Well, I was 17 when I got my first cell phone, and that was before my mother even had one. I feel that if I am a responable parent, and always know where my kids are, they should not need one until they are more on their own. I take them and pick them up where ever they are. Plus with a phone there are so many opportunities to get in trouble: school, boys, strangers??? A young child with a phone is a bad idea.