Is my 11 year old too young to texting girl on mobile?

[confused79]

Im really worried and some may say im being silly, but my son has only just turned 11 and he has a mobile phone not as i like to add my choide my my husbands who im seperate from got him the mobile so he could call him.
He now uses his phone alot for texting and he has a 'girlfriend' from school who texts him up until what i think is late at night (10pm on school nights), i recently found out there were texts going backward and forward on a weekend up till 11:30pm! when he stayed at his dads.
Now am i being unreasonable in saying i think his phone should be turned off when he goes to bed even at weekends?.
I have read his texts and there is nothing worrying in them, apart from silly things like 'babe can you call me'.
To me my son is only 11 and feel he is far too young to be texting girls up till late at night. Im a youngish mum myself (28) and have 2 other children, and i dont want to be a moaney or strict mum but surely im right in thinking he is too young for this?????

[PinkFizz]

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Body-and-Soul/Q uestion344024.html

I posted a similar question a while ago - my answers may help.x

[confused79]

thanks for that, its not so much me being bothered about him acutually having the phone, its the texts going between him and girls and him being only 11, think he is so young for that to be starting or is that the norm?

[dancecaller]

Well they do start earlier than we did.
And I suppose at 11 some of my friends were interested in having a "boyfriend", but more to have one than for anything heavy (if you see what I mean).
So if it's just chatting and texts maybe nothing to worry about.
But who pays the bill. He needs to learn that he is responsible for keeping it within agreed limits (or does it come out of his pocket money?).
When he's staying with you, you can make the rules. Phone left downstairs after a time you agree together is reasonable. Once you've worked somehting out you could speak to your ex and ask him to think about it, though he may have different views.

[dancecaller]

You may have more success in asking him to keep a balance between all the things in his life - existing friends, homework, sport,and other interest than by saying "you are to young for a girlfriend".
And maybe he'll agree that at certain times it should be switched off or ignore (discuss good manners)

[chimpanzee]

why don't you just take the phone off him at night when he goes to bed? seeing as he got the phone to ring his dad, he doesn't need it at night!

[dave1969]

Kids are growing up quicker than us
May be you should limit it at night but txting does help spelling and communication
Plus a phone does help contact with you both.
I do believe there are more + than - to having a mobile