Reply To: Cell phones for children (or parents)

I never meant to imply that I’m better than anyone else in any way. I’m not sure how anyone even read that from what I was suggesting.

The vast majority of cell phone users have internet and texting and stuff on their phones. If you are not by nature a person who is a customer of an updated phone, this does not mean that your teenagers or children in their 20″s are not influenced and interested in a full featured phone.

The point is, if a kid is taught that it’s 100% OK to have a cell phone, even a plain Jane phone, he or she will quickly figure out how to get their hands on a phone with all the magic. That upgraded phone will be just as kosher in their minds as any other and you may not even know they got an upgraded phone of their own with their own account. Without the benefit of chinuch, how are the kids supposed to know to identify and stay away from such nisyonos? Does it matter if the first 6 months the person doesn’t use the cell phone to contact anyone harmful and only later on begin a downward spiral?

The idea of having even a plain Jane talk / text only phone is downright dangerous in and of itself. The internet capabilities (which is inevitable) is just the icing on the cake that can further do harm.