First phone for my 6th grader?

[mommyto2]

After much deliberation, we are considering giving a cell phone to our middle schooler for Xmas. Ideally, this was something we wanted to wait until high school for, but due to her after school activities and just for the ease of all of our lives, we are now entertaining the idea. I've been casually following the different threads on phones for youngins, but I'm still confused on which type of plan/phone would be best for our situation.

We looked into adding a line to our plan, $10/month for unlimited text/shared mins, but I don't think we need to spend that for what she'll use it for. She definitely preferred some kind of physical keyboard for texting, and I doubt she would use many talking minutes. She doesn't need a phone with all the bells and whistles, just mostly for texting and a little calling . Is a pay as you go phone the better route for us?

I'd be interested to hear what other parents have done in similar situations.

ETA: I should add that grandparents are probably getting her an itouch for xmas so I doubt she'll be using the internet on her phone. Well, even if she would try, I would probably disable that function.

 

[NYCDiane]

Pay as you go is NOT a good idea. Heaven forbid there is an emergency and she's already used up all her time.

Just add a line to your current plan! I have Verizon and that's what I did. It's only an extra $10/month to add a line and the phone was free.

Not sure what carrier you're with but check their site for the phones that you can get free for adding the line and see what the cost would be to add unlimited texting

Just one thing to beware of: Make sure you disable the internet from her phone!!! I never even thought about that until one day I got my cell phone bill and it was way over the usual amount because my daughter was watching silly You Tube videos on her phone! Don't think your daughter won't do it.... she will!!!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

$10 a month is totally worth it

When DD was in 5th grade we did the exact same thing, we added a line for $10 a month.

We can contact her any time, she can call us or other family member if need be at any time.

We actually purchased the phone outright. I *think it was $30 we got it directly from our carries store and set it all up right there.

 

[moopdog]

We have AT&T, and there are only a few choices of phones that do not require a data plan. I am torn between adding a line (my son is a 6th grader too) to get a basic flip phone OR a better phone that does it all. I should add that he has NO iPod because I lost it , and he currently has no gaming system at all because our Wii broke and that's all we have.

In other words, he is feeling very sorry for himself and claims to be the only one in the world without these things.....my friends agree that he's right! LOL.

My point is that I'm considering getting him an iPhone since it's "free" with our plan. I do know the cost over time is GULP! a lot, which is why I'm hesitant. Also we could get the Samsung Galaxy for free as well, which he's mentioned his friends having a few times. I'm wondering IF to get the fancy phone and WHICH of the two to get.

 

[goofyredraider]

We have AT&T, and there are only a few choices of phones that do not require a data plan. I am torn between adding a line (my son is a 6th grader too) to get a basic flip phone OR a better phone that does it all. I should add that he has NO iPod because I lost it , and he currently has no gaming system at all because our Wii broke and that's all we have.

In other words, he is feeling very sorry for himself and claims to be the only one in the world without these things.....my friends agree that he's right! LOL.

My point is that I'm considering getting him an iPhone since it's "free" with our plan. I do know the cost over time is GULP! a lot, which is why I'm hesitant. Also we could get the Samsung Galaxy for free as well, which he's mentioned his friends having a few times. I'm wondering IF to get the fancy phone and WHICH of the two to get.

We also have AT&T and my 5th grader (also due to after school activities) got a phone last year. She has a Samsung galaxy and we've had no issues.
That being said, I will be upgrading my phone to an iPhone 5 soon, and she will get my iPhone 4. She also has no iPod (. She had a shuffle but it stopped working).

 

[scootch]

You don't think they will use it.. but last year every kid(but 1) in the 6th grade got a phone in my dd's class.... and we quickly had to put limits on it. It is still a struggle sometime. I would go with the $10 a month. oh and pray alot.... lol...

 

[RitaE]

Pay as You Go doesn't necessarily mean she will ever run out of minutes. There are unlimited Text and Talk packages that are Pay as You Go and they will even automatically renew every month so there is no risk of the phone being off plan. Still, if you are already carrying a plan it is almost always cheaper to just add her onto your own plan.

Keep in mind that if you don't have a texting plan on your phone, she'll be texting you too. The family texting plan on ATT is $30 a month which might be additional depending on whether or not you are already carrying it. If you decide to add texting to just her phone it is $20.

 

[mjkacmom]

Add her on for $10 a month, get unlimited texting if you don't have it.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Add her on for $10 a month, get unlimited texting if you don't have it.

When we got a phone for our then 6th grader, thats what we did, just got him a basic phone and added him onto our plan.
If you don't already have unlimited text though it will be more than $10 a month. It will be $10 for the additional phone then more for the unlimited text.

IMOP it is well worth it. My DS can use thousands, yes thousands of texts a month. Its ridiculous! They text stupid stuff and think nothing of sending KK LOL , smiley faces , one letter in 10 different texts that equal one word.
You don't think your child will use the phone but she will. When her friends find out she has a phone she will text way more than you can imagine.

 

[WantToGoNow]

If you can add her for $10/mo I would do that. My kids both have phones for MY convenience and under Verizon it is no longer $10 a month per line. When my oldest dd upgraded her phone it took us to their new "share all" unlimited text/talk plan (plus we have data). Their lines are now $30 a month each. My dd8 (almost 9) uses more minutes and sends more texts than the other 4 of us combined. My ds11 hardly uses his but he did recently manage to download 4 games and a ringtone (even though we had him blocked he somehow manage to unblock it). Don't underestimate how much she will use it.

Disclaimer: The reason my dd8 got a phone this past summer is because dh went back to work after a long layoff and we could not afford childcare then. The kids stayed home by themselves the rest of the summer and they come home to an empty house everyday. We do not a home phone and if ds would go to a friends house I did not want a dd8 by herself without being able to call for help or reach me if needed. Ds got his phone for his 10th birthday and I had originally planned to do the same for dd.

 

[mjantz]

We have AT&T and added our 7th grader this year. We had to buy a phone because the only free phones came with a data plan. I'd rather spend an initial $50 & save the$15/month for a data plan. She has an iPod & access to our home wifi so a texting phone seems to meet her needs.

 

[madelyn]

We have an old AT & T account that charges per minute (around 25 cents per). Last year we gave DS (now a freshman in high school) an older model iPhone and added a limited data plan to it for $15 month. It ends up being $16-something per month. He can use Wi-Fi to connect if it is available. He uses a Google voice number to text if Wi-Fi is available. He has been over the data limit once (when we took a road trip to Disney) and I think charges were $30-something that month. He doesn't text much but could use Google voice to text. My elderly parents have a Virginmobile phone. They only have pay around $20 (plus taxes/fees) every 3 months but they use this line mainly in case of emergencies when they are away from home. They still have a home phone line. This phone charges I think .20 per minute and if the minutes aren't used they accrue until the next month. I believe they can text as well if their phone had that capability but it would be .20 per minute so definitely not a good plan for a teen that texts often. Adding an additional phone line to your existing account sounds like a good deal. Especially if it includes data and unlimited texting.

 

[RitaE]

Yeah, if you buy one of the phones that doesn't require a data plan make sure you have ATT turn the data capabilities off. It's really easy to activate the internet on some of those screens without even meaning to. But if ATT blocks data it won't accumulate charges.

You can also have them block the ability to buy things like ringtones etc.

 

[mommyto2]

If you can add her for $10/mo I would do that. My kids both have phones for MY convenience and under Verizon it is no longer $10 a month per line. When my oldest dd upgraded her phone it took us to their new "share all" unlimited text/talk plan (plus we have data). Their lines are now $30 a month each. My dd8 (almost 9) uses more minutes and sends more texts than the other 4 of us combined. My ds11 hardly uses his but he did recently manage to download 4 games and a ringtone (even though we had him blocked he somehow manage to unblock it). Don't underestimate how much she will use it.

Disclaimer: The reason my dd8 got a phone this past summer is because dh went back to work after a long layoff and we could not afford childcare then. The kids stayed home by themselves the rest of the summer and they come home to an empty house everyday. We do not a home phone and if ds would go to a friends house I did not want a dd8 by herself without being able to call for help or reach me if needed. Ds got his phone for his 10th birthday and I had originally planned to do the same for dd.

Really?? We DO have Verizon, and it was $10 last time we checked. Granted, that was a while ago, but I didn't know it changed! That changes things. $30 a month is definitely more than we wanted to spend.

 

[lovesdumbo]

My 8th grader only has a pay as you go phone that is only used for emergencies so rarely used. I get cards for 3 months of service for $20 so it's cheaper than $10/month and I don't have to worry about her loosing it.

My 6th grader doesn't have a phone. I also have a phoneless forth grader. All 3 say most of their classmates have iPhones. I know my 3 would love to have iPhones but they don't need them and I can't justify the data charge for them.

 

[mommyto2]

My 8th grader only has a pay as you go phone that is only used for emergencies so rarely used. I get cards for 3 months of service for $20 so it's cheaper than $10/month and I don't have to worry about her loosing it.

My 6th grader doesn't have a phone. I also have a phoneless forth grader. All 3 say most of their classmates have iPhones. I know my 3 would love to have iPhones but they don't need them and I can't justify the data charge for them.

Does your 8th grader have texting on that phone? That's why I was thinking of the pay as you go phone, less than $10/month.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Does your 8th grader have texting on that phone? That's why I was thinking of the pay as you go phone, less than $10/month.

She could but she doesn't. It is a tracfone. I got one that had double minutes for life. I see they now have a triple minute for life option. I buy the 3 month/60 minute cards. I search online for coupon codes for extra minutes so I usually get 80 minutes per month. Text messages are charged at a .3 minute rate.

My DD really doesn't use it much. My DH is a stay at home Dad. If she doesn't come home on the bus he knows she stayed after school-usually prearranged and he picks her up. Also my DDs best friend doesn't have a cell phone so no one to call or text.

I had thought about adding her to our verizon account and passing the trac phone onto DS but they don't seem to need that yet. I had not heard that it was more than $10/month now. I have my SIL on our account at that rate.

I have an iPhone4 and love it. My DH is fine with an flip phone-he just doesn't love technology.

 

[Pigeon]

While I'm a big fan of pay as you go/prepaid phones, in your case if it's unlimited texting for $10/month on top of what you would otherwise continue to pay, you aren't going to find a better deal.

You might be able to get service slightly cheaper with something like tracfone, but as a pp said, the number of texts they exchange over nothing is insane, and tracfone uses a third of a minute per text read or sent.

 

[Fire14]

When we got a phone for our then 6th grader, thats what we did, just got him a basic phone and added him onto our plan.
If you don't already have unlimited text though it will be more than $10 a month. It will be $10 for the additional phone then more for the unlimited text.

IMOP it is well worth it. My DS can use thousands, yes thousands of texts a month. Its ridiculous! They text stupid stuff and think nothing of sending KK LOL , smiley faces , one letter in 10 different texts that equal one word.
You don't think your child will use the phone but she will. When her friends find out she has a phone she will text way more than you can imagine.

My nephew sent 9258 texts last month and that is a light month for him. He was told when he got cell phone he could text till cows came home, and call any of us on Verzion network but if he went over his Aunt imposed anytime minutes the phone would be taken away, The kid has done well. He didn't have data plan and I had internet blocked.