My poor Iphone-less 13 year old

[goofyintoronto]

We got DD12 an Iphone 4S for Christmas, her first phone. But, we're on data-share with my parents & it only added $35 a month to our bill. Couldn't do that with a free flip phone. We debated getting her the 4 since it was free, but (A) we were in need of a big-ticket item to balance out DD7's gifts, and (B) wife & I both have a 4S and figure DD12 will show us how to use them

OMG thats funny!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Stirring the pot here, but why does a 12 year old need a cellphone, much less an iphone?

We got ours a phone at 6 when she was in Kindergarten (cricket or whatever that one is that can only call Mom or Dad) so she could contact us if anything unusual happened after school - like the time the bus driver dropped her & the sitter off 1/4 mile from home up a state highway with no shoulder, and the time they got home to no power & couldn't get in the house. We dropped the plan when she started riding to & from school with the wife, but wanted her to have one for middle school so she'll be able to contact us hassle free

 

[Gumbo4x4]

OMG thats funny!

Not as funny as the fact that DD7 showed ALL THREE of us how to use it

 

[castleview]

Not everyone pays $50/month. With a corporate discount, our 2GB data plan is $19/month. My kids chose to have that instead of an allowance. We'd have the family texting plan whether we had smart phones or not. For us, it's money well spent since we all use our iPhones in lots of ways and they've made our lives more convenient. It was a beautiful thing seeng my kids face time their sick grandmother when she was in the hospital on nights they couldn't physically be there.

I don't really get the disdain about it. I've noticed that many people who previously dished the iPhones all have them now. One of my family members was a hold-out still using a pay as you go flip phone. We got him an iPod for XMas, knowing he'd really enjoy it as he'd played around with some of our stuff. Once he started figuring it all out, he was like, "It doesn't make sense to have this and a phone, and be tied just to a wireless network", so we returned it and he's getting an iPhone. Interestingly enough, the thing he liked best was the GPS.

No disdain for the Iphone. DH and I have them and can't live without them…and the kids use them quite a bit and show us how to work them. But right now it's not in the budget to cover another data plan and we just don't see her needing it until maybe high school. I do like the allowance idea though. Thanks!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Not as funny as the fact that DD7 showed ALL THREE of us how to use it

Your right, that is funnier!

We got ours a phone at 6 when she was in Kindergarten (cricket or whatever that one is that can only call Mom or Dad) so she could contact us if anything unusual happened after school - like the time the bus driver dropped her & the sitter off 1/4 mile from home up a state highway with no shoulder, and the time they got home to no power & couldn't get in the house. We dropped the plan when she started riding to & from school with the wife, but wanted her to have one for middle school so she'll be able to contact us hassle free

Ok this is probably a very stupid question but i'll ask anyway.....why cant anyone get into the house if there's no power?

 

[EllaM]

Reminds me of my 15 yo niece. She started lobbying her parents for a cell phone when she was 11. I remember her cutting out comics from the paper and printing off articles from the internet to make her case to them. She begged me as well.

I'm the maiden aunt of the family and a major tech geek. I can afford a lot of tech toys and frequently buy them for my work. My nieces and nephews know that, so will lobby me for some hand-me downs. I don't want to give anything to them without their parents' permission. I have given them old iPads, Android tablets, iPod Touches, MP3 players and a laptop, just not smartphones because of the ongoing contract.

This year my brother decided it was time to get his kids smartphones. He asked my tech advice on what to buy. There was a great deal on Galaxy Nexus phones at Verizon so that's what he gave each of them. I bought some colored TPU cases so they could each have a different color and would not break them so easily. They're all happy now. No more "your phone is better than mine" arguments. Meanwhile my brother got the more expensive Galaxy S3 (my phone of choice). I had experience with both phones so I knew what to recommend to him. (I have a Galaxy Nexus as well on a prepaid T-Mobile account and an S3 on an unlimited Sprint account.)

My sister's boys got feature phones last summer when they started riding the bus home from school alone. They use them to mostly contact their parents. They really don't care about cell phones. They've grown up with access to whatever computer they wanted to use (they're dad is a techie too).

When we were growing up the most we could hope for was a telephone handset in our bedrooms connected to the one landline in the house. AT school, we were lucky to get some quarters for the payphone to call home. And I waited for hours to get a ride home as well. Worked out fine. I did my homework and played with friends. I think people today forget just how spoiled we all are with technology.

 

[ckay87]

Not everyone pays $50/month. With a corporate discount, our 2GB data plan is $19/month. My kids chose to have that instead of an allowance. We'd have the family texting plan whether we had smart phones or not. For us, it's money well spent since we all use our iPhones in lots of ways and they've made our lives more convenient. It was a beautiful thing seeng my kids face time their sick grandmother when she was in the hospital on nights they couldn't physically be there.

I keep hearing about these magical, affordable plans but I tried....genuinely tried.... to hook my kid up with an IPhone for Christmas, but had a hard time finding plans for even $50/month. And that's just too much. We're paying $13 per month for his cell phone now and it's really hard to make that leap in price. Not that we can't afford it, just that we won't.

 

[POPCITY]

:

Ok this is probably a very stupid question but i'll ask anyway.....why cant anyone get into the house if there's no power?

Not the PP, but I may know this one! A lot of people don't carry housekeys, they go in through the garage, so if the power is off, the garage door won't open. Whenever we turn customers off for nonpayment, we get several calls from people that want the power back on for 5 minutes so they can get in the house. Not saying the PP was off for nonpayment, we get calls about it during weather related outages, too.

 

[pixiewings71]

Well then I must be meaner than you are, tell your DD13 that my DD13 has my old phone that has a broken speaker so she can only talk on speakerphone, and tell her that my DD13 JUST was given my DBF's handed down iTouch 4 when he finally got his very first (smart) iPhone, and he just turned 36. LOL And make sure you tell her that my DD16 doesn't have a smart phone either, just DBF and myself. LOL

 

[manning]

My dad would have given me two tin cans and string and said "knock yourself out and you pay the bill"

 

[ICF]

Not the PP, but I may know this one! A lot of people don't carry housekeys, they go in through the garage, so if the power is off, the garage door won't open. Whenever we turn customers off for nonpayment, we get several calls from people that want the power back on for 5 minutes so they can get in the house. Not saying the PP was off for nonpayment, we get calls about it during weather related outages, too.

ok....that's just silly to not carry around a house key or have someplace outside your house where one is hidden.

You never know when power might go out our your garage keypad may quit working.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Your right, that is funnier!

Ok this is probably a very stupid question but i'll ask anyway.....why cant anyone get into the house if there's no power?

All the entrances are blocked with locks that can't be unlocked from the outside, so she had a garage door opener as her way in.

PS I knew I should have explained that up front LOL

 

[Gumbo4x4]

ok....that's just silly to not carry around a house key or have someplace outside your house where one is hidden.

You never know when power might go out our your garage keypad may quit working.

Better still is a door opener with battery backup - my next one will have it.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I love technology, but I really love my money. I just can't justify any kind of smartphone (plan) for MYSELF, let alone for my poor, abused 16 year old. I keep telling him, much to his dismay, that we simply will not die if we can't access the internet for a few hours here and there. I mean, they sure are neat and I'd love to have one, but you know what's even neater? Groceries. Vacations. Cars.

Agree! Dh and I don't have smart phones, and neither do our teens. We survive.

 

[SC Minnie]

DD18 got a smartphone after she had a job and agreed to pay us the $30/month data plan upcharge. We were already paying for her regular phone and texting. She has paid and even gave DH her tax refund check last year to 'pay in advance'.

 

[Sparkly]

I only got my Blackberry phone last year. I don't even use my phone that much though!

I haven't got a iPod Touch either, but I'm getting my mum's old one in August when she gets a iPhone. And I'm excited.

 

[DawnM]

Not all of us with smart phones spend an arm and a leg.

I pay $45 for straight talk with my iphone.
DH pays $20/mo for his iphone (his company covers the rest.)
I pay $3/mo each for my two oldest to have a Spot Mobile SIM. One has an iphone with it and the other a flip phone (by choice.)

So, we pay just under $75/mo for 4 phones, including taxes. Three are iphones.

Dawn

I love technology, but I really love my money. I just can't justify any kind of smartphone (plan) for MYSELF, let alone for my poor, abused 16 year old. I keep telling him, much to his dismay, that we simply will not die if we can't access the internet for a few hours here and there. I mean, they sure are neat and I'd love to have one, but you know what's even neater? Groceries. Vacations. Cars.

 

[timmac]

Consider this

http://www.uproxx.com/technology/20...an-18-point-contract-to-get-his-first-iphone/

We did something similar with my 11 year old when we gave him his first cell phone. (Not an iphone, but still). The list of rules wasn't the same as hers, but many of the concepts were similar.

 

[Ceila]

Different things are right for different families. And, I never understand the "why does a kid/teen/ "need" XYZ?" question. While a kid may not "need" a smart phone, there are lot of times we give our kids things they want and don't necessarily need.

My son has had a phone since he was 11, and we upgraded him to a Samsung Stratosphere when he was 13. Unfortunately, it broke (no fault of his), and I was due for an upgrade on my iPhone, so I used that to get him one as well. DD will get her first phone this spring when she turns 11, although we'll just go straight to the iPhone for her, since the prices have come down so much since we first got a phone for DS.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

My 13 year old doesn't "need" a cell phone any more than he "needs" a skateboard, or membership on a sports team, or the latest Star Wars novel. Despite that I have provided all these things for him because, in our family, they make sense. We don't have a landline, so he uses the cell phone to call me after school if he wants to ask a question about his homework, or to let me know when he's ready to be picked up from theater practice, or to look up football scores. I call him when I want him to do something (e.g. "Hey, meet me downstairs in the lobby in 5 minutes so you can carry these heavy bags upstairs!"). The phone is a very useful thing.

As far as which phone he's got a $69 pay as you go smart phone. Does he need the smartphone feature? No, but it's nice to have something to carry his music, and he asked for it so for Christmas I spent about $40 extra over what I would have paid to replace his hand me down flip phone when it died of old age. I don't see that as any more extravagant than any other $40 gift that he didn't "need". The pay as you go company we use (Virgin Mobile) includes unlimited texting and data with all their monthly plans, so there's no extra charge for using the smart phone.