What’s the Right Age for Cell Phones?

There is something that has been happening more and more lately and it is leaving me with a decision to make.

My oldest son Rodney and I were driving into Billings over the weekend and he did it again. "Dad, when can I get my own cell phone?" He is 9 years old.

I keep answering him by saying when he gets a little more older.

He has been asking me this same question every couple of months for the past couple of years.

He only wants one so he can play games on it. It wouldn't be used for any communication whatsoever. He never goes anywhere without my wife and I accompanying him so it is not necessary for emergency issues. He is home-schooled so he doesn't need one on the bus or the walk to and from school.

In my defense, I have let him use old cell phones to play the games on them in the past and they usually end up broke within a week or so because of his brothers. Buying a new cellphone at this point in time just wouldn't be in the cards for me at this time.

His argument is that he sees other kids his age with them and that is something that I cannot deny, but that isn't a qualifying reason in my book.

I feel like a stickler. I kind of feel bad because what if he really needed it in a bad situation? I am just always there and I could protect him.

I don't know. What do you think? When is a good age to get your kids a cellphone?