cell phone for kids

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D57102
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cell phone for kids

Post by D57102 »

I am looking for the first cell phone for my 9 year old daughter. We are thinking of a simple phone with reasonable cost.

What kind of cell phone do Bogleheaders choose for their children?
inbox788
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by inbox788 »

Why? Most 9 year olds are with someone or somewhere with a phone.

Are you looking for a dumb phone where she knows your number and can learn to dial. Or were you looking for a smartphone and use of texting and communication/social apps? If the latter, wait for the iPhone 6.

Consider this as a starting point:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alcatel-A382G-B ... 1275859334

Or this:

http://www.hsn.com/products/lg-optimus- ... ta/7567718
mhalley
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by mhalley »

Way too young, Really not a good idea.
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lululu
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by lululu »

I would get a dumb phone, no features but phone calls and some tracking feature so that she could be located if she is lost or otherwise in trouble. As for more, just say no.

Otherwise, I would keep my kids as far from electronic gadgets as possible as long as possible, and that includes television.
kazper
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by kazper »

My cousin, who has a disability, had a phone years ago with 4 buttons. On each button was a programmed number. I think this type of phone would be just fine for emergencies.
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arthurdawg
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by arthurdawg »

We had a 29$ flip phone - service was prepaid through T-Mobile. It had several numbers programmed in, and worked well, until it disappeared a few months back. We can transfer our remaining minutes to a new cheap phone, so no great loss. Interestingly, the kids can access wifi at their school and text us from their ipods which covers most of our communication needs.
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Whatyear?
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by Whatyear? »

I'm with Inbox788 who asked why would a 9 year old need a cell phone? Everyone's situation is different, of course, but in my case each of my three kids has gotten a cell phone (or will get one) when they hit middle school, which is also the age I will allow them to go to a limited number of places without an adult (and hence ready access to a phone).

They get (or will get) the latest free smartphone that comes with our family wireless plan. And when I call or text them, they had better answer! :).
davebarnes
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the best

Post by davebarnes »

iPhone 6
Your daughter deserves the best.
A nerd living in Denver
mprusin
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by mprusin »

I pre-ordered this for my 6 year old: http://www.tinitell.com

Its like a wristwatch that has one button and you can program the only people they can call. It also has GPS tracking so you can see where they are. Comes out sometime next year and sounds like its going to be perfect for young children.
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Watty
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by Watty »

With pay phones being almost non-existent now I can understand the need for one sooner rather than later since there can always be things like a missed school bus or confusion about who was going to pick her up.

I don’t use my “dumb” cell phone much and I use Virgin Mobile with an old plan where I only pay $20 +tax every 90 days then I pay by the minute for my phone calls and text messages. If you use up all your time then the phone stops working (except 911) until you pay some more. After she runs into that a few times then she will likely learn to budget her phone use pretty quickly which could be a good life lesson. They took that plan off their web site a long time ago but you might still be able to get it by calling them up and asking. As someone mentioned I think T-Mobile has similar plans.
feh
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by feh »

Didn't get our son a cell phone 'til he was 14. No internet - just texting and phone calls.
bloom2708
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by bloom2708 »

Buy a Sprint iPhone 4 (~$70 for a nice used one). Put it on Ting.com. Disable data. Have her use Wi-Fi for data needs.

The bill should be around $10/month ($6 + usage). Their pay as you go plan should allow your plan to "grow" with your daughter.
mikep
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by mikep »

Most kids have an iphone these days. If they want to text, iMessage is free over wifi. I would put an iphone 4 on page plus with a $10 standard PIN, disable data and text and have the calls billed at .10/min.
livesoft
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by livesoft »

My kids got dumb phones with texting when they were about 14 or 15. My daughter couldn't wait for a smart phone, so she got a job and bought her own smart phone. My son got a smart phone as a high school graduation gift. My spouse got a smart phone as an empty nester gift.

Most kids do not have iphones nowadays. That's probably some marketing myth that Apple is trying to perpetuate.

I coached kids in youth sports continually from about age 8 to age 16. I don't recall kids on my teams having phones before the ages of 14 or 15. And then, they got hand-me-down phones because the parents upgraded their phones.
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SimonJester
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by SimonJester »

I would get a pre paid dumb phone, with no texting or internet. Up until last month T-Mobile prepaid was a great deal, you could load the phone up with an initial $100 and then add $10 per year to maintain service.

Once the kids get older you could then transfer the SIM card to a smart phone.

T-Mobile pre paid accounts now cost a minimum of $3 per month, so while still a good deal for just a basic dumb phone with very little usage its not as good as it once was.
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mikep
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by mikep »

mikep wrote:Most kids have an iphone these days. If they want to text, iMessage is free over wifi. I would put an iphone 4 on page plus with a $10 standard PIN, disable data and text and have the calls billed at .10/min.
I should clarify that most kids who have a cell phone have an iphone. Not that most kids have an iphone.
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Toons
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by Toons »

"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
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Traveller
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by Traveller »

We have given our kids prepaid phones. They have lost or broken them and the phones are dirt cheap to replace.

We only give our kids their own phone when they start driving. Before that, we have a generic "kids" phone that they share if they are going somewhere and we want them to have a phone with them.
inbox788
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by inbox788 »

Whatyear? wrote:And when I call or text them, they had better answer! :).
There's an app for that!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhr ... r-parents/

We're in a new world of appropriate use of technology, and the rules keep changing, but sometimes, we have to remain grounded.

http://stuffsirisaid.com/post/128954367 ... t-now-siri
bnes
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by bnes »

I used a pre-paid phone on the $10/year T-Mobile plan, starting at age 8 when the kid first started to take independent walks, walk to school, take the subway, etc. And yes, we lost a few of them, along with socks and transit cards.

Definitely get a dumb phone at this age. Plus get an account at http://www.mobilephonelocate.com/ to find the kid if you need to. For us, the kid's freedom of movement was worth the tiny risk of stranger abduction: but we made sure the kid does know to keep the phone turned on and subtly hidden, in that unlikely scenario.


If it's an Android smart phone (and I don't recommend that at age 9) then you also want: http://guides.obviously.com/find-my-pho ... ndroid/116
On the other hand, if you just want to locate the kid, but the kid can't actually talk to anyone but you, check out: http://guides.obviously.com/locator-devices/93


------

Unfortunately I have NOT found an inexpensive dumb phone with precise GPS-quality location services which match those available on a smartphone.
Is anyone aware of an option there?
TN_INVEST
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by TN_INVEST »

bloom2708 wrote:Buy a Sprint iPhone 4 (~$70 for a nice used one). Put it on Ting.com. Disable data. Have her use Wi-Fi for data needs.

The bill should be around $10/month ($6 + usage). Their pay as you go plan should allow your plan to "grow" with your daughter.
Sound advice for most folks of any age. Especially if you aren't a heavy cell-tower data user (non-wifi, that is).

Buy your phones as you would your cars...buy em used and save a ton (lots of places sell phones with warranties, so you limit your risk).

Another option is Tracfone and/or iWireless. You can get a $10 dumb phone and pay about $10-15 a month provided she isn't going to use the phone very much.
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LadyGeek
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Personal Consumer Issues forum (cellphone).
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The Wizard
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by The Wizard »

Smart phones allow GPS to be turned off to save battery.
But they can do coarse position determination using cell towers in most cases.
I assume that would be adequate for emergency purposes?
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MN Finance
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by MN Finance »

To do what?

My 9 year old just bought his own ipod touch, which is an iPhone without cell/text capabilities. This seems fairly standard among his friends. A dumb phone seems dumb, since he has no need for calls/texts and has ongoing costs. The touch is used for various apps, games, and most enjoyable is face time with grandpa every night. Having his own device is actually more manageable than fighting over netflix, ipads, kindles and laptops. He has a bank of hours he gets to allocate himself and track each week.
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Doom&Gloom
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Re: the best

Post by Doom&Gloom »

<sigh>
davebarnes wrote:iPhone 6
Your daughter deserves the best.
:sharebeer
texasdiver
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Re: cell phone for kids

Post by texasdiver »

Recently got my 11 year old a cell phone. She was flying unaccompanied across the country for a few weeks this summer to visit her grandparents and she is on a swim team that practices every evening at our local Y and our arrangements for dropping her off and picking her up are complicated and subject to last minute change if my wife gets called back to work or some such. So my wife and I wanted the ability to send her text messages when she is away to let her know of any changes in plans. She also rides the school bus home to an empty house every day and we are contemplating dropping our land line that we never answer or use anymore. So it seemed time to get her an actual phone.

She already has my wife's hand me down iPhone 4 that she uses as an iPod for everything but actual phone calls so we just wanted an actual dumb phone for texting and calling.

I went to Wal-Mart and got an ATT pre-paid Go Phone. I then pulled the SIM card out and went down to my local ATT dealer and had the Go Phone added as a 4th line to our family plan. Since I get a 25% discounted phone service from ATT (due to a contract through my employer) this was cheaper than anything else. The Go Phone from Wal-Mart was cheaper than anything they had in the ATT store. I just got a little candlebar phone with a keyboard for texting that looks sort of like an older Blackberry. By doing this we have a regular phone on our family plan but no contract so we can drop the line anytime we want.

For kids younger than HS I would not ever get a smart phone. The data will eat you alive. At HS all the kids pretty much have smart phones so you pretty much have to do it if you don't want your child to be an outcast. But at the younger ages they do fine with an old hand me down phone that has no cellular service, only WiFi. All the games and apps and music they like to mess with still works fine and they can still text and do everything, even voice calling from WiFi when they are home. My daughter is always doing face time with her friends on her old iPhone via WiFi and never really notices that she doesn't have data or cell service on it because she really only uses it at home.
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