Okay moms and dads, have you heard this one yet? “But all my friends have cell phones. Why can’t I have one?” Depending on your approach, this can be a tough one. Let’s take a look.
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A study published in December of 2008 found that one out of five teenagers had sent or posted a a naked picture of themselves. One in five! At home you have some control. You can filter the stuff that comes through your web browser. You can suspend e-mail privileges and turn off the web cam, but what control do you have over your child’s phone? Yes, you can take it away from her. But…then you take away the option for her to call you in an emergency. It’s a tough call (no pun intended!) on what to do. Talk with other parents and get their feedback. Firsthand experience is an excellent resource.
Age and maturity level are two big considerations. My wife and I decided to wait until our oldest son was in middle-school before we bought him a cell phone. The main reason for getting him the phone was that we wanted him to have a way to get in touch with us in the case of an emergency (things like: major trouble at school, he locked himself out of the house, etc.). We started out with a prepaid phone to ‘test’ things out. He passed with flying colors. Yes, he misplaced it a few times, but who hasn’t?
He kept his phone charged and used his minutes wisely. We stayed on the prepay plan for a few months, then bit the bullet and bought him a “real” phone and added him to our monthly plan. So far, so good! Texting was added and we haven’t had issues with going over our plan minutes.
As in all parent-child issues, good communication is key. Talk with your son or daughter and share your concerns. And lay down the rules — up front, so they understand that the phone is a privilege: Good phone behavior allows them to keep the phone; poor behavior and it’s gone for a while.
If you decide that a phone is okay for your son or daughter, you might want to start off with a prepaid plan or (even more conservatively) a phone that is programmed to call Mom or Dad in a time of emergency. Both of those options will eliminate the long hours of chit-chat with her or his friends. Services like Firefly Mobile offer a phone for little people that might just be a good way to start.
There are several phone options on the market these days. Here’s a great resource for you to check out.
