Both of our kids had one about then, BS because I was afraid of his father doing something stupid like running, plus he never had any minutes on his cellphone, and moved frequently without telling me. SS because his BM wouldn't give him the phone when DH called her. It ended up being the only reasonable way for him to communicate with us.
If she doesn't ask you to pay the bill, and SD isn't getting into trouble with it, it probably isn't a big deal. She'll lose the phone soon enough...

My DD10 and SS9 have had cell phones for about a year now so they were 9 and 8 respectively at the time. Yes, they were too young but we kinda had to... Long story but BM decided and said that "she didn't care" about the rules we'd established for both kids regarding the minimum age for cell phones and got one for SS anyway (bear in mind, both kids are with us 99.9% of the time). It caused alot of problems and we ended up getting one for DD to even things out. The whole thing fizzled out in no time as SS realized he wasn't getting one up on DD. DD10 is more into her cell with the prepaid unlimited texting. SS9 loses his all the time. It was once missing for a good month! I think it depends on the kids and their need for one. It's come in pretty handy for DD10 since she's at her extra-curricular activity several times a week. For SS9, it makes it easier for him to call FH when he's at BM's EOW and vice versa i.e. no need for FH to call BM to talk to him, he can dial his son directly! Now, whether he answers or has it on is a whole 'nother story

Then I gave her one of my old phones when she turned 11 and we added her to our plan since it's only $10 extra a month. This was my idea.
I'd rather DH and SD have as much communication as they want via texting and calling rather than have to go through BM all the time. I'd be annoyed if my ex constantly texted my son through my phone just to ask how his day was or constantly called my phone just to talk to my son. When my son is 9,he'll get a prepaid and then when he's 11 we'll add him to the plan.
Sd is excellent with her phone. Never loses it, keeps it in the case and turns it off every night after texting her mommy (if she's with us) or texting her daddy(if she's with BM). She never goes over minutes or anything. It's all in how they're taught to respect the phone responsibility. Plus, she texts me sometimes too and that's something we'd never be allowed to do through BMs phone.

I think phones for children should be reserved only when the child doesn't see both parents every day. It makes it easier on the WHOLE family when the non-custodial parent can just call and talk to their child without going through the ex...plus I know it makes SD feel more loved by DH when he texts, "I love you! You're the best daughter in the world and i miss you!!" right before she goes to bed at night.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. ~Buddha

I think there could be a use.
I got my son one when I moved into a new nieghborhood. I got one of those cheapy ones. And I added the GPS tracker thing to it. So I could feel comfortable knowing he got to school ok and that he got home ok too. He had to walk by himself then.

I got rid of it when Verizon billed me my 1st bill and it was over $300. It should have only been $9 for the added line.
Seems all the bugs was not all worked out yet with the GPS tracker part. It was charging me usage minutes while it did it's tracking.
They corrected the bill. But I bailed from that right then and there.

From what you discribed I would not allow a phone.
I would tell the litle girl that it can stay at mom's.

We have talked about it in regards to SD8 and SD9. That way we can talk to them whenever we want and don't have to go through BM. (she doesn't have a land line, just her cell phone.) And the skids can call us and we'll know it's them and not BM wanting/needing something. Our only reservations are that BM will burn that phone up!!! She has a prepaid cell phone that's turned off half the time! We don't want to pay for a phone that BM will use more than the skids. Although, we know this WILL happen with the skids' cell phone, we will probably get them one next year and maybe BM will have her life together by then. A couple weeks ago, SD8 told me that BM took $40.00 of her bday money to buy minutes on her phone. SD8 said "she said she'll pay me back, but she didn't pay me back my Easter money, so I'll just write it off." This is coming from an 8 year old! I laughed when she said this, so she wouldn't know how pissed I was and then I took her for an ice cream while SD9 was at softball practice.

******My daddy always said: "It's better to be a SMARTASS, than a DUMBASS!******

We have a home phone (cell phone ) for the kids or a babysitter. We do allow SD10 to take it with her when she goes to a friends or on a bike ride so we can get ahold of her.

SD tells BM that this is her phone. It is not. Although BM is to call SD on that line---it is for all the kids. It is just that SD is the only one that is getting use of it right now.

We have a family plan so the home phone doesn't cost any extra.

Lizzy, while I think the appropriateness of a younger child having a cellular phone is a matter of opinion, I can speak to ensuring that those bills never get out of control (as they sometimes have a way of doing, especially on teenagers' phones). I'm not trying to overtly plug here, but I think this is relevant: I work for the consumer advocacy division of the company Validas where we electronically audit and subsequently reduce the average cell bill by 22 percent though our website, http://www.fixmycellbill.com. Put simply, Validas guards against frivolous and unnecessary charges that inflate your cell bill more than it should be for your usage. You can find out for free if fixmycellbill.com can modify your plan to better suit your needs by going to the website.

For more information, check out Validas in the media, most recently on Fox News at http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/consumer/conlaw/lower_cell_phone_bills_... .

Good luck to everyone reading on cutting your wireless costs.

Dylan
Consumer Marketing Manager, FixMyCellBill.com

My ds has had a cell phone since his dad moved LD. It really facilitates their communication. My skids are teens/adults and have cell phones long before I entered the picture.

I was just talking to DH about this 2 nights ago. A lot of the girls I work with have given their children (some as young as cell phones so they can call Mom and Dad when walking home or if something happens at the other parents and schedules need to be arranged or if something happens at school. It seems to be a more common practice now. I think it depends on the kid and on the cell phone plan and rules.

Our BM really does not like to let DH talk to SD - so i am sure if we bought a cell phone she would probably take it from her.

Now that the court order states he gets to talk to her daily before bedtime for at least 30 (conversation never more than 10 minutes anyway) it would be good if she goes back to trying to block his communication.

Then there would be no issue - maybe!

My opinion - it depends on the child and the situation.

********She doesn't have to love me or even like me - it doesn't change a dang thing..... So get over it and move on BM!************