In my post of June 8, “To Cell Phone or Not to Cell Phone,” I struggled over my decision about whether and when to activate a cell phone for my 11-year-old daughter. I’ve completed my research and made a decision: yes.
The bottom line for my decision: my comfort. My daughter has started babysitting and her main client is a single mother of twins who forwards her home phone to her cell phone while my daughter is babysitting. So, while my kid can call out from the home phone, I can’t call in. That made me nervous. If I wanted to deliver any kind of message I had to drive over to the house.
Here is how we worked the cell phone: we are Verizon customers. We found a phone my daughter liked for $18.87 at Sam’s Club, and we added her line to our existing Verizon plan for $9.99/month. My friend found another very good option for cell phones called Kajeet. She purchased a refurbished phone for her daughter for $65 and the Kajeet plan is also $9.99/month.
At our house, big decisions come with written and signed agreements. I’ll share that agreement in the next post. Also, I still have some homework to do: comparing the cost of replacing a lost or stolen phone with the cost of insuring it. More soon!
Mama J writes from her bay-window-facing office in Northern Colorado. She enjoys sharing insights about parenting, stepparenting, and family dynamics.
Tags: children, Kids and Electronics, parenting, Tweens, Tweens/Teens
2 Comments on Decision: To Cell Phone!
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Sounds like a good decision. It seems to me that children have to learn how to manage cell phones before they are teenagers and taking the phone with them to school/work. Similar to getting a driving permit, kids need practice to know when it is appropriate to use a cell phone and to learn about the possible dangers that come with texting and the like. Giving your daughter plenty of time and scaffolding the integration of a cell phone into her life will help her understand how to use the technology appropriately.
It’s working out well so far. She is not obsessed with the phone and I think that by the time the “majority” of kids her age do have phones, she will have some experience already, as you said.