Same EXACT thing happened to my daughter. She waited another year before she could buy another phone.

For you non-parents; If your daughter babysits, goes to soccer practice by herself or rides her bike to school, you WANT her to have a cell phone.

Same reason you have one - Human LoJack. Even more important with a girl.

Good point as well, not to mention you can activate GPS tracking in some phones:D

only reason i have a cell is because i use it as my home phone also, no need to pay for a land line.

i understand the safety issue, but when we were young and needed to meet mom or dad at a certain time it trained us to be more responsible.....just because the technology is there doesn't mean it should be handed to children for convenience of the adult......just my opinion of course :)

If your plan is up for renewal they will usually give you a new phone to encourage you to renew your contract. It's usually the base model though. T-mobile does this...not sure about cingular.

My favorite suggestion is to have her pay. Teach her at an early age that responsibility is important, but also help her learn to score sweet deals on the internet, so that it will cost her only $30-50. If she lacks that kind of scratch, its a golden opportunity to teach her how to change oil, bleed brakes, detail a car, etc. I think that so long as responsibility is taught in a fun way, especially one that encourages the daughter to become resourceful and hang out with her dad, its good.

If I had a daughter (thank god I don't) I would want to be able to reach her at all times, so I understand the need for one.

I think the best advice has been given in making her pay a portion. Have her work off the debt with additional work. With that said though, I think you have to administer the suitable punishment for her character. I have 3 kids with 3 very different personalities. A type of punishment for one may not work for another. You have to hold her accountable because the lesson you teach may last a lifetime.

Good luck, David

The cost of replacement if she wants a phone (and what teen girl can live without one?!)

Hey man, daughters are a gift from God. It's just too bad they don't come with an instruction manual! I will say that having both girls and boys, up to this point, the boys are easier on the parents!

I voted $0.

Go get here the biggest, ugliest Motorolla phone they make. One of those full size jobs that look like they were made in the Soviet Union. Inform here that if she would like a better phone, she can buy one herself.

Replace the phone for her. Have her spend a saturday helping you around the yard, paint, etc. to 'work it off'. You get some quality time with her, she learns an additional lesson in responsibility, you both win.

They grow up fast. Don't fret the small stuff, and believe me, this is small stuff.

dont' make here pay for the lost ,free phone, just don't give her a new one... let her get her own phone and pay for it...

kids shouldn't have cell phones anyway...when i was a kid, i had to write letters to my friends if i wanted to talk to them without seeing them
and i also had to walk to school , 10miles uphill to the school, and another 10 miles uphill back home

I selected full price, but I really come down on the side of making her take the resposibility of finding and paying for a replacement. He set those rules up front, so it would not be wise to back off of that. Its always the begining of a slippery slope. Since she has the cash, she probably won't need a loan, but you could giver her some opportunities to earn some of the money back.

Re: Re: Advice from Dads on responcibility
 

+1

Wayne

I would calmly sit with her, ask her how she lost the phone. Then ask her why I should replace it. I all depends on her answers. Yeah, I'd replace the phone, but she would work it off and she would know now what circumstances to avoid so she won't lose the replacement. This can be a positive learning experience for her and another chance for you to talk on a heart to heart level.

Hopefully you didn't take offense. I guess I forgot to color the text green to imply tongue-in-cheek. My cousin has two young girls, adorable as can be. Its just that when I think about being responsible for them, when I can barely run my own life... God bless you fathers out there.

RAMMSTEIN - No offence taken!

On another note, I wonder how much my daughter would fine me for the misspelling/typos I made on this thread :)

Parallel universe: My TERRIFIC, soon to be 14 year old lost her phone three weeks ago...she paid for her replacement out of summer camp instructor earnings.

Best thing about it, she understood why.

This really is the ABC's, folks. :)

get her a new phone(you'll feel better knowing she has it) but make her pay you back on a schedule. Chores can be taken in trade.