Question: My 8-year-old wants a cell phone. At what age do you recommend this responsibility?

Answer: This question does not have a "one size fits all" answer. Parents need to make the decision for their own families.

Here are some of the issues many parents consider before saying yes or no to a cell phone:

• Does the child actually need a cell phone -- for instance, to get in touch with parents? How often, and under what circumstances? Is the child away from home without you a lot (for instance, participating in afterschool activities or sporting events)?

• How responsible is the child? Enough to keep the phone charged, keep it safe -- and not lose it or let it sit uncharged in a backpack once the novelty has worn off?

• Is the child willing to help pay for the phone -- for example, through an ongoing modest deduction from his or her allowance?

• Can the family afford both the initial and ongoing costs of an additional cell phone?

• What would the ground rules be? A limited number of minutes each month? Limited texting? Calls only to parents and grandparents, but not to peers? One or two peer calls per day?

• It's not always an easy decision. In case it helps, we've recently read that more than 25 percent of kids ages 8 to 11 have cell phones. Since many children are given cell phones when they reach middle-school age, the number is probably higher in the older end of that range, and lower at your child's age.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.