Kids and cell phones

[Soccermom]

ha. that is rad. I want to get the Puffy Check cell phones today!!

Yeah. I'm not too sad that my son isn't "growing" up as fast as a lot of his friends. He has Aristides' name and in so many ways he really is Mini Aristides. The texts asking me to tuck him in and give him a hug --just melt my heart.

[FMCoug]

Yeah. I'm not too sad that my son isn't "growing" up as fast as a lot of his friends. He has Aristides' name and in so many ways he really is Mini Aristides. The texts asking me to tuck him in and give him a hug --just melt my heart.

Texting, im, facebook, etc. are one of the primary ways I have been able to maintain my close relationship with my daughters into their teen years.

[cougjunkie]

My kids will never have cell phones. I will sew a quarter to the inside of their pocket and in case of emergencies they can find a pay phone.

[Pheidippides]

Our age has been 14. Before that, our kids are much less often away from us. We have a daughter turning 13 this month, who has been agitating for one, but I think we'll hold off another year.

We're a little more lax on the rules than some of you. They have internet access and can keep them at night (though I turn off the router at about 10:00). We check the bill and I will occasionally look through the phones at texts, pics, etc., but not too often. We haven't had any real cell-phone related problems to this point.

I've never thought about the router issue - my kids have only used computers when I am around due to the setup we have at home - but I can see the value in cutting off internet service. My router is nifty in that it allows for multiple networks (as many do these days). So I can theoretically set up one that is on all the time but password protected - I am going to check to see if I can put time restrictions on another with separate password.

[FMCoug]

Oh and we are on the 12 year old plan too. They get a phone at 12.

[Scott R Nelson]

My granddaughter got her cell phone at age six. She was given a restricted set of phone numbers that she could call, including parents and grandparents.

It helps that her dad works for AT&T selling cell phones to large businesses.

[Eddie]

We are in line with most of you.

Teens have phones - really for our convenience when we need to get in contact with them more than anything.

The phones go to bed when the kids do.

They know that their texts are subject to review. Not that it is done with any frequency.

However, one afternoon we were teasing one son (13 yrs old) about the majority of his texts coming from one particular girl. He said that wasn't true, so I was bouncing through texts while we counted them.

One of his friends had sent him a message with some bad language - like the mother of all bad words. And yes - my wife called up his friend's parents and let them know. ("Because as a mother, if my son was using that kind of language, I would want to know about it!")

So the word on the street is that you have to be careful what you text to my kids.

Yeah - maybe a little over the top by my wife. But I'm good with the consequences.

[mUUser]

Trying to remember, but 8 or 9 seems about right with our kids.

[SteelBlue]

Yeah - maybe a little over the top by my wife. But I'm good with the consequences.

This is off of the phone topic, but related to your wife's method. I have friends who came home from a week out of town to learn that a boy had come to visit their 14 year old daughter and dropped off a gift. The aunt who was babysitting while the parents were gone snooped and learned the gift was a thong and when my friends returned home she reported it to them. My friends went to the boy's house, knocked on the door and returned the gift (without the wrapping) to the boy in front of his mother. He was invited to never drop by their house again.

[falafel]

I've never thought about the router issue - my kids have only used computers when I am around due to the setup we have at home - but I can see the value in cutting off internet service. My router is nifty in that it allows for multiple networks (as many do these days). So I can theoretically set up one that is on all the time but password protected - I am going to check to see if I can put time restrictions on another with separate password.

Niku, did you look into this? This is a very interesting idea. I wouldn't want to turn off my router at 10 b/c I often watch netflix in bed. I'm also not really interested in manually turning the router on and off (plus I figure the kids would learn how to turn it on pretty quick if I did.

[Pheidippides]

Niku, did you look into this? This is a very interesting idea. I wouldn't want to turn off my router at 10 b/c I often watch netflix in bed. I'm also not really interested in manually turning the router on and off (plus I figure the kids would learn how to turn it on pretty quick if I did.

Not quite that simply but there is a way. I can set restrictions on access based on time and machine. In other words, I can set the router to not allow Internet access for certain laptops at certain times. I can do the same for content to a degree as well. Doubtless this is not news to techies out there and somewhere my brother is laughing at me.

This assumes my neighbors don't have a powerful unsecured wifi system. So far, nobody does.

[falafel]

Not quite that simply but there is a way. I can set restrictions on access based on time and machine. In other words, I can set the router to not allow Internet access for certain laptops at certain times. I can do the same for content to a degree as well. Doubtless this is not news to techies out there and somewhere my brother is laughing at me.

This assumes my neighbors don't have a powerful unsecured wifi system. So far, nobody does.

Cool, thanks. That's good to know.

[il Padrino Ute]

This is off of the phone topic, but related to your wife's method. I have friends who came home from a week out of town to learn that a boy had come to visit their 14 year old daughter and dropped off a gift. The aunt who was babysitting while the parents were gone snooped and learned the gift was a thong and when my friends returned home she reported it to them. My friends went to the boy's house, knocked on the door and returned the gift (without the wrapping) to the boy in front of his mother. He was invited to never drop by their house again.

Your friends are my kind of people.

[myboynoah]

My experience is that our boys have been much different than our girls were with cell phones. The girls got them at around 15 and they loved to text, a lot. It became a big problem for one of our daughters, so we had to curb that.

The boys have been the opposite. They forget them all the time. It's as if the phone is just another hassle with which their parents want them to deal.

Whatever you decide, I would monitor usage closely until about 17-18 years of age.

[Uncle Ted]

A little off the subject but this might be an inexpensive way to give your kid(s) a cell phone. A new cell phone company is offering a $19/mo "unlimited" smartphone plan... Of course, it is really not unlimited and tries to use wifi as much as possible.

In an era when many smartphone bills in the U.S. approach three figures after data and text charges are added and consumers clamor about bill shock, Republic Wireless has a radical proposal: A form of cell phone service with unlimited data and text messaging for $19 per month.

The no-contract plan requires customers to pay $199 for an Android-based LG Optimus smartphone, which includes the first month's service fee. It includes unlimited talk time, text messages, and data. However, it is "unlimited" in the mobile phone sense of the word. If you're using the service without a Wi-Fi connection and rack up a lot of cellular data usage--the company suggests that 550 minutes, 150 texts, and 300 MB of data would be close to the limit--you will receive a warning about being a bandwidth hog. Extreme resource usage, in other words, could get you kicked out.