"Firefly Mobile: The Mobile Phone for Mobile Kids"

How young is too young for cell phones? When I was growing up it was very rare for a kid in middle school to have a cell phone, now it seems to be the standard. What has changed? Parents say that it is nice to be able to call and check in with their kids and it makes them feel safer knowing that their child has a cell phone. But ten years ago parents didn't feel unsafe because their child didn't have a cell phone and kids could check in without cell phones. It seems like every year kids are getting phones at a younger age. So much so that there are cell phones designed for kids that parents can control.

One of the most popular phone for kids is the Firefly.

These phones have many of the features of standard cell phones these days, but they have built-in parental controls. The parental controls include: the ability to limit incoming and outgoing calls, contacts stored in the phone book, new contacts being added, restricted texting. So there is a plus side, parents who feel they need to provide their kids with cell phones can have peace of mind knowing that they are in control. My question is, are we as a society getting kids hooked on cell phones too early? Anyone with a cell phone has probably forgot it at home and had that feeling of anxiety and detachment, is it healthy for kids to develop this attachment so early?