Cell Phone for an 11 year old?

I think it depends on the child and the need for one. For example my son (when he was 12) was in the band at school. They went away for competitions and I always went but the parents were not allowed to ride the bus so we car pooled there. I got my son one for his Birthday because #1 He ask for one and #2 It helped me stay in contact with him to know where the buses were and how long it would be before they arrived at school. What I did was added him to my plan and I paid the bill as long as he didn't misuse it. The understanding was he went by my rules which were if he went over the alloted minutes he lost it and If he got into any trouble misusing the phone he lost it. When he got a job at 17 years old I told him he had to get his own which he did and I never had any problems. I think most problems with kids having cell phones stems from lack of supervision for the most part. Kids will be kids but as parents you have to monitor things too! My advice is go for it and if it doesn't work out try again in a year or two. He sounds responsible enough to handle it so you probably wont have any problems.

It depends on the child. My son is eleven and he has had a cell phone since he was nine. Its a prepaid phone and he only uses in case of an emergency. He also takes it with him on field trips and calls to tell me if they are back early or are going to be late. He also takes it with him when he goes on a sleep over. He helps keep minutes on it. If he abuses the responsibility he know that it will be taken away and it has happened one time. but he learns.

Seems like your son can be trusted with a lot of things... and i think there is nothing wrong with giving him a cellphone... just lay down the limitations on how he can use it... and the minute that he violates one of those limitations... then just confiscate the cell phone... with how you described you son... i think he deserves this sort of reward...

my son is only two years old but i dont think that i will give him a cellphone when he is 11 years old already. or maybe i will change my mind if he is worth buying one. but then again i agree with you that 11 years old is still young. maybe when he is old enough like 17 maybe? or 17 will be too old. i will cross the bridge when i get there but for you, if you think your husband's reason are valid then i think you need to observe and try it next year again.

It's much more complicated than what your son "is" - as a good son and a good student and all that. Frankly I believe he only wants a cellphone because "everybody else has one" and since they do, then he feels left out - and he does get left out! You wouldn't want to ruin his confidence so be sure to give him a reasonable model - one that isn't too flashy but one that isn't too modest either. Then give rules - somethign that will oblige him to surrender the phone if he fails to meet the requirements but be sure that he agrees to those rules before hand. Thanks for commenting in my discussion!