MickeyHereWeCome!
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2004
- Messages
- 1,574
Dh and I have had plain cell phones for years. We don't use them a lot, don't text, etc. We're trying to brace ourselves for what lies ahead, now that our oldest kids are talking about *needing* a cell phone.
Our oldest ds has Asperger's Syndrome, and I can totally see the benefit of giving him a phone for texting his friends. Regular phone calls are so tedious for him, but he can communicate well on e-mails, etc. Unfortunately, we just learned that he has had some issues with viewing and sharing inappropriate content. I knew there would come a day for all of this, but we are totally taken aback that this happened at such a young age (12). So, obviously, any access to Internet or sharing of photos, etc. will have to be closely monitored.
So, my question is....are there any cell phone plans that offer really good parental controls? I was originally looking for a "qwerty" type phone, but I can't find one that doesn't have a video camera. So, now I'm exploring the parental control options. I believe I read that AT&T offers controls. Are there any others or are there any phones that have controls built in? Are they decent in terms of the actual controls?
I seriously doubt we would ever get him a data plan (I don't know when/if we can honestly have that trust). Can you limit one phone on your family plan from having data capabilities, so the other phones can have it? How about sending pictures? I guess that's my biggie! Are there plans that will block your ability to send pictures (by text, either) on only one of the family phones? That way, he could still use the camera for regular pictures, but I wouldn't have to worry about anything inappropriate. And are texts saved somewhere so I could check them, as needed. I still live in the "dark ages" with cell phones, so this is all new to me.
I really don't want to make ds out to be someone strange. He is young and made a really stupid mistake. I guess middle school hasn't changed him for the best! I think he understands, but we just can't assume anything. Thinking logically and understanding what is socially appropriate is seriously affected by his disability. He didn't do anything wrong on purpose, so I don't want to punish him for life. I would love for him to be able to text his friends, which would really help him socially.
Any suggestions on phones or plans that could help us? He's not ready for a phone quite yet, but I always like to take my time doing research before making big decisions.
TIA
Our oldest ds has Asperger's Syndrome, and I can totally see the benefit of giving him a phone for texting his friends. Regular phone calls are so tedious for him, but he can communicate well on e-mails, etc. Unfortunately, we just learned that he has had some issues with viewing and sharing inappropriate content. I knew there would come a day for all of this, but we are totally taken aback that this happened at such a young age (12). So, obviously, any access to Internet or sharing of photos, etc. will have to be closely monitored.
So, my question is....are there any cell phone plans that offer really good parental controls? I was originally looking for a "qwerty" type phone, but I can't find one that doesn't have a video camera. So, now I'm exploring the parental control options. I believe I read that AT&T offers controls. Are there any others or are there any phones that have controls built in? Are they decent in terms of the actual controls?
I seriously doubt we would ever get him a data plan (I don't know when/if we can honestly have that trust). Can you limit one phone on your family plan from having data capabilities, so the other phones can have it? How about sending pictures? I guess that's my biggie! Are there plans that will block your ability to send pictures (by text, either) on only one of the family phones? That way, he could still use the camera for regular pictures, but I wouldn't have to worry about anything inappropriate. And are texts saved somewhere so I could check them, as needed. I still live in the "dark ages" with cell phones, so this is all new to me.
I really don't want to make ds out to be someone strange. He is young and made a really stupid mistake. I guess middle school hasn't changed him for the best! I think he understands, but we just can't assume anything. Thinking logically and understanding what is socially appropriate is seriously affected by his disability. He didn't do anything wrong on purpose, so I don't want to punish him for life. I would love for him to be able to text his friends, which would really help him socially.
Any suggestions on phones or plans that could help us? He's not ready for a phone quite yet, but I always like to take my time doing research before making big decisions.
TIA
I also called them and set up for no third party billing to keep any carzy charge from coming through. So far we have had no problems and it's been a year now for the youngest two & two years for my oldest.
