Even though I'm younger than you I'm in the same situation. I also have a cell phone for SAFETY REASONS ONLY! A lot(and I mean a lot) of my friends use txt talking and I find that kind of annoying because it ruins their grammar and spelling. At some point it will get so bad that some people won't even spell right! I think it's terrible when people misuse their phones(pictures and everything) I mean it doesn't make sense. I personally agree with you that younger kids should not have phones(unless needed). Oh and texting is a waste of time!

Under 12 (Unless it's for safety), I should probably have one for babysitting and when I'm at dance alone, but Mom says we can't afford one.

I HATE text talking. It ruins grammar, spelling and the ability to be social by talking. 

Well, I got a cell phone when I was really young, but that was because my dad got a new one for free and we had an extra, and it didn't work well enough that a profit could be made by selling it, and my older brother already had a phone, so the only real option was to give it to me. It doesn't work anymore, and when it stopped doing so, I got a new one, but that was only because we'd moved by then and hadn't purchased a home phone, and if I was home alone without a phone, and there was a fire or other disaster, and all the exits were blocked... I wouldn't be able to call anyone for help. It cost less money to get a cell phone for me than a home phone (and cell phones are more convenient, anyway, as you can take them to places), so I was given another one (and another when it stopped working, etc). I talked to my friends on it a lot when I was 10 or so, but I almost never use it for anything at all now, and some people who meet me automatically assume I don't have one (which is actually much more reasonable than it sounds, as you'd know if you knew me in real life). It's basically treated more as a spare phone than anything else; I haven't put any contacts on the list, and other members of my family have, which says something as they all have phones of thier own to use (I'm the youngest.). I definitely wouldn't have it if there was a home phone.

I do think it's ridiculous when people get them for no reason other than that everyone else has one, but it's not exactly as if that's just cell phones, is it? I really can't believe that so many people are getting so many things they don't really need or want at all. It's a waste of the resources used to make the product, in my opinion.

I think the ways you mentioned people using their phones are terrible, but "sending bad messages/pictures, spreading rumors" can happen just as easily over the Internet as on the phone...

I want a cell phone really badly- but I do have great comunication skills. I think it is not okay for an elementary school aged kid to have a cell phone- but okay for a 12 and older kid who has already developed good comunication skills to have one. Also would be okay to have one if you have lots of activities you go to. 

Cell-phones are a hazard. When the driver of a car is texting, they are risking their own lives and the lives of the people in the car with them. Also, I have a friend, and she's only twelve, and she'll text when my sisters and I are at her house. It gets very annoying and rude. But when cell-phones are a hazard, they are also for safety if used in the right way. If you're somewhere without your parents, it's safe to keep one with you. A guy at a piano recital I was in in December was saying how if one of his friends texts him and asks something like "Did you like the movie?" (Or really it would look something like this, "did u luv the mov?") he'll call them and say, "Yes, I liked it very much."

Okay, don't hate me guys, but I find texting fun. *curls into a ball and braces self for thrown tomatoes* I do it on my iPod (touch if you're wondering) but sometimes (er, usually) I don't use "txt talk" unless I'm feeling lazy. 

 Anyways, (my sentences might seem weird right now because I'm listening to music) I don't think that anyone underneath 12 should have a phone unless they really need it. Like they babysit and/or they don't have a home phone. 

 Oh, there's this girl on my bus who got a cell phone in grade five. She kept on losing her phones then got new ones. (She lost an LG Rumour 2 at Wonderland. (I admire LG phones XD) I'm pretty sure that was last year, when she was in grade 7) I find that... sad. She's in Grade 8 now if you're wondering.

 Okay, that's all I have to say. Ciao! 

Ah, this is an interesting debate and I'm so glad that there are people my age against cell phones.  I'm not necessarily there, for reasons outlined later, but everyone I know has new, "in-style" cell phones and would look at me crazily if I said I didn't like cell phones.  So kudos to you for being completely against the traditional teenage view!  

My mom is against cell phones.  She's really concerned about health and so is trying to get me to use a headset with my cell phone so that I do not have to put it to my ear very often.  I see you have brought up the health issues here in this debate, so I won't go too much into it.  Oh yes, and the headset that came with my phone has this earbud thing that doesn't even stay in my ear, which bugs me to no end.  I was talking with my friend on my phone for a long time on Saturday and I eventually put it on speakerphone.  Unfortunately, when someone is on speakerphone, their voice sound all weird and it bugs me.  But I guess that's better than devloping brain cancer.

So, I got a phone in, I believe, the summer after 4th grade, which I never expected to happen.  I was counting on getting one when I was about 16 or so.  However, I went to a sleep away camp for the first time the summer after third grade where you were not allowed to call your parents.  I got dreadfully homesick that week and I've never looked on that camp with fond memories... though I did meet a nice friend there that I started to keep in touch with but haven't for a really long time.  But that's besides the point.  So, when I went to a different sleep away camp the summer after 4th grade, I was determined to make it a better experience.  (It helped that the camp was nicer.)  We were allowed to call our parents during the camp, so my parents got me this tiny little Go Phone.  Which basically means that you put money on your phone and then take money out of that pool for each call you make.  Then, at a certain date, your money expires and you have to put more in.  So no plan.  I used that phone so much at camp, but after that, I didn't really touch it at all.  I felt weird saying I had a phone, since that was the most un-me thing ever.  (My friends were incredulous when I said I had gotten a phone.)  But when I left my elementary/middle school at sixth grade for a new school, I realized how lucky I was to have a phone.  My new school is 7-12 (I'm in 8th now) and it's like a high school.  There are 600 kids and after school, the parents just park in the lower, main parking lot (seniors and faculty are in the upper, which is great and avoids confusion).  But, even with the seniors in the upper lot, there are about 500 students worth of parents coming at one times (generally).  And unless I want to walk up and down the rows looking for my dad, I can't really see him from the school.  And here's how my phone comes into it all.  I can just call him (it's just a 30-second call) and ask him where he is.  It's the most efficient and helpful thing imaginable, and the phone isn't even close to my head for that long.  In that respect, I love having a phone, so I can feel secure.  Borrowing a friend's phone sometimes works, but it's not ideal.  Therefore, phones work for me.

BUT, here are the catches.  I am not allowed to text.  I say it "sadly" in front of my friends when they ask me if I can text, but I'm actually glad.  I've heard so many stories of people who though texting was their friend, but then became addicted, and are now really regretting it.  I don't want to become attached to my phone and I really don't want to lose my grammar.  I feel that it is necessary to type well all the time (though I have been lapsing into losing capitalization when doing text types on iChat or Skype, which bugs me).  Texting basically goes against my principles.  Also, as I think it was R~D~ (could've been someone else, and if so I apologize) who said that if you text, you lose your calling skills.  How true!  I find myself wanting to email rather than call people.  I am actually such a shy person that I chomp at the bit (figuratively of course) when my parents tell me to call someone, even if it's a friend!  I am afraid to make a fool of myself in front of a parent, or not know what to say, or leave an embarrassing message... the list goes on.  I'm getting better, but I know that if I started texting, I'd only get worse.

The other catch is that I can't really use it for talking to my friends.  I do sometimes, because that's the number my friends have and all my friends' numbers are in my cell phone, and once I've looked them up, I'm too lazy to go over, grab the landline, and punch the number in.  It's much easier to just call on my cell.  But my mom is worried about the effects of cell phones on health (as I previously mentioned) so she doesn't want me talking a lot on my cell.  I don't now, but maybe in the future I would have.

So to summarize, I think that for emergency uses, cell phones are important.  But really, it depends on where you live (safety in a big city versus safety in a small, tiny town), what school you go to (if you go to a school with only 10 people in your grade, there should be no problem finding your ride home), and what your schedule is like.  If you do many independent things, yes it is helpful to have a phone, but if you're with you parent all the time, why bother?  I am totally against having a phone when you're really young (though, Ima, you are an exception).  I'd say 5th grade at the very earliest, and middle/high school as a good time.  That's what worked for me.

Thanks for the debate thread, Robyn!  I appreciate threads like these.  And sorry for the length of my post... I just get carried away some times. :)

~Leaf