I mean, when my daughter was begging me the other day I said, "What do you need a cell phone for? You're homeschooled. If I want to tell you something, I'll just look at you and tell you. If your friends want to talk to you, they can call the house. If you want to call them, you can pick up the phone at home and call them."
She says, "But Mama, they have cool apps!"
I said, "So what? We have an iPad. Do you think that if we agreed to give you a cell, that we'd buy an expensive iPhone? Umm. I don't think so. You can buy your own iPhone when you graduate from college and are living your dream."
But the reality is that more and more parents are buying their kids cell phones. And I get it. Because most kids go off to school, and let's face it: that is getting scarier all the time. There are so many dangers nowadays that parents want a connection to their child available all the time.
So when I saw the following graphic, it really made me stop and think. I had never thought about how phones can be used to track your child's whereabouts, or that they lock when your child is driving. I didn't even know that these were options. Wow. The technology! And it made me think about how my kids will be teens before I know it. And I want to be prepared for how I can keep them safe when they get there.
What about you? Does your child have a cell phone? Why or why not? Do you use any of the safety features?
