Phones & kids 6-12

It seems to be a trend: kid surveillance. MSNBC.com takes a sweeping look at all the options, from RFID chips in amusement park wristbands to monitoring their every keystroke in cyberspace. The New York Times reports on GPS on schoolbuses and Webcams at school, and the Christian Science Monitor editorializes on how much surveillance is too much. More and more the focus seems to be on keeping tabs with phones. Even the Wherify people, who had put GPS-tracking in kid wristwatches, have shifted the technology to phones. After all, 57% of US 15-to-16-year-olds and 18% of 12-year-olds have cell phones, according to Pew Internet & American Life figures MSNBC cites. Then there are parents who get their kids phones for a different kind of peace of mind: no more begging. Take for example Jennifer Walker finally giving in to her 10-year-old, referred to in the San Francisco Chronicle, or the 7- and 8-year-olds who got phones, mentioned at JournalNow.com, which added that "in the 1990s, the debate was whether high-school students should own cell phones. Today, the buzz is all about keeping grade-schoolers connected." The Wall Street Journal suggests that phones and "talk time may be about to replace the weekly allowance as a reward for good grades and clean rooms." The Arizona Republic also looked at the 6-to-12-year-old phone "market." If parents want more control over kid talk time than the family plans will allow, here's a New York Times survey of the prepaid phone plans available. Here, too, are ClickZstats on high school and college student cellphone use.