Cell phone debate

[E.J.]

Like Tabb, I will not vote, just give my experience. My son had his first cell phone around 11, not sure exactly when. He is now 13, feels like he has had a phone FOREVER. Almost every one of his friends have a phone(I would say every one, though that may not be accurate), though he was one of the first.

He has not had a problem as far as losing it, though has broken a few. When that has happened, he pays for a "crap phone" out of his own pocket(think he has been charged like $20) until his plan allows for an upgrade(that usually means he gets moms phone and she gets an upgrade).

In the end, does he need a phone....no. He also doesn't need $600 hockey skates...

[Eleven]

Originally Posted by E.J.

In the end, does he need a phone....no. He also doesn't need $600 hockey skates...

Whoa! hold on a sec!, lets not get carried away! My kid has lost a cell phone, *and* broken a $160 hockey stick all within a week of each other.

The phone was an unforgivable lapse of judgment and he will wait a long time before getting a new one, but the stick was the result of him playing hard and trying hard and not screwing around and being irresponsible.

We haven't paid 600 for skates yet, but we have paid 350. The phone was cheap but that isn't the point.

I would gladly pay another $350 for new skates if something like a blade broke that couldn't be replaced. I am going to have to pay for a new stick, and will do that when regular season starts up (on a side note, he broke it in Spring Hockey, and is using backup sticks now).

But the phone, that was a privilege and he screwed it up. Hockey is a different story, you can't play AAA youth hockey with 30 dollar skates and a 10 dollar stick. The demands on the equipment and their bodies require high quality, otherwise you are buying several pairs of skates and 10 sticks a year, not to mention the hassle of all the distractions, blisters, crappy shots, etc etc.

Wow, what a tangent huh!?!??! Just trying to say that you cannot equate a cell phone for a kid with hockey equipment. You get what you pay for, and even worse, you can seriously hamper or even injure your kid with low quality skates or other equipment

[E.J.]

Originally Posted by Eleven

Just trying to say that you cannot equate a cell phone for a kid with hockey equipment. You get what you pay for, and even worse, you can seriously hamper or even injure your kid with low quality skates or other equipment

Not to hi-jack, but I can and did equate the cell phone and the skates.... I am 100% confident that the Little Man would be just fine with $300 skates and $100 sticks, neither one would limit his ability to play the game or increase his chance for injury.....

He could also easily get by without a cell phone, but has one....

As long as I know he is a GREAT kid, he is, he will be fortunate.... If the time comes that I feel he does not appreciate what he has or the situation he is in, or does not deserve what has been afforded him.... He will cease to be in that situation....