Cell Phones
We let our girls (now 11 and 14) to both get cell phones in 6th grade. Both spend all day at volleyball tournaments 2 weekends a month. Their dad is always with them, but if he had to leave early the girls would have a way to contact us. The other moms and dads on the girls’ teams look out for all the girls too. I have the cell numbers of the parents, so that I can contact them if needed.
No cell phones broken, Phone chargers go missing. One was replaced — I think the tween left it at a hotel.
ipod
My teen got an ipod at 9. I thought she was too young, but the grandparents insisted. She proved to be very responsible.
My tween got one at 8. She was younger and needed more hand holding as far as downloading songs.
My 7-year-old desperately wants one, but I am holding off. He is so-so in the responsibility arena. He still listens to CDs in his bedroom, while his sisters only listen to itunes.
itouch
I won a itouch. I have barely seen the darn thing! My tween always seems to have it. She has downloaded a dizzying array of apps. She likes playing games. My youngest likes watching pre-approved by me YouTube vidoes.
The itouch comes in handy when we travel to swim meets, volleyball tournaments, etc. Since it is too hard to share a device, we set up a schedule of show gets the itouch for the entire day. There is no argument since the kids know that who has the itouch next.
Nintendo DS
My tween got one when she was 9. The teen got one when she was 11. Both play with them intermittently. My youngest was the lucky recipient of a DS that I won. I gave it to him for his 6th birthday with a few games. He plays with the DS the most. He and his sisters share Mario and Nintendogs games.
Age 6 is really too young, but I was tired of him pestering his sisters for a turn. It is impossible to share a DS. The games are too long.
Now, the only thing I have to worry about is where the various chargers are!
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