Does your teen/child have their own cell phone?

[luvmarypoppins]

DH and I were debating wether or not to add a line for ds 17, long story short he is at a conference in washington dc. I had given him my cell phone which he swears he gave back to me but is now misplaced, so we gave him dh's cell phone to take. He has barely called us, refuses to keep the phone on when we tell him etc. We have decided unless he can maturely communicate with us , then he can just forget the cell phone for himself. So does your teen/child have a phone, are they responsible with it, who pays etc?

 

[vettechick99]

Doesn't sound like he's at all responsible...no way I would buy him a phone.

I had one when I was 17 (which was 12 years ago!!! OH MY!), but I saved up my money and paid for it myself. That was back in the day when bag phones and car phones were your only options.

 

[browneyes]

Yep. I got my 11 yo a cell phone for Christmas. She's added on to our plan (Cingular). We made a deal that instead of giving her an allowance, we'd use her allowance for the cell phone charges she'll incur each month. Seems like a good deal for us both.

 

[popeyeohoh]

My 16 yr old has had one for a year. He dropped it in water so we made him pay for a replacement. But we pay the phone bill for him. He is good about keeping it on when he is out and answering it. Did you tell your son what it exactly expected out of him? Sometimes I find sitting them down looking them straight in the eye and spelling it out is the only way to get through to them. I would be hesitant to buy him one. When a teen spends their own money they seem to be more responsible.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

All 3 of our kids have cell phones...they're 16, 14 and 12. We got the 16 and 14 yr old cell phones last year because they're active in sports or afterschool activities, and go to school events at night, and movies etc with friends, and we want them to be able to call us for rides, etc, (and we want to be able to reach them). For a while, the oldest was using other kids' phones, and that just wasn't fair to them.

We got our 12 yr old a phone because we all got new phones for Christmas, and there was a deal...buy one, get up to 4 free. Otherwise, he wouldn't have one. He's in middle school now tho, and becoming a little more socially active, so it has come in handy.

Believe me, there was a time when I thought it was ridiculous for "kids" to have cell phones, until my kids started to be away from home more and I couldn't get in touch with them, and they couldn't get in touch with me.

For the most part, they've all been responsible with their phones. They have occasionally forgotten to take them with them when they go out, but rarely.

I would absolutely insist that a kid who has a driver's license and is out driving have a cell phone.

We pay. They pay anything beyond the basic costs, like for text messaging.

 

[winniedapooh]

I just switched DH & my plan from singles to family plan and added an extra line and am paying 1.99 month for 300 text messages, which they do not know-my insurance policy! They think they can't use it because I would have to pay. DS, 16, just go this permit and works a few towns away in the kitchen of a restaurant/cater on weekends and until sometimes midnight on weekends. DD, almost 15, babysits a lot, for one family in particular they have a disabled child. Both go to dances, are in baseball, dance, youthgroup, drama, choir, etc. DS just got his permit and will have his license this summer. For their safety and my piece of mind it is going to be worth it to have the extra line. They have been told it is for when they have an activity, work, etc. They cannot take it without asking and are allowed 50 minutes each. It is not a toy, as they think, lol. If they go over their minutes, they don't know my plan is big enough to handle it, but they will have to pay 25 cents a minute and I will stick to it. Strict I know but after hearing about DH friend from work getting a 450 dollar bill in one month, I will be veryyyyyy strict! Sorry this is long, it is my weekend and I am finally able to type more than one line, lol.

 

[DVCLiz]

I gave my daughter a cell phone when she was fourteen. I pay for it through my cell plan, and she is occasionally irresponsible about it. I think I am in a minority about this, because most of my frinds get very huffy and make all sorts of declarations about responsibility, earning the phone as a privilege, etc. In our case, I decided the cell phone was an extension of our home communication system, and I don't require my child to pay for any of our home electronics. I don't restrict use of the phone for disciplinary purposes, ever, because not being able to use a telephone doesn't have any relationship to, say, making a poor grade in a class. If she is occasionally irresponsible, ie leaving her phone turned off, forgetting to charge it, etc, - well, sometimes I do those kinds of things too - and they are not done on purpose. A phone is just a phone...

 

[MUFFYCAT]

We gave our 14 DD a cell phone 2 years ago. In the beginning she wouldn't have it on, would leave it home when she really needed it. There were times we took the phone away for awhile if she did something she shouldn't have.
It's been working out great since then.

 

[Sandy V.]

We have 2 teenagers, 17 and 14, and they both have cell phones. Fortunately, both have been responsible in their use and neither teen has managed to lose it yet! They turn the phones off when they're at school, but leave them on the rest of the time. No issues with not returning calls to Mom and Dad.

We gave our 17 year old a phone one of our old "castoff" phones when she started driving. We wanted her to be able to call us in case she had car trouble, etc. She often had to drive herself to soccer practice 45 minutes away from home, so we felt better about being able to reach her.

Our 14 year old son received another "castoff" phone the summer before he started high school, as his activities took him in a different direction than his sister, and we wanted him to be able to reach us.

We're on a Verizon plan with 500 shared minutes, but all calls between our family's cell phones are free. It's worked out well for us so far. I pay the bill for the phone; just consider it another basic utility for our family.

 

[georgina]

I finally broke down and gave DD, 14, my old tracfone. She stays after school for sports practice, and it is much easier for her to call me for a ride home when she is done. Before the phone, I sometimes ended up sitting outside the school for 45 minutes in the car because I never knew when they would be done. She is not allowed to use it to chat with her friends, and she is very responsible. The battery is lousy, so I tell her to only turn it on when she is making a call. I never call her for any reason on it, so she doesn't need to leave it on. Some of her friends have phones that they treat like toys, calling back and forth repeatedly, which bugs me when they are at our house.

 

[Jilliebean]

My ex-H got our DD11 one last year so that he could be in contact with her during the times when she was with me without having to call my house She's been reasonably responsible with it and I must admit that it's been nice for staying in contact with her during after school activities and when she's with friends, etc.

My DH provides one for his DD14 last year and she's on the verge of having it taken away due to overuse. Last month she had almost 1800 text messages . Luckily she's on a plan that allows for a ridiculous number of TMs. However, we've noticed that these TMs are taking place during schools hours and sometimes late into the evenings. It seems to us that she's spending too much time involved with her cell phone because she also has an extraordinary amount of actual phone calls. Her progress report comes out today and if her grades have suffered AT ALL, she knows the cell phone is gone.

 

[mudnuri]

Yep. I got my 11 yo a cell phone for Christmas. She's added on to our plan (Cingular). We made a deal that instead of giving her an allowance, we'd use her allowance for the cell phone charges she'll incur each month. Seems like a good deal for us both.

who is an 11 year old callin??

My DBIL got his 9 year old one for christmas and for the life of me i just cant figure out why someone that young would need a phone. But- they got the 13 year old one- so didnt want to leave him out...huh?

Brandy

 

[stinkerbelle]

I had one when I was 17 (which was 12 years ago!!! OH MY!), but I saved up my money and paid for it myself. That was back in the day when bag phones and car phones were your only options.

I had a bag phone too! I didn't get a "real" cell phone until I was 22!! (only 6 years ago)

back then - you could leave the house w/o a phone no problem...now, you freak out if it's not on you! heheh

 

[jx3smom]

My almost 14 yo DS got one for Christmas and is on our plan. So far he has been way better than I thought with it. He is not allowed to take it to school and has even let me use it on occassion.

 

[DawnCt1]

My DS17 has Nextel with unlimited text and unlimited incoming calls. It has been my experience that boys recieve more calls than they make. He has never gone over his 250 outgoing minutes. It also has a GPS function which I consider a safety feature. My older DS's borrowed it to go to an airshow out of state. They took a wrong turn in a rural area en route. They were able to call me, I pulled up their location on the computer at home so they would know where they were. With the map I redirected them. They all know that I have GPS ability and are comfortable with that. Although frankly it wouldn't matter if they weren't. I pay the bill, I buy the phone and service I want them to have. If they don't like it, they can buy their own.

 

[snappy]

I resisted getting phones for DD14 and DS16 until last November. Now with my son driving to and from school it is a necessity. I would not want to be without one personally, so I am not going to deny him one. It has helped out on a couple of occasions when he was lost, or needed to call a friend to whose house he was going to get directions. Also, each day he picks up DD14 from her all girls HS several blocks away from his all boys school, and she is forever changing her after school plans for clubs, extracurricular activites (she volunteers for everything). She calls him and lets him know of her plans. If he doesn't answer (phone still off) she calls me and he knows to call me at home or on my cell if I am out.

As an aside, the cell phones also came in handy when we were in WDW world
during Mardi Gras week. My son traveled by bus with his HS band to play in th MK parade. I wanted to stay in touch with him in case he got sick, lost his money, needed more money, etc. Also, my DD14 was allowed to go ahead to rides several times while my DH and I rode something with DD9, since I could reach her via her cell. Also, she went shopping by herself on Main Street to buy something for Grandma our last day. I would have never allowed this if she did not have a cell phone

They are both responsible with the phones so far. I think there is a even chance my husband or myself will lose our phones to one of the kids losing theirs. We have Cingular and the minutes roll over, I think since November we have accrued over 200o rollover minutes.

Our DD9 will not be getting one until she is in high school.

 

[CookieGVB]

Nope, not yet. I keep getting asked by the 13 year old, but so far, the answer is still No.

 

[DisMN]

How embarrassing to admit..........I don't even have a cell phone.

 

[NMAmy]

I got DD, 14, a cell phone for one big reason--there are hardly any pay phones around anymore. She was at a football game and got separated from the friends she was supposed to be riding home with. She was panic stricken, had no way to get in touch with me because the brand new school had no pay phones. A mother took pity on her and let her call me from her cell. I went out the next day and got a cell phone for each of us.

She's been very responsible with it--she's never gone over our minutes (we're both way under) and she keeps it on all the time. It's free for her to call home or my cell. And I love being able to get in touch with her whenever I need to. The peace of mind for me is so worth it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We got my dd a cell right before she turned 13. She has been responsible. It is really for us to keep in contact with her. We all share a family plan and also ALL of my family have the same family plans too.
It is terrific.