I found two very interesting articles that discuss the impact cell phones are having on teenagers. The first from the New York Times, explains how a smart phone is now just as or even more desirable to a teen than a car! The auto industry is actually trying to figure out how to get more teens interested in buying cars and they are including integrating cell phone like features into them to create interest.

It is incredible that teenagers in 2012 see having a smart phone as the new way to show that they are an “adult” and have independence from their parents. The importance of being able to drive and have access to a car is now not nearly as important to them as it has been to all previous generations. In the “old” days, having a car meant freedom and independence while now you can apparently get that for the much smaller price of a smart phone!

The second article is about the high frequency that today’s teenagers text. An astonishing 7 texts per hour (awake time) or a total of over 3.400 per month is apparently what many of them do right now. This number is very disconcerting to any parent who doesn’t want to raise a kid who has his or her head buried in their cell phone all the time.

Predictably girls text more than boys but either way, those numbers are staggering and show why teenagers are increasingly using more and more data on their mobile devices. Parents might also be concerned that texts are silent and they can’t hear or see anything their kids are saying to their friends when they text. When teens had to talk, at least they had to run up to their rooms and close the door if they wanted or needed privacy. Now they can have that privacy anywhere when they text.

Like it or not, this is the way things are and will be going forward. Parents are going to have to figure out what they will or will not allow and know that they will get tremendous push back from their teens. When all their friends seem to have a cell phone / smart phone, it is hard to tell your kids that they cannot have one too.

With the bad reviews, lack of information online, and being made by a company (SPV?) I have never heard of, this phone is one I would buy with caution. Yes, it does have the 4 programmable keys which parents of young kids like but there seems to be a lot of risk (per the user reviews) of whether you can get it to work.

To get a better selection of phones for young children and teens, please go to my best cell phones for kids page.

A new BMJ study from Denmark was just released a few days ago where they studied all of the people in that country that have cell phone contracts. What did they find? So far there is no evidence that cell phone usage is tied to increased brain tumors or cancer risks.

But even though that study is the largest ever conducted, you can find varying opinions everywhere all over the Internet. For instance, the World Health Organization is unlikely going to change their view that the electromagnetic fields created by cell phones might be a disaster just waiting to happen. Likewise, this reporter is not convinced cell phones are safe for anyone and especially not children. She is especially concerned about the varying absorption rates of these mobile phones signals and notes that there is just too much that we don’t know at this time to be calling them safe. And MobileWise just plain believes that cell phones are not safe for kids because they are more vulnerable.

Of great concern to parents is the belief that children’s brains are developing and can be harmed more than an adult brain that is fully formed. This is one of the main reasons many parents don’t want to buy phones for kids when their children come begging for them. At least parents can delay the inevitable for awhile by not allowing their kids to have them at real young ages and someday, after more time has gone by for research purposes, we might have an answer that is more believable.

I think the bottom line is that no matter how many studies there are out there at the moment in 2011, the real truth about the cell phone – cancer debate may not be known for another 20 or more years. It is great that many studies look good so far but cell phones have really permeated our everyday life so much now that they are always in our hands or in a pocket and it is just too early to tell if they can cause damage.

The government has a website called OnGuard Online that is there to help you understand the pitfalls that are out there. They have all sorts of topics including sections on kid’s privacy, phishing scams, spyware, social networking sites, malware, and many others. It’s a great site that will help parents learn about all the things their children will soon want to get involved with, technology wise. It will help you help them avoid all the scams and dangers.

I thought this link to mobile apps could be beneficial to parents who want to learn more about what apps are as that is all everyone is talking about now. As your kids get older (and that happens fast!) they will start asking about and wanting to sign up for social networking sites as well as wanting to start downloading apps.

More and more of the phones for kids that go on the market are having all these Internet related features built in. Pretty soon it is going to be hard to find phones that don’t have these features and of course your kids are always going to want them. So, the more you learn about this technology, the better prepared you will be when dealing with your own children when they come begging for smart phones.

Whether you are looking for a good phone for a child under 10 who has never had one or whether you need one for a teenager, they have a good variety of phones that all ages will like. You get a variety of plans to choose from and all of them include the parental controls that Kajeet is known for.

Right now there are a handful of phones on sale for back to school so now is a great time to buy. Please watch the short video below from Fox 4 Missouri where Kajeet is mentioned as the place to get great phones for kids. (see first 1:30 of the video)

I rode the bus home from work the other day and two teenage girls got in and sat in the seats in front of me. I’d say they were about 15 or 16 years old, somewhere in that range anyway. They started talking and then had to stop as one of their cell phones made that noise that phones make when a text comes in. The one girl quickly read the text and then you could tell her fingers were really going at it as she responded. She then pushed the final button, collapsed the phone, and stuck it back in her pocket.

The two girls started talking again and about a minute later you could hear that text chime that told her another message was just received. Pulling the phone out of her pocket, she proceeded to read it and respond just like the first time. Putting the phone back, they then started talking again.

This went on for about 5 more times and during about the fourth one, the other girl’s cell phone went off! Just like the first girl, the second girl started doing the same thing: reading messages, responding, putting away her phone, pulling it out again, and responding over and over.

The two girls didn’t have any time to talk to each other any more!

This very clearly showed me that this is the way teens communicate with each other in 2011 and beyond. Especially once you get to high school, if you want to have lots of friends and be part of most any group, you have to be social and to be social you need a cell phone that is easy to text with. You also need a phone plan that allows unlimited texts!

Kids have always had to deal with peer pressure in one form or another but today’s youth has it very different than kids did when I was growing up. We wanted the trendy clothes, the latest hair styles, and other simple things that we thought we needed to fit in and make friends. Teenagers today need all that AND they have to be part of the technological social revolution that is happening all around us.

In order to hang with the cool kids in 2011, you need a cell phone that can keep you in the loop. And for many of those teens, that means convincing their parents that they absolutely “need” them.

Having travelled to Japan where cell phone etiquette is a priority, I am wondering how many parents in America are teaching their young children when and how they they should be using their phones? It seems many adults over here have no idea themselves about any sort of phone etiquette as you hear people all the time yakking away in public. Being polite and courteous to others seems to be something that you see less and less of these days.

Young children who get cell phones for kids need to be taught early when it is appropriate to use them and that there are certain places that their phone should be put on vibrate or turned off. Is this something you as a parent will take the time to teach them or will you assume they will learn it on their own?

The real reason parents get their young children cell phones is for their safety and for the parent’s peace of mind. In order for that all to happen, your children must be taught the importance of never leaving the house without a fully charged phone. While that sounds obvious and simple to adults, it might not be for a young child.

Kids that are that young aren’t necessarily thrilled to get a cell phone and they might not even know what it is. They will think it is a toy and must be shown how to use it, when to use it, and how to maintain it. They must also be instructed how to keep it charged and made to understand that it is useless without power. Getting them into a routine every night like charging their phone before they go to bed is a good way to do it.

Cell phones for kids can be a great safety device if they are used properly. However, for younger children, there will be a learning curve and a lot of things need to be carefully explained to them. Parents must take the time to make sure their young children learn what their cell phones should be used for and that they are NOT toys.

Many phones for kids have texting capabilities and once they get into that, most parents are left behind. Texting carries with it a whole new language that is evolving all the time which makes it very hard to keep up with. Most parents don’t have the time to learn all the abbreviations and what they mean in order to protect their children and make sure they aren’t corresponding with people they shouldn’t and saying things they shouldn’t.

Kids love texting because they are good at it and it seems to come naturally to them. It is also their own code that adults don’t understand so they are naturally drawn to it. If you want to see just how extensive a list of text abbreviations is, take a look here to see how many of these you know. It is shocking how many of them are for swear words or for words that no parent would want their young child to learn. But kids will be kids and sooner or later, once a child starts texting, they will be exposed to many of those objectionable ones.

As a mother myself who uses a cell phone just to call people, I only know a handful of those abbreviations and I have NO desire to learn them just so I can find out what my daughter is saying to her friends! But what other option do I have?

Understandably, this is why some parents don’t want their kids to have a cell phone. At least they want to say “no” as long as possible to hold off this inevitable rush towards something that many find quite inappropriate and objectionable. It is becoming so hard these days to protect our children from society and preserve the innocence that they deserve.

The Internet is a very personal decision for parents and their children. Some parents feel better totally shielding them from it as long as possible while other parents don’t care as much. No two situations are the same and Internet access and usage for kids will most likely perplex parents for generations to come.

Many kids cell phones come with the Internet or some form of it. Just the ability to text has many parents scared after all the hype about cyber bullies and sexting. This article summarizes how difficult it is to keep kids off of websites they shouldn’t be on and how social websites are now the common playground of teens.

Ultimately, the most effective thing parents can do is try to teach their children the difference between right and wrong. As children grow up, they need parents to be attentive to their needs and involved in their daily lives. Parents can try to use all the software blockers and other technology that is out there today but sooner or later a child will figure a way around it or be exposed to questionable things on the Internet away from their homes.

Cell phones for kids that allow access to the Internet can become a problem when they are in the hands of children, young and old, who have different maturity levels. If you are a Mom or Dad who is concerned about getting your child a cell phone because of all the trouble they can get into, finding one that has great parental controls is a good idea. Right now, Kajeet is a leader in that field and they have a nice selection of phones at different price points that should fit your child’s needs. They even have GPS features for an added monthly charge if that is something you desire.