Cell Phone for Kids

[North Coast Cab]

It is time for me to breakdown and buy a cell phone for my 11 year old. I have looked at a few plans, including the Tracfone, but aren;t sure what do do.
Any suggestions? Looking for something for 30-50 minutes per month.

[javadog]

I'd suggest figuring out what the kid will do with it. Talk on it in emergencies, talk on it to friends, or text message friends. My kid uses his primarily to text other kids and has been known to do 10,000 of them in a month. A plan that allows unlimited texting is mandatory for him.

We use AT&T.

JR

[126coupe]

No texting when riding a bike

[rammstein]

I would TELL him he only gets 30-50 per month but actually put considerably more on, and pretend to have been overcharged when he inevitably goes over.

Agreed on the texting- get unlimited. He'll be sending a couple hundred a day.

[schamp]

Why would you do this? Don't you know where your 11 year old is all the time? School, home, at a friends house, somewhere supervised or somewhat supervised. Don't get me wrong, I have an eleven year old. However, she doesn't get one for a few years now, or until we see the need for her to have one. If she were to get caught at school with it ON, she would be supended. Just saw that tonight in the school handbook. Her friends can email, or call on the old land line.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by schamp

Why would you do this? Don't you know where your 11 year old is all the time? School, home, at a friends house, somewhere supervised or somewhat supervised. Don't get me wrong, I have an eleven year old. However, she doesn't get one for a few years now, or until we see the need for her to have one. If she were to get caught at school with it ON, she would be supended. Just saw that tonight in the school handbook. Her friends can email, or call on the old land line.

I'm at a loss over this as well, my wife has a drawer of cellphones confiscated from her students that are "texting" during class. I can't understand how a business tool like a mobile phone became what it is today.

[javadog]

Kids today are different. They have grown up with much more technology than we did. Texting is their current, prefered means of communicating. Much of what they do with their free time revolves around some form of electronics. It's just what they like.

JR

[Tidybuoy]

Ahhh....I remember pulling out of Whole Foods onto a very busy street. I was looking left waiting for the 3 busy lanes to clear. I had an opening and just as I started into the street.....two girls on two bikes passed right in front of me and I almost hit one of them (which would have pushed her into busy traffic). I started to roll down my window to say sorry when I noticed both girls were texting and really didn't even notice that I almost killed one of them.

Just a thought.............kids have to be told, over & over not to be stupid.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by javadog

Kids today are different. They have grown up with much more technology than we did. Texting is their current, prefered means of communicating. Much of what they do with their free time revolves around some form of electronics. It's just what they like.

JR

I really, really, wanted a Schwinn with a banana seat to communicate with my friends. But alas I never got one, thank god I didn't end up a serial killer or something.

[javadog]

I'm sorry for your unhappy childhood. I didn't get the cool bike either.

I'm just reporting what kids want, not condoning it.

JR

[BRPORSCHE]

Just as yardstick...I use about 5,000 texts and 7,000 minutes a month.

[syncroid]

I started to roll down my window to say sorry when I noticed both girls were texting and really didn't even notice that I almost killed one of them.

Just a thought.............kids have to be told, over & over not to be stupid.

I couldn't have stated it better!

[Vipergrün]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Just as yardstick...I use about 5,000 texts and 7,000 minutes a month.

Dayum! Yer obviously not getting enough *******

[JavaBrewer]

I added our 11 yr son to the family plan. Unlimited texting is mandatory - he got 500+ text messages the first weekend alone from his friends welcoming him to freedom He rarely talks on the phone. Our carrier is Sprint (one of the few that have coverage at our home) and his phone is the LG Rumor. I figured I'd get the phone over summer in hopes that when middle school starts in September it won't be a big deal. He's already "over" the phone thing and refuses to take it to baseball & football practice cause the coaches dont't allow them. I'm not worried about my son - he's a natural born rule follower. My daughter will be an entirely different story...

[BReif61]

Do what my parents did (and all three of us turned out fine): No cell phone untili you're 16, when you might actually need it.

[North Coast Cab]

Ok, so I have been against the cell phone for a while. However, at 11 he is more mobile than ever and if riding is bike to school etc. there was a problem he has no good lifeline. My wife and I both work so there isn't always the run to home option. I want a phone with a limite plan that I can control, maybe ony give it to him when needed. Looks like th eTracphone is the cheapest route,although it has some issues, and adding an additional line to our existing plan would be second.

[NICKG]

one suggestion..seriously, block text messaging from the phone. Not only will this keep the kid off the phone (and thus in the realm of the living) but it will in the long run ensure that he/she is capable of using the english language in writing..instead of "IM".
I go to college at night and the young kids just don't understand that they cannot write in "IM" and have people not judge them.I have, on numerous occasions, seen people have their papers handed back immediatly with the words "I don't teach in "IM" therefore you will not write your paper in "IM"...but even more often they just fail.
Texting is becoming how these kids write,and then they cannot understand why they fail

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Just as yardstick...I use about 5,000 texts and 7,000 minutes a month.

Sometimes I pay the monthly bill and didn't make a single call. That's my version of freedom.

[sketchers356]

How does someone send 100 texts a day unless they are just sitting in class texting instead of learning?

[Rikao4]

my total minutes for this yr..MAY reach 30 minutes,


I understand the need to reach parents..
so they get a phone..you can us and the police.

Rika