the parents is "don't speak to my kid like that" with the parent sticking up for their child despite the misdemeanour.

Man, I feel old.

This. Even worse that the parents won't discipline them. Too busy being their friend to worry about being a parent.

If you see some strange guy at a park talking to your young daughter you see no problem with that? I remember the days when I was a kid and I could ride in the back seat without a seat belt much less a car seat. Though would you let your little kid ride in the back seat today without a seat belt? Times have changed!

obolton756

i wouldn't say anything.

quite frankly it's no one else's business but your own so i think those people should actually learn some manners.
besides they don't know the circumstances as to why she has the phone. i think they probably have better things to do than confront a 10 year old about having a phone.

low lives.