OT: Cell Phone for Teen Son - Opinions

[Thomas Rogers]

Okay, here is another OT question for the group, especially for parents.



Our son is 14 and working part-time. He is very active in afterschool activities. He is a A student (Distinquished Honor). Anyway, school is about to start back up, and he is starting high school (9th grade).



We have debated getting him a cellphone. Since he works part-time, the bills will be his responsibility. For the most part, he is responsible so we aren't too worried about the bills.



Our main concerns and things to consider with him having a phone are:



- potential loss (or damage) of the phone due to theft, negligence, accident



- making sure our son gains "good habits" with regards to phone use, texting, etc and that he is courteous when he uses it in public, and frugal as to its use...in general we want to make sure he uses the phone contientiously.



The main question I have is would it simply be better to add a new phone to our family plan for a few dollars a month (I suspect around $10 or so additional), or would it be better to get a prepaid phone. The newer prepaid phones are cheap and very nice IMHO and we would be willing to buy him one along with a card with some minutes as a gift and them make the whole thing his responsibility. I kind of like the idea of prepaid because the phones are cheap, and on the off chance he is irresponsible, the risk of a large bill not an issue.



I guess I need to know the pros and cons of going prepaid vs adding another phone. Oh, we have Verizon Wireless if it makes a difference.



Thoughts? Anyone else gone down this road.



Yeah, I know, many will chime in with "teens don't need cell phones", etc, but since he is an active teen that doesn't drive my wife thinks he needs something so that he can contact us when the unexpected happens (a ride falls through, practice runs late, ends early, etc).



Thanks,



TJR

 

[Todd Z]

I would get him a Pre paid ( or used phone) for the first little bit and see how he does...



Then take it from there as to adding him to your plan or purchasing a new phone and he gets his own plan...



Who would control the billing of a Pre-paid phone ???



Todd Z

 

[Jason McKinnon]

I would personally go with the prepaid option, at least for a first phone. As you said, a decent one is very cheap nowadays, and the service isn't too terribly expensive. Just make sure that you set some ground rules for the use of it: hours he can use it, no using while driving (when he gets there), no use during school hours, stuff like that. Tell him that you'll pay for XX dollars per month of service, but anything above that is his responsibility. I'd also tell him that the main purpose of the phone is for his use in an emergency and for you to contact him; therefore, the first time you try to call him but he's out of minutes, the phone is gone. That way, he is required to keep at least a few minutes on there, and he'll have to decide whether talking to his friends is worth what it will cost him to add more minutes. Also let him know that if he loses or damages it, too bad. Tell him if that happens, you'll buy one of those kiddie phones that verizon has that only lets you call mommy, daddy, and 911 (I think they actually will call out to 4 or 5 numbers), but also let you track his location, etc. I'll bet he doesn't lose the prepaid.

Good thing about a prepaid is that if it IS lost or stolen, you don't have to worry about someone making all kinds of calls and/or downloading all kinds of stuff that's going to end up on your account. All they get is a relatively inexpensive phone and whatever time you had put on it. Don't stockpile it with tons of time, maybe just an hour at a time, and that's all a thief will get.



*EDIT* - If you do decide to go the family plan route, definintely check out the insurance. At least around here, with Verizon it's around $3 a month, and a $50 deductible, but it is peace of mind. My wife and I have both had phones for years with different companies, and switched to Verizon about a year ago. Neither of us had ever lost a phone or had one damaged to the point of needing replacement, but within a month of switching to Verizon, she left her phone on a bathroom counter in a restaurant, and about 4 months later, I sent mine through a washing machine cycle. Both were replaced without a problem (once we paid the $50 deductible, of course). Another thing you may consider is that Verizon has an option that lets you block the sending of text messages and downloads that tend to run up the bills very quickly. My mom has that feature set on my little brother's phone (he's 15).

 

[Robert Stanton]

I personally see no reason not to buy your son a cellphone, given that he seems to be have it relatively together. The cell phone can serve double-duty as both a reward and an added degree of responsibility. I'd simply make it clear to him that as a cell phone owner he's responsible for taking care of it.



To that end, I'd probably go with a phone on your family plan. It will allow you to monitor the phone's usage and will cost less. If he abuses the minutes, simply make him pay for the minutes or cut him off (take away the phone) until he learns not to overdo it.



As far as loss or damage of the phone goes, check into the insurance plans Verizon offers; it might be worth paying the extra monthly fee for peace of mind. I believe there's a fee involved for replacing a damaged or missing phone; make sure your son understands that *he's* the one who'd have to pay to replace it.



It sounds like you have a fair amount of trust in the kid; go ahead and trust him. If he screws up and runs the bill up, there's always the option for prepaid phone later.

 

[George T]

Yeah i got a pre paid last year when i was goin to 9th grade, but then after 5 months, my parents got me a phone for christmas and included it into the family plan. My phone doesnt have texting(10 cents per text), but i still love it. I would consider getting him a cheap phone, then moving up.



You should be worried that the phone might get stolen or his grades fall because he is not paying attention and texting. Saw that happen alot last year in my class.



Thats just my opinion.

 

[Tom Shirley]

We got phones for our boys as they entered high school. We actually drew up a contract for them to sign stating that they would be responsible for any minute or texting overages or loss/damage to their phone. The idea was to make them take it a little more seriously than they would have normally.



They have both been pretty good about the usage. We have only had to collect money from one of htem and that only happened once.



They are now 17 and 20.

 

[Jason Housman]

My wife and I have had prepaid phones through Verizon for prolly 5 or 6 years now. At times I like it and other times I don't. IMHO for a ninth grade teen who is pretty much just getting to learn responsibility I would go the prepaid route. As you said above, no surprise bills. You use your minutes and buy more. When you run out of minutes and have no money...you don't get minutes. It's as simple as that. You can't go over your purchased time. Every time you make a call it lets you know how many minutes you have to use. You get text messages when your balance is $5, $3 and "low". Phones are cheap, you can buy minutes pretty much anywhere and the service has been reliable at least for me.



The downfalls.....no matter who you call and when you call them you are using your minutes. There are no "Verizon to Verizon" no charge calls. Your text messages come out of the minutes you have purchased. There's no off-peak or on-peak. No free nights and weekends. If and when you decide to put him on your family plan the phone can't be used and you now have to get a new number as the pre-paid number is non-transferable. If he uses the phone frequently it can definitely get costly. But that is what will help him learn responsibility.



We have kept our prepaid phones as long as we have because we don't use them that much, we have already budgeted for it, I don't want to change my number I have had for so long and when we were applying for a mortgage we didn't want to have any negative scores on our credit report. Since then we have been looking for a plan that will better suit our current needs and maybe eliminate some of the features we have on our home phone. My brother-in-law's girlfriend has been working for Verizon for 8 years and is going to let me know when they roll out some incredible deals. On top of that I receive a 17% discount on my Verizon bill through my employer.



Hope this has helped you.

 

[Bill V]

I think that some of the pre-paid phones sold by some providers are also compatible with their regular family plan service as well, with some minor reprogramming. So you might want to see if that's a possibility--Get a pre-paid phone for him from your provider, and if he proves himself responsible enough to handle it over timeand the cost savings would be significant, convert that same phone to your family plan later. Check with your provider.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Todd Z asks:

Who would control the billing of a Pre-paid phone ???

Our son would. The idea we were going with if we got pre-paid is that we would buy the phone and a alotment of initial minutes as a gift, then hand it over to him and from that point on it's his responsibility.



If he runs out of minutes...on him. If he needs to recharge it with minutes...he pays.



I know some parents will disagree with this, because some seem to think that one of the reason for giving a kid a phone is so that YOU can contact THEM. But I think that's not really the motivating factor for us. The reasons for the phone are so that he can contact us to arrange rides, and so forth. As of now we trust our son and don't really keep tabs on him. As a responsible, non-driving teen he is somewhat like a baby that doesn't crawl or walk yet...he is were we last left him all the time. He knows not to get rides with other kids, etc.



If he runs out of minutes and can't contact us then for the most part it only inconveniences him.



I think we if we are talking infrequent use like I am hoping that a prepaid would be cheaper, overall.



TJR

 

[Gary Torrejos]

TJR, In our experience, it is better to go with a family plan. We are with Verizon, 2100 mins. unlimited text and pix messaging for around 200.00 a month with 4 phones on the plan. In the beginning we tried to go with the least amount of minutes we thought we would use and 500 or so texts.



Invariably one of the kids would go over one of those amounts, they would pay for it, but I believe it is cheaper to go the way we do now.



With Verizon, calls placed to another verizon phone are FREE :wub: we should never go over our minutes. Since 75% of our calls are to each other. Our kids seem to text more than talk on their phones. We also text and send pictures between the 4 of us and have great fun doing it. Also, I believe some of the pre-paid phones do not have the coverage the major carriers do.



Soon we will be dropping our land line since all that calls that # are telemarketers:angry:

 

[Richard L]

TJR,

I too agree with the others who suggested a Pre-Paid cellular phone service as the best solution.



My wife and I have used TracFones for about 1.5 years now and my cost is only about 1/3 the cost of the cheapest family plan rates for 2 or more phones.



First, the phones are not fancy but they are cheap...$15-$50 for most phones.



You can buy minutes in small enough denominations that it's resonable for a young kid to purcharse them and learn to use them wisely.



If he looses or breaks the phone, there is not a major investment lost.



Best of all, there is no committment, no contracts and no outragious bills



...Rich

 

[Nick Smith]

One thing that you might want to check out is the rules that his new school has regarding cell phones, some school ban them outright and others say that they must be off and in a locker while in school. Just something to check.

 

[TomT]

I think you should get him an iPhone.

 

[Jeff C]

I'm still on my parents family plan. It'd be around $60 a month for the features I have on my current plan if I had them individually. As it is now, it's only an $15 a month that I pay my mom, and that lets me use minutes, unlimited texts, pics, and internet. We have so many rollover minutes that she never worries about anything, and the whole family gets unlimited texting. I think she only pays around $120 a month for the five of us (my little brother is 13 and has had a cell phone for 2 years now, I got mine my JR year of high school, lol). If he's responsible and you trust him, there's no reason not to let him just on your plan, it'll be cheaper in the long run.

 

[Mark Grumpy]

Yeah, I know, many will chime in with "teens don't need cell phones", etc, but since he is an active teen that doesn't drive my wife thinks he needs something so that he can contact us when the unexpected happens (a ride falls through, practice runs late, ends early, etc).

Nope - not just teens - no one needs 'em. I see people leaving their homes at 6:30 in the AM with a phone stuck in their ear as they leave the driveway The old man still in bed and they calling the boyfriend or what??? :blink:



If that's the real reason, the wife and missed rides, then get him one of those that only calls one number - the one you program in it. Real cheap.



I understand the emergency thing - that's the only reason I have a pay as you go that costs me $5 a month. Actually, it's $15.00 every rolling 90 days and the $$s roll over. Wife has the same and her "minutes" ($$$s) worth of credits are over $100.00. Man, I need to cut back her usage.



grump

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I will check with Verizon to see what they can do for us, but I have to admit, I don't want to up my bill by any more than $10/month, lest I don't think it's worth it.



My son has to pay for this out of his own pocket. He gets an allowance ($20/mo) and he banks pretty much all that he makes from working (he wants a car in a few years...and to pay for college), but as he goes back to school he won't be working as much. His cashflow will be nil many weeks. So, if he goes over, or if I have to hold back 1/2 of his allowance to pay his service, I start to be the bad guy because I broker that transaction. But if he has a prepaid and he has to recharge it, its all on him...I'm not in the middle.



Oh, and I'm not going to eat the cost of adding him to our plan just to be the "good parent". Screw that. We pay $80 total each month for two phones and 300 shared peak minutes; unlimited off-peak; and free person-to-person. Unless I am on a phone conf for work we never go over minutes...and when that happens I get reimbursed. So, adding him to our plan isn't going to happen unless our bill stays low and he is willing/able to pick up the difference.



Oh, what a joy it will be in two years when we have to decide how best to insure his car...



TJR

 

[Mark Grumpy]

Oh, what a joy it will be in two years when we have to decide how best to insure his car...

have fun with that!!! Serious now, for everyone. My young 'un just bought herself a Firebird. I told her she had to get her own insurance as she was buying the car. Turns out her own policy, for her and her Firebird FULL COVERAGE, is LESS than having her 95 Taurus on my policy, liability. Just FYI



back to the phone - if he's banking his paycheck, obviously I don't know how much that is, consider letting him get his own phone. Look into Virgin, Cricket, Pocket, Go-Phone and all the others. Not so much the "good parent" thing in his opinion I suspect, but it is the good parent thing to do with regard to teaching fiscal responsibilty and such.



cheers and best of luck.



grump

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Grump, thanks for the advice. I don't see him getting his own phone and plan. That's just unlikely. Too costly, year-long commits, etc, and since he is a minor, I would have to co-sign I suspect. Nope, if he goes his own, it's with prepaid. If he goes on our plan, I'm caught in the middle and I suspect our plan goes up an amount that seems ridiculous for the added phone (I say that because Verizon changed their plans, their cheapest now is $80/month base, we pay $59/month base).



TJR

 

[Bosoxfan 02]

get him the phone!!first of all i am 16 and i am a junior in high school. now i no that some people will immediately dismiss my opinion as skewed in some way but hear me out. if your son is as responsible as u say he is and involved in all those after school activities he will need the phone eventually. i got mine only because i was having to use everyone's phone on the basketball team and if my parents wouldve held out, the baseball team as well. trust me your son will get tired of asking to borrow someone elses phone so he can call some one to come and pick him up.and the people he asks will get tired of him asking. i think that u should add him onto your plan because if u get him a prepaid phone, he will be in the same boat as he is now without one if he runs out of minutes or if he forgets to prepay the phone. plus u get to control what he does on it as far as texting or downloading stuff. but one thing u should do (which my parents did) make him buy his own phone. that will help him to take better care of the phone. but trust me get him the phone.

 

[Gerald Pierce]

TJR, obviously, every child is different, but we got our daughter one when she was about 15. Added it to our plan. Got basic service and insurance to protect against loss/damage, no internet, no text. Added cost, about 10.00. Shortly, all her friends bgan texting her and of course her back to them. Bills went high very quickly. We then added unlimited texting for about 5.00 more.



She actually uses the phone very little except to text, so minutes were not an issue. We rarely use all our minutes as most of our calls are mobile to mobile.



Our son needed a phone (he's 23 -- long story) and he is much the same way -- lots of text, little voice. SO, we gave him mine -- it had unlimited everything, and I got a new one that just has voice as I do not use any other function, and I had all text messages blocked. My bill was only about 5.00 more by adding the basic service phone.



We looked at the prepaid for him, and given his financial responsibility, he would never have minutes when he needed the phone, negating the purpose of getting it for him. The miinutes are rather steep on the prepaids that we looked at, and by having him on our plan, we know we can always get in touch with him.



Our whole family has Sprint so all mobile to mobile is free..... works great for us. YMMV.



Gerry