To download a printable version of this transcript, click here.
 
iQuestions Faculty, Dr. Kevin Leman 
 
 
Question: 
 
My twelve-year-old daughter keeps asking me for a cell phone. How 
old should she be to have one? 
 
Answer:  
 
I love my cell phone. I don’t know what I would do without my cell 
phone. But kids do not need to have cell phones. 
 
I talked with a lady the other day, and she was thinking of getting her 
eight-year-old son a cell phone for his birthday. I said, “What? An 
eight-year-old?” We have eight-year-olds and twelve-year-olds with 
cell phones. Not a good idea. 
 
When is an appropriate time for a kid to get a cell phone? If I could 
just pick an age I would say, “When they begin to drive an 
automobile.” Where I live that’s fifteen years and seven months.  
 
My daughter, and I’m always reminding her how much longer it is 
before she will be able to drive; “Lauren, you know, you’re going to be 
driving in just 16 months.” “Ah, fifteen and a half months, Dad.” 
“Oh, correction. Fifteen and a half.” 
 
You know, it’s a ritual; it’s a rite of passage. I want my daughter to 
have my cell phone when she’s driving a car. I think that’s an 
appropriate age.  
 
Everybody can’t afford a cell phone. Will kids live without a cell phone? 
Yeah, they will. But let’s set some standards; reasonable standards. 
Sixteen’s a good time. People ask me about dating; still sixteen’s a 
 
pretty good time. But we’ve got parents today who are pushing things 
down and the kids are always pushing the limits.  
 
Be a good parent. Don’t be afraid to stand up to the plate, give them a 
little Vitamin N which is, “No, not yet, honey, that will come in time.” 
 
  
Leman -2- 
To download a printable version of this transcript, click here.