Kids and Cell Phones: Is It Necessary?

Should kids really have cell phones? It's nothing to see a child with a cell phone these days. It's not just the teenagers anymore but the pre-teens and younger that you see chatting or texting away. Although cell phones are great for emergencies and keeping the family in touch, they are tending to cause many troubles for youth. As parents we need to set some guidelines and usage terms before handing our child a cell phone.

Do you put your child on your plan or get them prepaid service? This really depends. You must take into consideration the age of your child and their maturity level. For a tween or younger, I would recommend a prepaid service such as AT&T. They may not yet realize the responsibility or cost of having a cell phone, which can be detrimental to your bill. Let them know how much money they will have put on their phone in a month's time period and stick to it. Also remind them that time or money should always be left on the phone, just in case something were to come up and they need to contact you. Prepaid services through AT&T and the majority of wireless companies will still allow you to call 911, even if your balance is 0.

One of the advantages of having your child on your cell phone plan is that it may be easier for you to monitor and track what they are doing. Do not confuse this with spying on your child's activities. If your child calls someone or somewhere in which they shouldn't, the number will be on your bill. You should also be able to find out time calls, duration of calls, ect. Some cell phone service providers offer a service that allows you to set a limit for your child's calls. There is usually a type of fee and this service is not available through all wireless networks. It works in various ways depending on the company. If this sounds like it might be a good idea for your family, talk to your customer service representative.

There are some simple rules that your child should abide by with the cell phone. One of the first rules should be no cell phone usage at school. Cell phones are not allowed at some schools, while others may allow them so long as the student does not have them out and in use during class or other activities. Generally, if you do not enforce this the school can and will by confiscating the phone.

Hours of usage while at home. Your child should not be on their cell phone from the time they come home until they go to bed. I suggest not allowing your son or daughter to be on the cell when usage from the land line is prohibited. This may include allotted times for dinner, homework, family time, and the like. Cell phones can be even more distracting than your home phone, it can be taken virtually anywhere.

Explain the terms of texting. If the plan charges extra for this, you may want them to abstain from it all together. "Sexting", as heard on the news has become a big problem. Talk to your child about the seriousness of "sexting", (sending inappropriate pictures of one's self or others on the cell phone). This can put the child at risk by sexual predators, bullies, you name it. It is also illegal and can be punished by the courts.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for parents. There are many more options available to you to help protect your child and teach them responsibilities of using a cell phone. One of my favorite wireless providers is AT&T, they have several tools available. If you find you are still having cell phone woes with your child, then maybe they are simply too young to have one.