Parent of 15-year-old refuses to buy her cell phone, offers her pay-phone quarters instead: 'She says it's affecting her social life'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jun 5, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

How old were you when you got your first cell phone? For many of us, this was a rite of passage. First, you'd notice as your friends started showing off their phones. They could snap photos, text, and talk for hours. You'd have to wait until you got home to use your landline phone, and as for "texting," you'd have to settle for instant messaging your friends on the computer. So you'd go to your parents, sit them down, and start begging. You'd have to give them many reasons why you should have a phone, too. "Everyone has them! It'll make me safer! I just really want one!" you'd explain. Then, your parents would deliberate. And finally, if you were lucky enough to have cool parents, then you would get a phone. 

Each parent feels differently about the age at which their child should have a phone, though. Today's iPhones are way more powerful than the flip phones of yore. Instead of just snapping grainy photos, you're giving your kiddo access to Instagram, Snapchat, FaceTiming, and endless texting. I think some parents have trouble grasping how important these things are while growing up in a constantly-online environment, and a lot of commenters told this person that they should allow their kid to have a phone for exactly that reason. 

Up next, read about this couple who were confronted by an unhappy waiter over their decision not to tip on a $30 bill. 

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  • 01
    My 15-year-old daughter (we'll call her Joanna) has been trying to guilt trip me for a long time about buying her a cell phone. She says things like "all my friends have them" and people "look at her weird" when she says that she doesn't have one. She also says that it's "affecting her social life." Needless to say, I'm skeptical of all of these claims.
    via u/Remarkable-Dance4720
  • 02
    Well, earlier today, after getting off the school bus, Joanna stormed into the house and said that my opposition to cell phones was "completely unfair." I asked her if the purpose of going to school was to surf the web and text all day or to learn. She refused to answer the question and said "you're missing the point." She said that she "looks like an idiot" during breaks, like at lunch, when she can't take out a phone. I find this trend of everyone being addicted to
    via u/Remarkable-Dance4720
  • 03
    phone screens really troubling, and I know many of her classmates do poorly in school due to lack of attention span from phones, so that's why I didn't get her a phone. I looked at her and sarcastically said "you're really breaking my heart." When I was in high school in the 90's, cell phone were big bulky things that nobody but nerdy businessmen had. Texting didn't exist, yet I had plenty of friends and a social life. I don't
    via u/Remarkable-Dance4720
  • 04
    understand why kids nowadays can't just look someone in the eye and talk to people like we used to. I told Joanna all of this, and she seemed to see my point of view, but then she said that sometimes she wants to talk to her friends at another high school. We moved a fe years ago because our old neighborhood had become too full of troublemakers. I asked her what was preventing her from using the payphone and even offered to give her quarters.
    via u/Remarkable-Dance4720
  • 05
    At this point, my daughter got up from where she was sitting, put up her hand when I tried to talk to her and slammed her bedroom door shut. I can remember being angry as a teenager, but this was just ridiculous. My wife gets. home in about two hours, and I don't know how we're going to address Joanna's unacceptable outburst. I'm not opposed to new technology, and I carry around a smartphone myself. I just don't think someone who should be
    via u/Remarkable-Dance4720
  • 06
    prepping for college needs to have one, especially not during the school day. I want what's best for my daughter, but she seems determined to paint me as some sort of clueless oaf. This treatment is really getting old. AITA? ETA: She has a laptop at home and uses email and IM to stay in touch with her friends.
    via u/Remarkable-Dance4720
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    Cheezburger Image 10513877760
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 08

    Commenters mostly sided with the daughter, calling the parent out of touch

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    via u/Magdovus
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    via u/Magdovus
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    via u/EndlessSaeclum
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    via u/instantcoffeeshake
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    via u/instantcoffeeshake
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    via u/instantcoffeeshake
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    via u/IIVIIORTAL_K
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    via u/tytyoreo
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    via u/Elevenyearstoomany

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teens school iPhones students teenagers cell phone raising teens
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