Replies to '01/21 Real Life Gossip Girls'

Could you not have contacted the school itself to check in on your child?  A problem faced with 9/11 was the over use from the public on cell phones tying up the airwaves.  This make it harder to contact police, fire and medical personal.  There is now a worry that in the future if there are any other types of disasters there will be another tie up from people using cell phones to make calls.  Think about this type of thing when trying to justify giving a juvinile a cell phone, someone could be in dire need of medical attention and could die before being able to reach 911 because you need to call your child to see if they are ok or not. 

Schools have phones and means of contact for their students to parents.  Another option is, buy a phone where the child can call only you, most cell phone companies make these types of phones and you also don't need to worry about your kid making uneccessary calls and wracking up charges.  If you truly believe your child needs a cell phone for emergencies then these are the best types of phones to have.  Otherwise, as I type schools are having immense troubles with students carrying cell phones to school, texting in class etc and ignoring the cell phone ban policies they may have.

I think it's fine for kids to have cell phones in school for emergency purposes, but not camera phones. Too many kids have shown they're not mature enough to have camera phones. They have been used to cheat on exams, and can be used to snap pictures of fellow students in the shower or bathroom stall.