While a lot of these seem to be common sense or common courtesy, I am never at a loss for how much common sense and courtesy get ignored today. These are great rules of thumb.

And some adults I have run into should pay attention to some (if not all) of those, as well.

Absolutely, John. Bad manners are certainly not limited to just kids, unfortunately. Nor are lack of common sense or courtesy. We could all pay better attention to these items.

My thoughts exactly, John and Doug. I cringe when people pull out their cell phones in a restaurant! As for when my daughter is old enough to start carrying a phone, we’ll just where technology is at that point. Needless to say, we’ve got a while.

Yeah, my son is getting close. There were some nice phones, like the Firefly which could only call emergency numbers or home. I would consider something like that. But not until he is regularly going places without us.

doug

You know, I survived my teens without a cell phone, as did everyone else from my generation. Same goes for internet access, too. Heck, they weren’t available until I was past 30! To me, they’re still a convenience, not a necessity. I don’t think a minor should have one until they’re old enough to be responsible for the bill.

LOL, John. Good point. Cellphones did not come around really until I was in college. And I was already working for the MAN when I got my first one. If I was going to get one for my son (and I am not anytime soon) I would look into a prepaid one that he could use to call home. Much better than our old trick of calling collect and not accepting the charges (secret code for come pick me up).

doug

I think these precautions are great! i talked to my kids about most of these just the other day. Another great tip is getting your kids camera phones so that they can take photos of where they are and text it back to you. That’s why I got my kids under the Tracfone plan. Their Motorola W376 phone costs less than $30. Now, I feel much more secure about knowing where they are and what they are up to.