Cell Phone

We have used Tracphone and now we are using Cingular Go phones. I can look up who they are talking to and what time. As far as the age goes I think it depends on the kid. If you trust her then it should be fine. All my kids got phones for Christmas and they are doing really well so far. Except my 13 yr old son, he thinks it is his datin service.
T.
Mother of boys ages 6,10, 12 and 13 and a girl age 15.

I would try the Disney cell phone!! "lil bit sneaky" but I believe worth it in the end!!! Good Luck!!!

As for her being too young... frankly, yes. Can she pay for the calls herself? Then fine. If not, I would vote, "no".

I do not understand the obsession with having "their own phone", "their own computer". These are expensive, luxurious applicances that a kid cannot afford on their own. How about keeping a "family" Trac or other pay-as-you-go phone, and you dole it out to a child when they are going on a field trip, or a sleep-over, or some other event where a phone might be handy? There is no need for her to have her own.

I do not subscribe to that "It's a different world" mantra. I think we are far too obsessed with insisting that we be connected to each other at a moment's notice at the touch of a button every single moment of the day. Ask yourself, how did we live 10, 20, 30 years ago without cellphones? We couldn't call each other. We couldn't reach each other. Fire and brimstone did not fall from the sky.
I gladly exchange the inconvenience for a life where we do not have to be constantly in touch.

Well, sorry if it sounds like a rant. But this whole idea of kids having to be connected to mommy and daddy every second with a cellphone just because "what if something happens?" is nuts. Yes, what if something happens? It's a big bad dangerous world out there. It always has been. Better for parents and their kids to learn to live with that now, and not just keep expecting to reach for the cellphone when danger strikes. That's like driving like an idiot on ice and then counting on 4-wheel-drive to bail you out.

My sister is 12 and has a cell phone. She just has a regular cell phone from Cingular, because it is cheaper for her to be added to my mom and dad's plan rather than getting her her own seperate cell phone. I think it is a great idea because of all the weirdos out there now days, she will always have a way to get ahold of you.

My stepdad's niece and nephew (approx 10 and 12 in age) have a Firefly. It's a really neat phone. I copied and pasted a few of the specs for you:
Fun for Kids:
* Firefly Fireworks™ display flashes when making and receiving calls, during standby, and when charging
* 12 ring tones to choose from
* 5 animations to choose from
* 7 LCD screen backlight colors to choose from
No Sweat for Parents:
* Speed dial Mom, Dad, and 911 assistance
* PIN-protected Phone Book with up to 20 numbers
* Optionally rejects calls from numbers not in Phone
It works very hard to prevent overages. Also, they have monthly plans starting at $9.99 and also prepaid minutes. They have some really cool kid-friendly accessories too!

From what I can tell, you can get them at just about any Walmart or Target wireless connection center. What I really like about it is the fact that Mom, Dad, and 911 are on speed dial, and anyone else is on that pin-protected phone book. Here's the main website for it:
http://www.fireflymobile.com/phone/

This cell phone thing really blows my mind. But that is because I guess my mind is still comparing times to when I was a kid. Boy, things change so fast!

Anyway, we got our 12 yrd old his cell phone recently. He has done really good with it. We have rules, though. Deal is if we cannot get a hold of hime (if he doesn't answer it) he loses it. He helps pay for it by doing chores every week. If he loses it, he is not getting another one. Once he runs up the minutes, that is it for the month. So far so good. But he is really responsible for his age. He is the oldest of three and he has always had to help out. His sister is another story...she lost her cellphone after just 4 days! She is a different kid though. She is not anywhere near responsible like her brother, but her dad insisted on getting it for her. Now he regrets it. So I guess it just depends on the child and their habits. The $20.00 pay as you go phones that you get in Walmart are the best in my opinion. You might want to also check out the Disney Phone. It has a tracking device in it you can check on your conputer as to where you child is at all times. Pretty cool! Anyway, hope that helps.

My daughter has had a cingular go phone for 2 years now. it has been a god send many times. she rides the bus home from school and one time the bus broke down. she was able to call me and tell me where she was so i could get her otherwise who knows how long she would have been stuck. that is just one time it came in handy. i have it set where only the numbers in her phone book can call her (just a few family members and a couple of select friends). i think i am going to get my 8 yo a firefly soon (he is special needs and more prone to getting in trouble, i wouldnt want someone to try to take advantage of him out there in this weird world). i have been looking at the disney phones too and may just get each of them one of those instead. it is a tough decision but so far, i havent regretted getting her one. good luck

My daughter just turned 11 on November 22nd. My girlfriend bought her a Virgin Mobile. They are good to have. I am thinking about getting her a metro pcs phone, basic line with unlimited text. That way I never have to worry about her being without minutes... and she can talk as long as she wants and text as long as she wants.

A.
###-###-#### (cell)

We use the Pay as You Go by Virgin Mobile. I like it and she did use up the $25 the very first week, but usually we just top it up every 2 months.

I like her having it. But remember not to let them ring in school or they will take them.

I got my daughter her first cell phone at 12 because she was on the volleyball team she went to away games and I wanted to keep in touch with her. It worked out really well. We discussed when she could be on it. When she could not. I reviewed the phoen bill and I had to take it away a couple of times when she went text message crazy and just gave it to her during games but she got the idea and even keeps tabs on when we are getting close to our minutes. I just added her to my plan - it wasn't very expensive. She's 16 now and I haven't had to take it away in years. She has unlimited text messaging, though. It's big with kids.

I would look into the Disney cell phones. I have heard very good things about them. You can track and limit all the calls to only certain numbers, and I even think that there is some type of gps thing on them, too. I would definately do Disney at your daughter's age.

S.,
I started w/ a Trac phone but found out that you had to keep it activated as well as pay for minutes- it was way less to add my son to our Sprint plan for 9.99 a month, plus it is very easy to keep track of his calls.
He is 10 and rides the bus to and from school. It has been fantastic. He has been very responsible- we just got him a BASIC phone- no camera, no anything. SO far so good!

I don't agree that a 12 year old needs a phone. She should always be somewhere close enough to a friends phone but not her own.
Just my opinion

Due to some situations that happened thanks to the incompetent staff at American Airlines, my SEVEN year old now has his own cell phone. I researched the pay as you go kind and realized it was just cheaper to add him to my plan with shared minutes and pay a $9 a month fee rather than have to pay $30 a month for the phone and buy all the minutes. I'm on verizon. I've heard Disney has a neat phone too where you can control everything from your computer for their phone -- who they call when they can use the phone.

The trac phone is a good starter phone to see what and how it is used. It is only $20 at the dollar general store and you can get refills for 20bucks every 2 or 3months. I bought my daughter a firefly and it is cute and all but the cost of the phone and the barely useage at her age wasnt really worth it since you can set prefrences on the tracfone of who she can call with phone book only etc. The firefly is cute and you can only get refill online or at certain Target, I have found only in Allen tx. They have a $10refill that is 30min for 2months. If you want to spend money with a plan, I am with the other lady on the Disney mobile, when both our girls hit that age we will all be with disney mobile unless someone else out there meets and beats the deal they have with all the extras if safety and access control. I think they are a awesome mobile deal for kiddos, they have a site that will show you all the bells and whistles of the phone. Its neat. Good luck.

My 8 year old & 10 year old both have cell phones. Our reasoning for this is that they are not always with us, sometimes they are with friends, & they are not always by a phone. I'm REALLY anxious when my children are away from us. I constantly bug thier friends parents by calling & checking on them, heck, I even bug the grandparents when they have them! It's alot easier on everybody that I can just call their cell phone or text them. My anxiety level comes down (some) & so does everyone elses. They have rules, though. If they ever don't answer, whem I call, the phone gets taken away along w/thier privlege of geting to be w/their friends. We also told them no excessive talking or texting. They've had them about a year & we've had no problems. I know each kid is different & where one kid will not take advantage another might, but, to me it's worth it. We just stuck them on our plan, gave them our old phones, the hubby & I got new phones(yay for us), & put a family unlimited text messaging plan on. Kids are nuts about text messaging!

I'm bad about not reading the other responses before I respond, so I apologize if someone has already mentioned this. I don't think it's a good idea for a kid to have a cell phone at that age, but that is only my opinion, so it may not be what's right for you.

However, I can suggest the Firefly. Cingular has it, and I'm not sure if anyone else does. My sister uses it for her 10 year old. It's like a cell phone, but you program in the numbers you will allow (for instance my sister has, her home, her cell, work, dad's cell and work and 911). There are no numbers except the program buttons, so they can't call anyone, and they only receive calls from those who are programmed in. My sister loves it, and he feels a little more grown up. I hope this helps!!!

I have a soon to be 12 yr old. She has had a cell phone for 3 yrs. It sounds like TOO much BUT......I was against it and hubby wanted it for safety. The safety factor weighs close to my heart. I am glad I relented and went with it now. To be honest, she rarely uses phone for talking except for a few text messages here and there. The reason I am all for it is SAFETY, when she is at a party or sleepover, etc....she can text me (or I text her) to make sure all is going well. There have been times when I have called or texted and she indicated she felt like going home for a variey of reasons. I can intervene and no one realizes that I intervened and she was the one to call and want to come home. She keeps it with her at school on silent and if I am running late or need her to know something I text her. It is purely a safety thing at our house now but I am sure when she is a little older I will be looking at a different story with minutes used, etc. I have Cingular and she is tagged onto my my account with her personal number. OH.....make sure you pay the nominal $4/ mth for insurance on the phone...it is worth it. We have used it, more than once.

Good luck.

My 12 year old has a phone and he has been very good with it. We got him the Vigin Mobile prepaid phone and it has been wonderful. I only put money on it when he needs it which luckly for me is not very often. He really does only use it when he has to which is why we got it. Hope this helps. =)

My 11 yr old son has had his phone for 18months but our situation is that hs walks home from school, he calls me when he gets out of school and calls me when he gets home. I like him having the phone but he is very responsible and not much of a talker. My 16 yr old has had his phone since he was 12 although he isn't much of a talker either, he likes to text, we bought the text package (we are using cingular) and he has lost or had stolen 4 phones, i highly suggest buying the insurance which i didn't and have paid a prince for in the long run. for my peace of mind its been great for them to have the phones.

Don't get the tracphone. I had one for my first cell phone. The minutes are too expensive and the service isn't that great. If I were you I would get the Cingular Go Phone. Its prepaid and the service is so much better. After I finally got rid of the tracphone we got a cingular go phone. And whats nice is if you ever decide to get a family plan from cingular she will already have a phone. You won't have to buy her a new one.

I've used TracFone service for three years. It worked great until I moved to Fort Worth. The service here is awful. My calls are frequently dropped. When someone calls, my phone doesn't ring. If they leave a message, it does notify me. My mother-in-law also has a TracFone and lives out of state. Whenever she comes to Fort Worth, her phone does the same thing.

The other thing with the TracFone that drives me nuts, if you have a problem that can't be solved on the Internet, you have to call customer service, which is based overseas. There are horrible echoes and the customer service representatives are difficult to understand. When I changed to a Texas phone number, my call was dropped three times. Then I finally spent 20 minutes with someone I could comprehend. Unfortunately, she programmed my phone with a new number for the state I was leaving after I told her forty times I needed a number for TEXAS.

If you are going to use a prepaid service, look for something else. There are other prepaid services out there.

Hope that helps! I obviously have issues with TracFone...LOL!

S.
Mommy to one-year-old son