How old?

[Luv2Scrap]

My son is 12, will be 13 in just over 2 months. We just got him the 200 a month plan, which is what we all are on right now. Honestly, I am the one that is going to push us to the unlimited plan at this point.

The reason we got DS a text plan is because I wanted to be able to text with him while he was with his dad for six weeks this past summer, and I just never canceled it. I like to be able to text with him, and so far I'm the only one he's allowed to text with. Well, that's not true - he could text with his dad, but so far they just don't. It's not a big deal to him at this point, as none of his friends text yet.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

DD11 just started middle school - she received a cell phone for her birthday this summer. And I was informed all thru 5th grade that she was the LAST one to get a phone... but she didn't need one until this year. At first I didn't think she needed texting - but a previous poster is right. The kids communicate by text first - before calling. Not having texting is a disadvantage socially. So we let her pick out a phone with a querty keyboard and she has 500 texts/mo and unlimited with other Verizon phones. We monitor her usage and so far so good. Later this fall we are changing plans and adding data/unlimited texts. She will not get the internet on her phone though - that's just for DH and me.

 

[Sparx]

i know that with verizon (and i'm sure all other companies) there is an unlimited texting plan. so even if she sends ten thousand texts a month, you only pay one small fee. that is what i would add to your plan. that way you don't have to worry about how many she sends or if she's adding hundreds and hundreds of dollars to your bill. (i think unlimited texting is 10.00/month on verizon, and when texts cost .10-.25 cents a message otherwise, thats a really good deal!)

 

[HunnyPots]

We only recently added a messaging plan to our cell phones, after my son graduated high school. Until then, texting was blocked. I knew it was not a distraction he needed. Plus, I am so tired of seeing kids everywhere that can't even lift their heads and carry on a real-life conversation because they are so engrossed in texting.

 

[Katie]

We have unlimited texting. My son and daughter text over 10,000 texts every month each. My son actually had 17,000 last month.

I text too...but i also know how to pick up the phone and call people...that is a skill, these teenagers are losing!

If my son get anything lower than an A..his texting gets turned off.
If my daughter gets anything lower than a B--her texting is turned off.

So far so good...

 

[beattyfamily]

My older DD is 13 and has had a phone since she was 12. As of this year, she can only text her parents and can only text her friends if she asks first and it's for a good reason.

My younger DD is 10 and she doesn't even have a phone yet.

We have the unlimited texting package (but we just got it this summer).

I set limits because I don't want her to be doing it all the time. I also am concerned about not knowing what or whom she's texting.

Maybe next year we'll let her text more. But there will be limits.

 

[edandcolleen1995]

My daughters, 11 & 13, are not allowed to have cell phones. I just don't see the point at all. When they start driving, they will get a phone for safety purposes.

My son just turned 11 and we debated about this also.

We finally allowed him a cell phone. He walks a couple of blocks to school each day plus there are various sports that he stays for during the week.

Felt that having the phone for that peace of mind was important to us.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

We have unlimited texting. My son and daughter text over 10,000 texts every month each. My son actually had 17,000 last month.

I text too...but i also know how to pick up the phone and call people...that is a skill, these teenagers are losing!

If my son get anything lower than an A..his texting gets turned off.
If my daughter gets anything lower than a B--her texting is turned off.

So far so good...

Ok, now I'm curious - why different requirements for the two kids?

 

[2girlsmom]

My dd's (9 & 11) have had their phones for just over a year, we added unlimited text last January, up till that time I had 500 texts on my phone, but no one else in our plan had any, it was $2 higher to add unlimited text for all of us than it was to just have me with 500 texts. so I added it. My 11 year old texts maybe 10-20 texts per week with her friends. My 9 year old loves texting but most of her friends don't have phones yet so mostly she texts me. LOL

 

[cruisnfamily]

My dd16 says she is the only person on the planet who cannot text. I pretty much believe her because I've seen the kids. My DD16 just doesn't need that much interaction/stimulation/drama/distraction in her life. She gets enough from myspace/facebook/school/talking on the phone. Our deal is that we allow it during the summer(and she pays the $20 per month that it costs) but block it during the school year. Works for us! But she's very unhappy. If it's "social suicide" then so be it. I really don't care if she misses out on some nonsense drama. She's certainly not hurting socially so that's not a concern here.

DS13 has texting capapabilities on his phone at a pay per use rate. I told him he can send the occassional text here and there but don't go overboard. So far the only one he has texted is his dad, he just has no interest. He's such a different child than DD. We'll see how it goes for him but so far so good with the texting. If it becomes something he does more than 5-10 times per month we'll be blocking it for him as well.

 

[spima3]

Yes, texting is a big thing for the kids, but the reality is we can't afford a phone plan for ourselves, so I'm certainly not getting one just for a 14 yr old.

I have pay as you go and it costs me $5 a month. DD has the same but used up her years allotment in three weeks, texting, and I told her she now had to use any b'day money to refill it; she has learned the hard way the true costs of things.

I know her friends use the cells as toys, but it's a toy we can't afford; it won't ruin her life.

 

[irish dancer]

OP here - Wow, thanks for all the responses everyone!

DD is in 7th grade and the phone usage has really shot through the roof in the past few months. She's had a phone since she was 9 for many reasons but never really used it and even now leaves the house without it often. Last year there were still many kids in her class that didn't have a cell phone and I think it is still the case for some but it seems that most have them and they text.

I guess DH and I will have to put together some guidelines and see how she does. She's going to be thrilled!

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Ok, now I'm curious - why different requirements for the two kids?

I'm not the person you asked, but I would guess it would be due to differing abilities, and not wanting to hold one child to standards that are too high, or too low, for her/him as an individual.

OP, my dd has had a phone since she was 10, no texting allowed because we don't have a plan. Despite lots of pressure from her friends, she's been really good about not texting, and will ask me ahead of time if she can text someone one thing. This has happened about 3 times in about 18 months, one text, one reply, no more. She's been good about it, so we're going to get her unlimited texting for her 12th birthday.

I'm the Girl Scout leader, and I drive a lot of car pools, so I know when she says "everyone else can text", that she is pretty close to the truth. About 80-90% of the kids are texting. I'm not typically one to let my kids do something just because "everyone else is", but in this case, she really is getting left out of things because she can't text. Like others have said, that's the way kids communicate now, they don't call and talk on the phone for hours like we did. I imagine getting texting to her will be like getting my own phone extension in my room was to me. My parents didn't think I needed it either, but they gave it to me anyway. While she may not "need" texting right now by my 45yo standards, she thinks she needs it and she'll be thrilled.

 

[metime]

My daughters, 11 & 13, are not allowed to have cell phones. I just don't see the point at all. When they start driving, they will get a phone for safety purposes.

Same here. I know where my children are and everywhere they go there are phones. There has yet to be a situation where I just had to get intouch withDD12 urgently and haven't been able to call where she was. My children will get one when there is a need. If we find ourselves in a bind where the kids having a cell phone would have been warranted then they will get one otherwise it is a distraction.

 

[mamacatnv]

DD is 11 - we have an unlimited text package on our phones mainly for DS who is away at college - he and I text daily. It is with Verizon and it is a flat rate that covers all of us - I think it is $15 or $20 for all 4 phones.

DD can only text people in her contacts and due to the password protection she only has parent approved contacts. This has worked really well. She will periodically ask me to add someone to her contacts and so far so good, this has worked well. She has had the phone since Christmas.

We cannot figure out how to teach my DH how to text, the guy is a computer geek and yet he cannot seem to figure out his phone

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughters, 11 & 13, are not allowed to have cell phones. I just don't see the point at all. When they start driving, they will get a phone for safety purposes.

My 9 year old has one and to me it is for safety purposes. When she is out at the park or riding her bike I like her to be able to call me and say "hey we are leaving the park and riding over to the school to play ball" or "we are leaving the park and going to see if Michael is home". If softball practice ends early she can call and ask to be picked up a half hour early. I always like it in her backpack for school-2 years ago she was really sick and the nurse told her she was fine and to go back to class and wouldn't let her call home, at least in her backpack she can call when she needs to and get me to go to the school and get her (and yes, I ripped into the nurse for that one). First day of school she was able to call home and let us know the school buses were running a half hour late so we didn't worry when she didn't show up at home. So I am very happy she has a cell phone for MY piece of mind!

 

[golfgal]

My dd16 says she is the only person on the planet who cannot text. I pretty much believe her because I've seen the kids. My DD16 just doesn't need that much interaction/stimulation/drama/distraction in her life. She gets enough from myspace/facebook/school/talking on the phone. Our deal is that we allow it during the summer(and she pays the $20 per month that it costs) but block it during the school year. Works for us! But she's very unhappy. If it's "social suicide" then so be it. I really don't care if she misses out on some nonsense drama. She's certainly not hurting socially so that's not a concern here.

DS13 has texting capapabilities on his phone at a pay per use rate. I told him he can send the occassional text here and there but don't go overboard. So far the only one he has texted is his dad, he just has no interest. He's such a different child than DD. We'll see how it goes for him but so far so good with the texting. If it becomes something he does more than 5-10 times per month we'll be blocking it for him as well.

For our kids texting replaced most of the IM's, Facebook, etc. They will go on Facebook every once in a while but they never IM anymore-they text. Added up they spend a LOT less time texting then they did on IM or Facebook type sites.

 

[SydSim]

DD was allowed to text starting at 12. She was allowed 240/month and would have to pay me if she went over.

She just turned 13 and is now allowed 300/month. I don't particularly care for teens who are constantly texting every other minute.

But she doesn't know that we have unlimited texting, so she doesn't actually go over her limit

 

[AKL_Megs]

I have AT&T and Unlimited Texting as an add-on is $10 a month. I think that is pretty much the going rate for other providers.

I think there has to be some chore that you HATE doing that she would be willing to do for you for that extra amount each month.

12 sounds like a GREAT age to me to test out responsibilities and priviliges like that!

 

[Serena]

I got my girls cell phones when they went to highschool. It really didn't have phones the kids could use and i wanted them to be able to get ahold of me or me them.

They do have unlimited texting and at this point, I've gotten good at it too.

My girls are 17 and 23.

And no, I don't pay for the cell phone bill, my oldest does.
At 18 my oldest was going online on her phone downloading crap. I told her she either had to stop, or pay for it herself. She opted to pay for it and has been paying the cell phone bill every since, I do help now and then, but she still uses the internet on her phone and has added her boyfriend on the account.