teenager and cell phones?

[Hot dog]

Re: teenager and cell phones?

He has cingular now. It sounds like a good deal but all his friends have verizon so he wants free to verizon. He goes to a private school which costs as much as some small colleges although a very good deal so most of his friends have cars ( Audii's even) and parent's pay for everything. I was brought up to pay for everything myself and hated to ask others to do anything for me.

[Hot dog]

Re: teenager and cell phones?

just had to post this quote I just read "I figured out how to cure the high divorce rate in this country. Have cell phone companies write the marriage contracts-- you'll never get out of them."

[PrincessPerky]

Re: teenager and cell phones?

He has cingular now. It sounds like a good deal but all his friends have verizon so he wants free to verizon. He goes to a private school which costs as much as some small colleges although a very good deal so most of his friends have cars ( Audii's even) and parent's pay for everything. I was brought up to pay for everything myself and hated to ask others to do anything for me.

Yeah its funny how the lady who brought you up is now spoiling your kids ain't it!

My husband tells me all the time how different his mom is now!

[tabbycat31]

Re: teenager and cell phones?

I would suggest a prepaid or a Go phone for a 16 year old. I work for a collection company that deals with mainly cellphones (60% of our accts are Sprint) and they are ruthless in temrs of sending defaulted contracts (and early termination fees) to collections.

I don't think a 16 year old should have a contract cellphone. They would require the phone to be in an adult's name,a nd if he does not pay the bill, then the collection companies will go after the adult.

[Hot dog]

Re: teenager and cell phones?

Those are the things I was trying to explain to his grandmom who kept going around the question about being willing to sign until I figured out she told him she would sign but then expected me to be responsible financially if anything happened. This by the way is not my mom it is my ex's mom who has died by suicide and now she tries to spoil only my son kinda sad and not my daughter also her grandaughter. this is the first time she has ever mentioned what I should do with the SSI that I get for them.

[Ima saver]

Re: teenager and cell phones?

I had already figured out that it was your ex's mom. I would not let your son get the phone. He has already gone thru 3 of them. I had to work and save up the entire amount to buy my first car, pay for the insurance and gasoline. I don't have a cell phone, I think they are a waste of money. I hate to seen teens driving and talking on their cell phones. too dangerous!

[Adambnn]

I understand you. It is not about whether to buy a cell phone or not. It is virtually about the priority of those things to be bought.
Your priority about that is the car or insurance or the licence. But in a teenager's mind, maybe to purchase a cell phone is the first thing to do with his first salary.
Concentrate to the target, do your best, and finally achieve it. I think it is good for a teenager to gain such experience. And as he grow up, he will understand what should be done first and sometimes should delay the pleasure.

[LuckyRobin]

I don't think this is about a phone at all. This is about boundaries. You need to set them with the child's grandmother and stick to them. And tell your son just because grandma says something doesn't mean he gets it. The phone advice here is great, but it is the boundaries that you really need to deal with or this kind of thing will keep on happening and you will be the "bad" guy every time. But it's your kid and your rules.

[shopgirl]

You are right to make him pay for and work for things. I went to private school growing up and saw everyone else getting new cars and everything paid for by their parents. I am glad that my parents didn't just give me things "because everyone else's parents bought them one!" I feel like I have much more of a work ethic and more of a sense of financial smarts than most of my friends.

I think the average teen abuses cell phones too much. Once they start driving, it is good to have a phone on hand for emergencies. grandma needs to understand and respect your wishes as his father.