Parents of Teenagers: Cell phone advise

[mathnerd]

The time has come. I can no longer avoid it. My 14 (almost 15) year old needs a cell phone. It's no longer a luxury. The city we're living in no doesn't provide bus transportation to school, so he has to take the city bus/trolley. Between that and wanting to allow him a bit more freedom in his social life, the time has come.

So, I was hoping to get some input on good phones for teens. I don't have a lot of money, so it's going to have to be a phone of average intelligence. I also won't be able to pay for a data plan. This will just be for calls and text messages. I really don't know anything about regular feature phones these days. In my dream world, I'd get him an iPhone and either link it to my iCloud account or create one for him and make him give me the password (gotta love the "find my iPhone" feature), but I just don't have the funds for that right now.

Basically, I need a good, solid phone that will put up with the abuse a teen is likely to heap on it, get reasonable reception for calls and texts, and not be so outdated so that it's an embarrassment to him.

Any thoughts?

[crazylegs]

Sit him down and explain this to him. See what he can suggest phone wise that he would be happy to be seen with (after all, if he likes it he's more likely to take care of it). This only works if he's moderately sensible.

Some iPhones can be bought on ebay (some friends have had good results, obv YMMV) and a battery can be replaced for about £50 (again, local costs apply).

Failing that there are quite a few good mid range android devices - the plan shouldn't be a problem as so many places have WiFi now the coverage is pretty good

[Raveni]

We added an iphone to our family plan. The phone was free and adding it to the plan was like $10 per month.

We can turn off the data or track it via gps whenever we need to. He gets access to all our angry birds. We all win.

[mathnerd]

Hmmmm. I do have an old iPhone that the kids use as an iPod. It's a 4s, so it's not terribly outdated. The only issue I have with that is I was under the impression that I had to pay for an additional data plan no matter what because it's a smart phone. Is there a way around that? Hopefully I'll get a job soon and finances won't be so critical, but for now, every penny counts.

[csquared]

You might want to consider a prepay plan. It may help to teach him budgetting. If he wants more minutes, he can help pay for it. Most plans will let you bring your own phone.

Also, plans like Metro PCS & Boost may be an option. They have unlimited voice and data for a low price. Their coverage is spoty unless you are in a major metro area. If you have coverage in your area, it should be sufficient for someone with limited travel range.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

y

Hmmmm. I do have an old iPhone that the kids use as an iPod. It's a 4s, so it's not terribly outdated. The only issue I have with that is I was under the impression that I had to pay for an additional data plan no matter what because it's a smart phone. Is there a way around that? Hopefully I'll get a job soon and finances won't be so critical, but for now, every penny counts.

One option is looking into whether your carrier offers a mobile sharing plan. The way those work is basically unlimited calls/text and a set amount of data per month that's shared amongst all devices on the plan. If you already have a family plan (with at least 2 lines) usually adding another line isn't much per month.

I switched our plan over last fall to a mobile share (1GB data shared between 2 iPhones and we both have unlimited calls and text) which seems to work out pretty good.

Con is that you're tied into a 2 year contract but if you already have a contract, it still might come out to your advantage. Best thing to do is to talk to a CSR with your wireless carrier (or you can check their website and do online chat) to see what options you have and what will work with your budget as it is.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Con is that you're tied into a 2 year contract

I thought that they weren't allowed to enforce the penalties on getting out of plans anymore, except charging the full price for any phone discounted on the plan?

[Gravekeeper]

I thought that they weren't allowed to enforce the penalties on getting out of plans anymore, except charging the full price for any phone discounted on the plan?

In Canada, yes. I don't know if the US had any similar consumer protection laws passed about it.

As for a phone, you can get a smart phone on the cheap ( $50-60 ) if you look for refurbished phones. It won't be the latest uber model or anything but it'll work. Best Buy usually has refurbished smart phones pretty cheap and some carriers offer them as well.

[iradney]

I have an old HTC Desire that put up with a lot of abuse - I dropped that thing about 25 times in the 2+ years I had it, and it's STILL working fine, no cracked screen nothing. Can't work with Vine coz the OS is too old, but it worked really well while I had it. FWIW.

Plus yes, I agree about the prepay plan. When I got my first mobile phone, my parents bought the phone, but I had to pay for the calls as it was prepaid. You learn very quickly to budget your money well

[mathnerd]

Since he's only 14, he can't get a regular job in the state we live, so his source of funding is just whatever odd jobs he can pick up. If he was a little older, getting a job would be an option, and yes, I'd make him pay for his own phone. For now, I just need to get him the most basic plan possible so he's not navigating the transit system in a large city without some means of communication. I did check with a few prepaid plans, and the carrier that the old iPhone used to be on has one that I can use that doesn't come with any data for only $25/mo. I'm still nervous about sending him out with an iPhone I can't afford to replace, but since I already have the device, that will probably be the most economical for now. I'm still going to shop around for other phones that will stand up to more abuse than iPhones. I do have an Otterbox on that phone, so it's as protected as it can be, but moms get nervous..

[Pimento]

I put a lifeproof case on my current iPhone 5 and always had one on my iPhone 4 (my wife currently uses it as well)

Big bonus? They're 100% water proof, the drop protection works well, and it's not a big bulky case so it fits nicely in the pocket.

[It's me]

The phones I gave my kids: My old flip-phones. They do phone calls and text messages... and that's about it. If they want better phones... they'll have to save up the money and pay for them themselves.

[Raveni]

Yeah, not sure if you have those family plans where you are. Ours has every phone's data usage counted against our plan, but that's why we can turn it off. Too much YouTube away from wifi, and the data gets shut off on that one phone until the next bling period.

[Seshat]

Ruggedised phones are available, designed for tradies and other people who have to work in strange and dangerous-to-phones conditions. They're a bit more expensive than 'ordinary' phones, but the additional cost seems to me to be reasonable for the extra work and materials put into the phone.

I found out about them because I was doing an article about good phones for disabled people. These were good for people who have trouble keeping hold of things, and tend to drop them.

[Teysa]

That sounds like an interesting article,Seshat. Do you by any chance have a link? As for cell phones for teens, I don't have any kids myself, but I agree with the others on getting a prepaid plan.