Cell Phone Rules for Kids ?

[Zandy595]

What rules did you give your kids when they got a cell phone? DS13 is getting his first phone today and I know I'm going to have to set some rules for it. It would be helpful if I knew what other parents do. Thanks.

 

[nkjzmom]

One of our big rules is that all cell phones have to be placed on their charger, which is in the kitchen, by a certain time each night. No phones allowed in bedrooms overnight.

 

[catycatcat4]

Only rule i have is i can't go anywhere if i don't have minuts.
and i only get a 150 a month XD and it is halve a minut to read a text or send one.

 

[Kae]

Ours is also no phones in the rooms at bedtime. No phone on at school, he turns it on when class is out or after sports practice when riding or walking home. We also told DS testing is like writing a note or emailing someone it can be shared with who ever the reciever want to share it with. So be smart when texting.

Kae

 

[3boymthr]

We don't have rules - yet - but I have a few I am planning on putting in place. DS13 is getting his first phone for Christmas. He will be responsible for paying for any charges over and above the basic plan that we have put in place (600 minutes a month - no texting or data). The phone will not be turned on during school hours or during his Guitar lessons or any Boy Scout functions. During Guitar practice time it must go on the charger. If any of the rules are broken the phone will be confiscated by me. He is being told that the phone is primarily for emergency situations. If he is home and needs to contact a friend he needs to use the house phone.

 

[ilovejack02]

Our big one was no phone at night, had to be in my bedroom on the charger by 9 pm until he was 17 and then we moved the time to 10 pm. It also had to be turned off during homework time.
His bio Mom bought it when he was 12 because she didnt want to talk to us lol. I am not sure what rules she had , but I imagine she put unlimited texting on it after he went over one month and the bill was $700.
I admit we had a big giggle on that , who lets a 12 yr old have free reign on texting. We made sure he didnt use it constantly when he was with us , but when he was with her on the weekends, she didnt monitor it.


We told her she needed to block it completely upfront, but she wanted to be able to text with him at any moment and was mad because we made him turn it in by 9pm at night . Too bad so sad, his sleep was more important to us than her being able to text him at 10 pm at night.

I have friends that dont allow their kids to delete texting history. None read it very often, but if they picked up the phone they expected it to be all there.. mainly when the kids were younger, once they hit over 16 I dont think did it anymore.

 

[mamacatnv]

No one gets added as a contact without Mom, Dad or Brother's permission.
We know the access code, she does not.

Answer only contacts - we used to have her phone blocked to contacts only until the day her Dad tried calling her from an alternate work phone. We got rid of that restriction and just told her do not answer unless it is a contact.

No phones at the dinner table or in bed at night.

We have limited minutes and unlimited texting. If you want to chat with your friends use the house phone.

 

[Zandy595]

I was thinking about - no calls or texts in or out after 9pm on school nights and 10pm on weekends. What times do you use?

 

[mjkacmom]

I don't think I have many rules, except she needs to have her phone on when she's out, so I can get in touch with her. We have unlimited texting, she barely uses an hour a month for talk, she turns it off in school, and she turns it off at night (she hates to be woken).

 

[maelstrom]

I got a cell phone when I was 15 to keep in touch with my boyfriend who had joined the Marines. I had no rules except to not go over the minutes.

 

[debster812]

DS is 12. He got his phone in June for his 12th birthday. Our rules are:

No phone in his room at night. It stays in the kitchen for us as well.

He has to ask our permission to give his number out, and to take someone else's number.

Currently, he only has 200 texts per month. Our deal was is he goes over, he pays. So far he's been very good. We'll probably bump up his texts to 300 or 500 per month as part of his Christmas present, and if he still stays within those parameters, we will probably go unlimited for his 13th birthday.

He carries his phone to school, but it gets turned off when his bus arrives at school, and does not get turned on until he's back on the bus coming home.

No phoning or texting during school hours, except in cases of emergency.

 

[SydSim]

DS is 12. He got his phone in June for his 12th birthday. Our rules are:

No phone in his room at night. It stays in the kitchen for us as well.

He has to ask our permission to give his number out, and to take someone else's number.

Currently, he only has 200 texts per month. Our deal was is he goes over, he pays. So far he's been very good. We'll probably bump up his texts to 300 or 500 per month as part of his Christmas present, and if he still stays within those parameters, we will probably go unlimited for his 13th birthday.

He carries his phone to school, but it gets turned off when his bus arrives at school, and does not get turned on until he's back on the bus coming home.

No phoning or texting during school hours, except in cases of emergency.

Yup, DD-13 is only allowed 300 texts per month (because I didn't want her to be one of those teens that is constantly texting at every minute), but little does she know, we actually have unlimited texting. So, even if she does go over a little, we don't pay extra (but she still gets reprimanded)

 

[MariDisney]

My DD 10 has the following rules:
1. No phone in the bedroom at night.
2. No deleted texts in or out. I showed her how I have the ability to see a record of every text online and I may match them up to make sure she hasn't deleted any. I do it every now and then just to show her I will. I do read the texts every couple days and then tell her to delete.
3. No texts/calls to or from people not in her address book. In other words I don't want to see a text/call from 555-5555. When she gets someone's number or they call her for the first time it needs to go in her book so I know who she is communicating with.
4. Phone is off at school. She can turn it on when she gets on the bus.

 

[laurie31]

DD13 got her phone at 12. She had gotten to the point where she was being dropped off for activiteis where there was no phone (yes, she could have borrowed someone else's phone, but that seemed like us taking advantage of her friends who DID have cells).

She had limited texting, and she is not allowed to go over our family pllan minutes. She was very responsible with the texting, so for her 13th brithday, we got unlimited texting, with the rule that is still must be used responsibly. (no phones in class, at the dinner table, etc).

Our biggie rule is no downloading without asking first. She wanted to get ringtones and wallpaper and all sorts of stuff, and it can really add up. She didn't understand that those things cost extra.

 

[cabmom]

I'm considering getting pay as you go for my DS 13.

I would never have thought not to allow them to take them to their bedroom with them.
My dh works for the police and they once got a call from a young man in his bedroom, he called 911 to say that someone had broken in to the house and were terrorizing his parents and the burglars wanted to take the keys to their cars.
I have often thought about keeping my cell phone with me at night incase our phone lines go out for 'whatever' reason.

 

[PatsMom]

My daughter was in 7th grade when she got her phone. Very limited minutes - it was a shared plan with me and DH. We were temporarily living with my mother while DH was living up north building our new house. Rules were simple - no phone on at school. No calling friends to chat. No texting. Phone was to call when she was ready to be picked up from a school function, emergency, etc. She was pretty good about it.

Once she got to high school, we gave her more freedom. No phone at night still but she could use it to call friends (long distance was free and we had just moved to the new house). She was responsible for monitoring her minutes and making sure she didn't go over or she owed me for the overage.

When she got to be a sophomore she started doing some texting. Cost her money every time she did so she didn't do much.

When she left for college this fall, I finally gave in and added a texting package to our plan, mostly so she would communcate more with me.

 

[JerseyJanice]

The only rule right now for my 13 yo DS is no web browsing or downloading. He has an Ipod Touch and a laptop; he doesn't need computer access on his phone too. We have unlimited voice and text, so he can use those all he wants, but no data pack, so no browsing.

ETA: I edited to correct a typo, but want to add that DS has his own cell for 3 years now. Never had a problem from giving him free reign with it.

 

[lovin diz]

we gave dd a cell phone in 3rd grade. We mainly stressed " only talk to people with att. " that way we would not be charged minutes. She has done very well. Now in 7th grade we have never went over our monthly minutes. Main rule, no talking after 900pm. I will not keep the phone in my room or the kitchen.. I look at the usage for her phone...if i see a phone call at weird hours...It gets taken away...period...If i get charged b/c she talks to someone without att.....it gets taken away...

This way dh and i feel like we are putting the responsibility on her, and showing that we "trust" her.... She hasnt let us down yet

 

[kristilew]

DD12 also must have the phone on the charging station every evening.

The main rule is "don't be an idiot" with the phone. Anything that I consider rude behavior gets the phone taken away. It's only happened a couple of times, mainly b/c she wasn't thinking.

The rule behind the rule that really keeps her well-behaved is that if I do take the phone, I will be the one responding to her friends' texts, in any manner I see fit.

I do read all the texts too. This is actually a help to her: she can tell her friends "don't send me anything awful, my mom reads everything!" We do this with email as well. Though, heaven knows, it can be sooooo boring to review tween texts! "yo. yo, yo. Wht u waring 2day? idk...wht bout u? hey. hey. yo. yo yo. war u? hey."

 

[shortbun]

We have no rules. DS has had his phone since he was 9; he's 14 now and has never abused it, lost it, damaged it or spent too much time on it. I know a lot of people have trouble with texting so you might want to invest in unlimited texting as it's much less expensive than paying as you text. They all do it.