Quoted: Quoted: Daughter:  "Daddy!  I'm at this party and everybody's I'm really drunk and it's getting really wierd.  I'm scared!  Can you come get me?  I crashed the car when I tried to get home Please?" I would have to say yes. -K reality checked

I wouldnt listen about reality from someone who posts 80+ times a day

Quoted: My daughter is 10 and has a cellphone. We got it for her mostly for safety concerns relating to after school activities such as softball practice, emergencies, etc. Balming

My 13 year old neice has had one for about 2 years.  Virgin Mobil phone, 20 dollars every 3 months.  Just for emergencies only.

Yes.

I gave my daughter her first cell phone when she was EIGHT!!!

It's your daughter! - - think about all the pervs out there! Isn't the cost of 10 or 20 bucks a month worth it??

Quoted: Quoted: oh come on now...they feed me cause they love me and if they didnt i would die...they clothe me cause if they didnt i would get arrested for indecent exposure. a phone is what working pays of for. then this thread should be "should i let my daughter GET A JOB to pay for a cell phone? when i turned 16 i was given a choice: get a job to pay for a car, or don't have a car. the cell phone was a BONUS that i bought with the left over money from having a job. you're at an age where you should start to think about not taking food and clothing for granted.  GET A JOB, and THEN start negotiations.

HAHA!!! very funynot...well i would "GET A JOB" but i first, as i said earlier, have to have a way to get TO a job. then i would buy my own cell.( i would be PROUD to pay for my own cell)

Quoted: I wouldnt listen about reality from someone who posts 80+ times a day

i'm probably a lot less removed from the bullshit highschool life than you are.  believe me, i am WELL aware of how this shit happens.

mommy *bats eyelashes* daddy *bats eyelashes* can i have a cell phone? i swear, i'll only use if for emergencies, and MAYBE to call my b/f *bats eyelashes* PLEEEEEEEASE

Just let her use yours for a few months.  Use it as a test period, and see how she handles it.  How often is she out and about that she can't find a means to contact you otherwise?

If she really needs it for contacting you to update you on her whereabouts and for emergencies, then explain to her that it is only to be used to contact you two or to call in case of an emergency.  It's never to be used to call a friend.

If that's the REAL reasons she wants it, then she shouldn't have any problem in not calling her friends and gabbing all day/night long.  If she's using it to call her friends, then you'll really know the reason she wanted it.  Then she'll be busted, and she'll lose her phone privileges.

Quoted: Yes. I gave my daughter her first cell phone when she was EIGHT!!! It's your daughter! - - think about all the pervs ARFCOMMERSout there! Isn't the cost of 10 or 20 bucks a month worth it??

There fixed that too!

Quoted: Yes. I gave my daughter her first cell phone when she was EIGHT!!! It's your daughter! - - think about all the pervs out there! Isn't the cost of 10 or 20 bucks a month worth it??

on that logic, you should be giving her a kel tec, not a cell phone

I survived all through my teen years without a cell phone. No pervs got me, if I crashed my car there were plenty of people to call 911, I made it through the 90's just fine.

Job first, car second, cell phone last. It's the right way of doing it.

Quoted: Job first, car second, cell phone last. It's the right way of doing it.

THANK YOU!

Quoted: Quoted: I wouldnt listen about reality from someone who posts 80+ times a day i'm probably a lot less removed from the bullshit highschool life than you are.  believe me, i am WELL aware of how this shit happens. mommy *bats eyelashes* daddy *bats eyelashes* can i have a cell phone? i swear, i'll only use if for emergencies, and MAYBE to call my b/f *bats eyelashes* PLEEEEEEEASE

How old is your daughter ?

I guess i will get the phone, God knows there enough arfco... i mean pervs out there.


she is 17.

Quoted: Quoted: Yes. I gave my daughter her first cell phone when she was EIGHT!!! It's your daughter! - - think about all the pervs out there! Isn't the cost of 10 or 20 bucks a month worth it?? on that logic, you should be giving her a kel tec, not a cell phone

Wouldn't that be illegal?

DAMN!!! 10 replies in one thread. I have to go or i will ruin my image as a lurker.


thanks for the input.

I got a job and a car when I was 16.

Cell phones didn't exist.

I survived.  

Quoted: I guess i will get the phone, God knows there enough arfco... i mean pervs out there. she is 17.

Good.  


Just the other day i was thinking to myself: "you know, self, there really aren't enough 17 year old girls driving around talking on cell phones."

Quoted: Quoted: Yes. I gave my daughter her first cell phone when she was EIGHT!!!  It's your daughter! - - think about all the pervs out there! Isn't the cost of 10 or 20 bucks a month worth it?? on that logic, you should be giving her a kel tec, not a cell phone

Um.... she's got a Ruger MKII, and a Marlin .22 Rifle, not to mention experience with 5 different weapons including an AR!!!!, as well as martial arts classes, and... let's just say if SHTF and she is the alleged victim, there will be some dickwad with busted nuts and a broken nose. And when dad shows up, there will be nothing to worry about other than a blood stain on the carpet because dad's friends will provide the gators their next meal. (of course I don't condone the use of violence or vigilantism and fully support the police in their investigation, and the courts to adjudicate as applicable, and the rights of the accused.)






(rapists, child molesters?? yea, I support your right to legal counsel -> )

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Yes. I gave my daughter her first cell phone when she was EIGHT!!! It's your daughter! - - think about all the pervs out there! Isn't the cost of 10 or 20 bucks a month worth it?? on that logic, you should be giving her a kel tec, not a cell phone Wouldn't that be illegal?

details....details...

Quoted: DAMN!!! 10 replies in one thread. I have to go or i will ruin my image as a lurker. thanks for the input.

That's what Arfcom General Discussion is all about: giving parental advice.

Most kids I know got cellphones at 11, and some even pay the phone bill for it.

Quoted: I got a job and a car when I was 16. Cell phones didn't exist. I survived.

+1

there is no need for it.  One thing a cell phone does do is allow parents to focus their attention somewhere else while the school, sports, activities, cell phones and AOL IM raise the kids (not referring to you Dad , I'm watching it happen to my sisters kids).  It is absolutely obsurd.  If you have to even ask ARFCOM just go ahead and get it for her I know the outcome of this one already.  

Better yet - if it's only for driving and emergencies get her a 3 watt bag phone or a Globalstar sat phone with the whopper antenna.  Better reception anyway and it wont have to leave the car or she can carry it in the hand bag......that will go over like a turd in a punch bowl I promise you.

SC

are you freaking crazy?

Quoted: Quoted: I got a job and a car when I was 16. Cell phones didn't exist. I survived.   +1 there is no need for it.  One thing a cell phone does do is allow parents to focus their attention somewhere else while the school, sports, activities, cell phones and AOL IM raise the kids (not referring to you Dad , I'm watching it happen to my sisters kids).  It is absolutely obsurd.  If you have to even ask ARFCOM just go ahead and get it for her I know the outcome of this one already.   Better yet - if it's only for driving and emergencies get her a 3 watt bag phone or a Globalstar sat phone with the whopper antenna.  Better reception anyway and it wont have to leave the car or she can carry it in the hand bag......that will go over like a turd in a punch bowl I promise you. SC

Why not get her a prepaid phone with 2 hours talk time for $35. If she wears it out in a month you know she is not able to handle it..

Can you even get a bag phone anymore? them damn things had reception everywhere.

Just make sure that it is a prepaid one that SHE pays for.  She will say that she wants a monthly bill and will not be stupid, but if you give her a cell phone on your account, you can expect a several hundered dollar phone bill that she will insist is an error and will not be able to understand how it happened. ---- I am speaking from experience.
Secondly, do NOT let your wife say it is alright to give your other daughter a cell phone, as the same exact thing will happen multiple times!!!!!!!  -  - speaking again from experience.


ktm500

Quoted: title says it all

Of course.
Take a $900 security deposit. When she goes over the minutes allocated per month, you take a cut out of the security deposit to cover it. Once, the security deposit is used up, take the phone away or reload the security deposit.
Some people, i.e. women, don't realize how many minutes they are on a cell phone until their first cell phone bill arrives.

Have a nice day and God bless.

Cell phones are good for emergencies and just plain old keeping track of your kids.  I say get her one (a track phone) but make her buy the minutes.

I got my cell phone for my 16th birthday present. If you are her constant companion, then there is no need. If she is driving and has car trouble, she can probably just hitch a ride with the first person that stops. Are you crazy? Get that girl a cell phone and tell her its alright to talk to her friends and whatnot, but not over the alotted number of minutes in her plan, and the point of that phone is so you never have to worry about where she is.

Today's world isn't one where if you break down or are in an accident or are lost, you can just get out of your car and walk over to the pay phone. For your daughter's safety, and your peace of mind, get her a phone.

All this "if she's old enough for a phone, she's old enough to pay for it" crap is stupid. Sure, its good responsibilty and shows maturity, but if something ever happened to your daughter similar to what happened to Elizabeth Smart, etc. just because she had to walk to a pay phone, you would never forgive yourself. I know I wouldn't. Think it over, I think you know what you oughta do.

Just get her a pre-paid, the deal I worked out with my parents a while back was- they would pay the minimum amount to keep the service (with my plan right now it would be $25/3 months (100 minutes)). If I use up all those minutes in the meantime I have to pay for the additional minutes myself. I now have so many minutes built up I've wasted a bunch of them on those stupid ringtons and games (there is no way I'm going to use up over 1000 minutes I've racked up from roll-over).

Quoted: title says it all

Shouldn't your daughter be asking for a glock or something more productive?

Go to CVS and get her a track phone. You buy a phone card dail the number in and when the mins run out thats it and you get a new phone card and dial them in again. You get to keep the mins you don't lose them every month.

Having a cell phone can be a lifesaver. Personally I think she should have one…

That being said she needs to understand that a cell phone is not for chatting on, ever. There’s not any real reason for any cell call to last over about two minutes. And for God’s sake, please no talking on the fool thing while in public or while driving.

Good use:

Hi Dad. my car won’t start and I’m in the movie theater parking lot. Can you come get me?

Or,

Hi Dad. I’m leaving work right now and I’m going to go through the drive through on my way home. Do you want a burger?

Or better yet?

Hi Dad. Listen, Johnny drove me out to Makeout Point and wanted to fool around. I said “No” but he tried to put his hand down my shirt… Could you please come up here? I need help burying his body.

But a cell phone shouldn’t be used for…

Hey Suzie, I heard that Bobbie said that Sally was going to dump Mark and start dating Andrew and bla, bla, bla….

Pre-paid might be the way to go here.

Some of us at work came up with the idea of a cell phone that would only dial certain numbers. That way you could give it to kids and they could only call Home, Grandma, and the police. (Or whatever numbers were programmed into it.)

honestly i think everybod ythat age has a cellphone. I mean who doesn't these days?

I'd say yea, but i don't have any kids.. .my 11yr old nephew has one though

Quoted: I have two daughters one 14 and one 16. They have both had cel phones for about 2 years. In that two years they have committed one minor transgression which cost about $80. I view the phones as a comfort item for myself and my wife and a conveniece item for the girls. We both work and the girls are active in sports , church,band and miscellaneous social activities. I get great comfort from knowing I can contact them at virtually any time and verify their condition/location and they in turn can contact me should the need arise. If you are willing to trust your daughter with an automobile and all the attendant risks that go with that , why can't you trust her with a phone? Now is the time for her to be learning responsibilities and probably the ramifications of not being responsible.How long would you want your 17 year old to be sitting on the side of the road needing help? Not very damn long I'm guessing. At what cost? A $100 phone bill or an accident in an automobile? If my daughter couldn't be trusted with one(phone) she sure wouldn't be trusted with the other(car). I have however specificly instructed her NOT to operate the phone and auto simultaneously and should I find that she has done so will immediately lose use of the auto. People call them electronic leashes and I suppose this is an accurate assesment but I for one wouldn't want to raise two teenage girls without them.I say get her/you a phone , set reasonable limits on it's use and let technology be your friend .

I dont have any kids, but if I did, especially daughters, these were already my thoughts on it.

Dman I woulda been a great Dad. If only I liked kids!



No way in hades my daughter would leave the house without a cell phone.

phone is a consumer item...she has to become a producer before she can afford to consume...If you require her to either work for it and pay you or else do certain work around the house to pay for it, and you add it to your bill (which would be cheaper) , then you can monitor the calls and take it away if she defaults.  

I personally aquired and paid for my own phone at 16 (parents signed contract because I was a minor) If I went over, I paid. I think that's a good option right there (BTW I'm 23 now)

I was 18 before I got my phone.

Quoted: I have two daughters one 14 and one 16. They have both had cel phones for about 2 years. In that two years they have committed one minor transgression which cost about $80.

ha.  that you know of...

Quoted: well...i have a friend over who just bought herself a new phone and would like to sell me her old phone for $20 (which she paid 30 for.) it has prepaid minuts and the only real problem is that we would have to change the number so her ex-b/f will not be able to call it anymore. as to your other question...i do not have a way to pay for my own minuts but i WOULD be very willing to get a job to do so...if i had a car to get to it with.

don't know if numbers can be changed on pre-paid cell phones.  and if so, it probably costs 20 bucks...

and for a third reply in the thread...my little sister has had a phone since she was about 14.  She and my mom put together use about 1/4 of the minutes that I use per month - we're on a 3 phone 1000 minute / month Verizon plan (80 bucks a month), but mine are all work or school related unless it's after 9 pm which is free.  That said, I also foot my portion of the bill in one way or another.  (You need the ceiling painted?  alright...)

We gave our 12 y.o. daughter a cell phone for when she went to Washington DC last year, and she pretty much has been keeping it. Of course, we don't have a home phoneline , and my wife go ttired of having our daughter's friends call her cell phone at work looking for our daughter. Mainly it is so she can get ahold of us in an emergency. She doesn't abuse the phone with long conversations.

SO, I guess it depends on your kid.

No Expert

Yes, but on a prepaid deal. Once the money runs out, no more minutes for the rest of the month.

No!

Quoted: Hi Dad. Listen, Johnny drove me out to Makeout Point and wanted to fool around. I said “No” but he tried to put his hand down my shirt… Could you please come up here? I need help burying his body.

   That's funny right there, if only I had room in my sig!

No Expert

yes if not to be used while driving, otherwise no for the sake of all other drivers.

If your daughter is reading these responses, then ***LANGUAGE WARNING***

No female under the age of 35 should be allowed to have a cellular phone.  These damned 18 year old freshman females drive me insane with the damned things.  I single out idiot females in particular because I never see guys do this around here.  A few examples:

A)  During every single class, at least two of the damned things will go off on their own accord.  And it isn't even the damned ringing or chirping noises anymore.  Now I have to listen to the rapper Shitbag sing about "bitches 'n ho's" for over a minute while the idiot student in question freezes and looks around with a brainless expression on her face like SHE DOESN'T KNOW IT IS HER OWN DAMNED PHONE GOING OFF RIGHT NEXT TO HER, then finally roots around in her bookbag causing more disturbance before finally finding the phone which is invariably in the very bottom of the bag.  Then, instead of turning the damned thing off, SHE OPENS IT TO SEE WHO IS CALLING!  To make this worse, it is intentional.  How do I know?  She example B

B) Every female in every class will instantly go right to their phone upon the end of the class and will manage to find it in their bookbag, get it into their hand, open it, and dial a number within a matter of seconds.  They will be chattering to their idiot friend within seconds of leaving their seats.  Invariably, said idiot females will hear something that causes their feeble minds to shut down either right as they get to the exit from the row, or right as they get to the door from the room, or both, and will stop as they try to process what they just heard.  This will cause a huge backup of people trying to get out of the room.  Repeat this for every idiot female in the class.

C) The idiot females then proceed to walk around campus chattering into the damned phones, annoying everyone who can hear them with their mindless chattering.  It is like a flock of freaking pigeons.  Not only that, you repeat the traffic congestion problems seen in the classroom all over campus.

D) Then there are the 18 year old idiot females who can't drive to begin with, yet feel the need to gibber into their cellphones while driving.  It doesn't exactly improve their driving abilities.  Not to mention they are driving menacing paid-for-by-daddy SUVs that would turn my ancient little truck into a pile of dust upon impact.

The only saving grace is that massive cellphone usage must microwave their brains, because most of them, along with the scrawny idiot freshman males...another rant entirely...who spread TB and other diseases stemming from their total lack of hygeine, fail out around the time football season ends, leaving the rest of the year relatively pleasant and idiot free.

Most females that age do not know how to handle cell phones.  I'm sure some do.  The benefits outweigh the aggravation for most parents, but please teach her how to use the thing responsibly if you do get her one.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: hello, this is the daughter...i feel i need 1 b/c i now have a liscense and i have to have a way to call my mom and dad to let them know where i am and, in case i have an accident, be able to call someone.

So shes a computer hacker too.

Quoted: Quoted: I have two daughters one 14 and one 16. They have both had cel phones for about 2 years. In that two years they have committed one minor transgression which cost about $80. ha.  that you know of...

I pay the bill dude and I'm not an absentee parent.

Quoted: I would say it depends on her maturity level. If you do decide, I would strongly suggest that you put her on a prepaid plan and pay whatever you think is sufficent at the beginning of the month. If she uses it all in the first 2 days, tell her tough and that she will have to wait a month before it works again.

Prepaid phone subscriptions are designed for teenage girls.

Speaking from expeirence, I let myself get roped into this one late last year for my 14 year old who started High School. She spent over 12000 minutes on the phone in 1 month, yet couldn't clean her room.

Ho lee fuck. You should be able to negotiate for some serious big-ass volume deal.

kids around here get them at around 12.

It seems to be piece of mind and for convenience because so many times, its "drop the kids at b'ball practice", "stay after school for academic team practice", etc.  Easier on busier parents and such...especially if you live out in the country like we do and its a good 10 mile trek to school.

My daughter knows if she loses it, she waits 6 months for replacement and pay part of it herself.

Its cheap for us here as its a 10 dollar add on to our current plan with cingular. You can share minutes and rollover minutes. At one point we had like 5000 rollover minutes so after a while, I didn't worry about her talking on it.  However, she doesn't like to talk on it anyway....so all works out in the end.