Well my son has been out and about in the neighbourhood since he was 13.
last year in grade 8....
He found a wallet, on the bus, "should I give it to the bus driver or drop it off at the Police station on the way to school." I told him to drop it off at the Police Station........he phoned me for guidence.....
He "forgot" the address of his friends house, so instead of wandering around the neighbourhood, trying to remember where his friend lived and what the address was, he called me and I told him........again he phone me for guidence
A cell phone is a safety "tool also", it keeps parents in touch with their kids and the kids have the "security" of knowing that their parents(and guidence) are only a phone call away..........
That is why my former grade 8, now grade 9 son has a cell phone.
My other kids don't as they are not out and about in the world alone as they do not go anywhere without big brother or a parent, so no need to keep in touch with them, they are right beside me or hubby or a responsible adult.
But the oldest, is a very independent young man.....and feels secure with a communication tool at his disposal.........and I as a parent "feel secure" knowing that my oldest child is just a phone call away........
But the phone is a "pay as you go" so he knows that when he makes calls, it comes off of the 25 dollar a month "budget". If he goes over this "budget", it comes off of his allowance. This really helps him decide what calls should be a priority and what is not a priority(like chatting with friends)
But the one thing he does like, taking pictures of his friends at school, or something that he would like to show me(like a specicific pair of shoes, shirt, etc).
A video phone and a camera phone are two different technologies.
If *advertiser censored* was "distributed" to a minor child, the company could be charged criminally......that is why I feel there is more to this story then meets the eyes......also cell phone records are confidential and they don't sell them to *advertiser censored* people, as a)it is a breech of confidentially and b)who would use a "service" provider if they "voluntary" allowed *advertiser censored* to be distrubuted on their network........the company would be held liable as this is "unsolicited" and illegal.
Any service provider should be signing their own "bankrupcy" claim if this happened........people would cancel their contracts(with cause), as this material would be deemed offensive which is a breech of contract......