I picked Tyler up from carpool today. The first sentence out of his mouth was, "I am one of the 3 boys in entire 6th grade who does not have a phone. And boy #1 and boy #2 are getting a phone for their birthdays. So why can I not get a phone for my birthday? I could buy it myself." Let me interject here - these kids do not have the free phone with a contract. They are walking around with the latest iphones and blackberries. Seriously!
OK. JM and I have discussed this issue many times over the last 6 months since it has become an ever so present topic around our house. We still are holding fast to our belief that a preteen does not need a phone. They (middle schoolers) are with their friends all day long, and they see each other at many after school activities. We have a home phone if he needs to call a friend, and they have our number. Our city was also hit hard at the end of October by the suicide of an 8th grader at Tyler's school. The events of that fatal weekend are recorded in the harsh texts from many of his friends and girls around town. Texts that caught this young Christian boy in a valley of his life, and he made a bad choice to end his life. Texts that said things that would not have been uttered from anyone's mouth in person, but words come easy when they are just typed.
I am the first to admit that we spoil our kids. If we thought a phone was necessary, we would probably bend. There is just no good reason why he needs a personal phone right now. It is a status symbol that he will have to live without. So I am the meanest, most unreasonable parent in town!
well, then i am the 2nd "meanest, most unreasonable parent in town"! i COMPLETELY agree with you! of course, my children are always with me, or i'm in the lobby of dance waiting for them, or they're with other parents who have phones. but they do not NEED phones of their own. there is no good that can come from it. period. this is our family's decision & i'm not backing down either. and although our girls (11,9&7) have several cousins the same age & YOUNGER that DO have cell phones, i have to remind them that i am not those boys' mother, but am responsible to God for MY children only. (so hard to help them really understand that!) but i commend your stance! stay strong girl! God will show you when "it's time" for the phone, just like He'll show you when it's ok for girl/boyfriends & a car, etc...
ReplyDeleteStick to your guns! Seriously, a 6th grader does not need a phone.
ReplyDelete