Does every 16 year old girl in America need a cell phone?

[Chicago Democrat]

My neice wants a cell phone. "Everyone" has one she says. Which I guess is true almost.


She gets a present and its what she wants. Well pay for a couple of months but want her to pay out of her babysitting money she makes eventually.


SO HELP ME DECIDE DU. Does every 16 year old girl in America need a cell phone today?


Any assistence on plans/companies/phones is appreciated.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. It IS helpful.

And it does eliminate the whole "I couldn't call you because I could get to a phone" excuse.

I'd suggest a pre-paid phone. That way when it runs out, she can pay for it herself and not run up insane charges.

[Chicago Democrat]

3. Major sellling point..

Thanks hadnt thought of that.

[dhuss]

49. True, but it does introduce the "I couldn't get a signal." n/t

D.H.

[RPM]

2. this would make a great copy cat

but for the ban on sex threads... :cry:

(i am thinking of other electronic devices...)

[jobycom]

4. She needs one, and you'll feel better knowing she can contact you

if she needs to. Teenage girls should never be in a position where they have to choose to get in a car with a drunk driver or walk. Or worse. I know that's not all she'll use it for, but it's there.

[Deep13]

47. What??!

Why is she out drinking in the first place? Perhaps her parents should teach her not to hang around with hooligans. Anyway, wherever she is has a telephone.

[jobycom]

50. That's it, though

She of course is an angel and wouldn't drink, but that doesn't mean her friends won't, and then she's stuck hanging out with drunks.

I grew up in the country, though, so I'm not used to phones being everywhere. You may be right on that.

[otohara]

5. Best Thing I Did - Get Son Cell Phone

keeps communication going, i know where he is, he calls me and lets me know when he's arrived somewhere, say like the mts. when they go skiing. Keep track of your teen and think about it - if she were in trouble, needed a ride - there are no phone booths out there - none, nada.

Now I did cancel text messaging, because the first 2 months - i saw he texted and received over 100 messages during school hours. My friends son was receiving "borderline porno texts from girls he knows" and I assume was sending back similar responses.

My son has lived w/o text messaging just fine - he can still receive, just can't reply.

[MissMillie]

6. Get one w/ a GPS locator

Then it becomes a help should she ever turn up missing.

[dajoki]

7. no!

i got rear ended by a 16 year old girl on a cell phone last year! nobody hurt at least.:scared:

[The empressof all]

8. I gave this a great deal of thought

We did get our 14 year old a Cell Phone this year and I have no regrets. We added her to our family plan for a very small amount. I look at is as a safety issue when she is out and about with her friends plus I like being able to get in touch with her at any time. Since I am still chauffeur it makes co-ordinating pick-ups easier and more time efficient.

The rule we have is that she needs to answer it when I call. So far I have had no problems. She has never exceeded her minutes but we have a massive amount because my SO is the phone yacker in the family. The 14 year old is more of a IM user and is rarely on the phone anyway. We don't use text messaging at all but I understand that it can drive up the bill.

[Left Is Write]

9. I love that my teenager has a cell phone.

She's 18 now and has had the phone since she was 15. There are many benefits:

1. She's not tying up the house phone with her many calls.
2. I can always get a hold of her when she's out and about.
3. It's easier for her to check in with me when she's out and about.
4. She can make or receive calls at night without disturbing the rest of the family.

Her father (my ex) pays her bill. She's on T-Mobile; she's got a nationwide plan with no roaming, free nights and weekends, and text messaging.

[bettyellen]

10. if you have one yourself you could also add a line cheaper ...

the prepaid is a great idea in theory, but ends up costing a lot more.
if she abuses it or doesn't pony up $$ , you can always ration it out to when you'd prefer her to have it.

[Ikonoklast]

11. When my daughter was younger, I used to help out coaching

her Little League team. One day at practice, I heard what I thought was my phone ringing, only to see one of the girls pull her phone out of her bat bag and start talking to her mom? dad? wasn't really sure who it was. I about fell over. My daughter now plays college ball so you can tell how long ago that was.

[Patiod]

12. I sneer at 16-yo girls yapping on phones all day

until I remember tying up my parents' land line with inane chatter for hours on end myself many years ago.

[GalleryGod]

30. Yes, In-deed-y !

How very quickly we forget our own marathon like blatherings:loveya:

[DebinTx]

13. Absolutely yes, and you all will be glad...

I resisted getting them for my 2 kids but finally gave in and got the family plan. One of mine is in HS band and it's come in extremely handy - when she's on her way back from a game or a performanace, she calls and I pick her up with hardly a wait. She also can call me from out of town to tell what her performance score was.
Schools now allow them (not the camera phones though) because of Columbine and 9-11, they've realized what a value the cell phones can be. Don't get caught with a camera phone on while in school though, it's immediately confiscated and only a parent can get those back.

[China_cat]

14. Other

Preprogrammed (possibly disposable) cell phone for dates. Takes the place of the phone change mothers used to insist we put in our shoe in case we got dumped somewhere for not playing the hereafter game.

[Throckmorton]

15. No, they lead to Smoking Cigarettes and Drinking Beer N/T

[hickman1937]

26. !!!!!!!!

:rofl:

[Midlodemocrat]

16. Both my teens are on our plan.

So we have four phones 2000 minutes for about $125 a month.

It really saves a lot of hassle, because public pay phones simply don't exist anymore.

[Shredr]

17. The 16 year olds I've met have had one for 2 years.

[JVS]

18. Tell her to get her own damned phone

[BroadwayBrat]

19. If you are going to get her a phone...

Go with a prepaid so there are no overages and only allow a certain amount per month, if she needs to refill it, make her pay for the new card herself. It will teach her really quick not to have it attached to her ear!

[Chicago Democrat]

20. Yes that was our original thought...

but the non-prepaid group plans seem the cheapest...

So its a tradeoff; I've got alot of shopping to do.

[SOteric]

29. It's the cheapest until your kid runs up

$500 worth of overage charges a month. I've actually seen people have to take their kids out of school to pay for junior's cell phone bills.

I guess it's a matter of knowing your daughter. Is she responsible enough...? If yes, then by all means, - get her on the family plan. Otherwise, I'm going to recommend the prepaid as decidedly cheaper in the long run. You can get a good, reconditioned prepaid cell phone for around $40 - $50 and then load it as you feel appropriate.

[LeftyMom]

21. around here girls seem to be getting them at 8-10

We have a few carriers that offer unlimited minutes for $30 or $30/month, so that eliminates the "what if she runs up a $200 bill?" worry and most young people around here seem to have one of those plans.

I think the advantages certainly outweigh the disadvantages.

[donheld]

22. Yes 16 year old girls need cell phones

they are too young to smoke, thus ruling out sending smoke signals, so they need cell phones to communicate. :evilgrin:

[ronnykmarshall]

23. Other --- thank god I don't have kids!

[tigereye]

35. Ronny

i bet if you had kids, they would have a killer sense of humor! And I can imagine the stories you would tell!

[ronnykmarshall]

39. You're probably right.

My mom and my aunt and cousins are a riot. Some of my cousins' kids are a hoot too.

[Mutley]

24. I think it would be good for her to have one for safety issues

If she or any of her friends drive she may need one if they break down or get into an accident. I'd get her prepaid though... unless she's more responsible than the average teenager she's likely to run the bill up like crazy.

[SarahB]

25. My daughter is 13 and has asked for one...

I said, when you can pay for it (maybe a pre-paid plan or something), then go for. Until then, um, I'm not footing the bill. I'm a mean mom and I don't care (or perhaps I don't want to raise brats). :D

[name not needed]

27. You could always tell her

if she runs up a high bill you'll send her to live with DS1 for a week :D

[Chicago Democrat]

31. :)

[gollygee]

28. I'll get one for my daughter by the time she reaches that age

so she can call me if:

1. practice gets out early
2. she is at a party/on a date she's uncomfortable with and wants to bail
3. I need her for some reason
4. She gets in a car accident (mabye this should be #1)

There could be other reasons too but I think a 16-year-old girl probably needs one more than I need one as a 35-year-old mom. I don't go on dates. I remember some of the awful dates I bailed on, and some I wanted to bail on but didn't have a way to get home or contact anyone easily.

[Aristus]

32. Ah! 16-year olds and their cell phones! How else can you overhear

conversations like this?:

"Um, so he goes "You like Coldplay?" and I'm like: "Yeah." He's TOTALLY into me! So, um, did Jason ask you out yet? Shut UP, he did not! Fer sure? Get OUT! Like, oh my GOD, guess what?"

[Jamastiene]

33. Yes, but only a prepaid one

for emergencies only. Absolutely, if I had a 16 year old daughter, I'd REQUIRE it in case she ends up in an emergency situation, so she can call the police and then call me to come and get her. Other than that, no not really. A landline phone should do fine for chit chatting with friends.

[xmas74]

34. get her a prepaid instead.

You could buy enough calling cards for the first couple of months and then the rest she could pay for w/ babysitting money. That way you don't have to worry about a contract or her going over on her minutes.
They can be a good idea on dates. I had a few dates in high school where I was driven out to the country after the movies and expected to put out or get out. I got out. At that time, my parents always gave me a quarter to call home but there were no pay phones 10 miles out of town (usually had to walk a mile in heels to the nearest farmhouse). This way, if she were to have a situation like this or a situation where everyone had been drinking and needed a ride home she would have access to a call.
OTOH, they can be overused for all the wrong reasons by teen girls.

[Scout1071]

36. Yes. This is a standard for all young women.

Personally for me in the '80's it was hours and hours of tying up my family's home phone. That's just the way it goes.

It's either going to be her phone or your phone.

[hickman1937]

37. I wish I'd gotten my daughter one in the 90's.

A great way to keep a tether on your kid at all times.

[texas1928]

38. There are 16 year old kids all over with cell phones here...

and they want to use them behind the wheel of a car.

SO I say no.

[stevans_41902]

42. I was in college beforemy parents let me have a cell phone.

My dad didn't like the idea of me having one, but there were a lot of times when i could have really used one to call home in times of emergency. (sometimes its hard to find a pay phone and they can be broken, her car could break down.) I think its cheaper in the long run to not get the prepaid phone - i have a plan from cingular for 1000 night/weekend and 250 daytime for $30.

[Left Is Write]

43. I'm so old....

My mom used to give me a dime "for emergencies" when I went out.

[Skittles]

44. LET you?

at age 18 I was in the military and if I recall I was making my own g.d. decisions

[texas1928]

45. That's fine I beleive for emergency and things

But these kids are jsut learning to drive, and they are trying to talk on a cell phone while doing it, as well as being distracted by friends in the car. Hell I don't talk on the phone when I am driving.

[MrSlayer]

40. A cell phone is a great electronic leash for a teen.

Just make sure one of the conditions of ownership is that she MUST always answer your/her parents calls.

[SW FL Dem]

41. My son got his first cellphone at 11.

after he missed the middle school bus twice. He's now 14 and ninety percent of his calls are to home or Dad at work. It provides peace of mind for all of us.

[Deep13]

46. What for?

I'm a lawyer and I don't have either a cellular phone or a pager. I can't imagine what is so damned important that teenagers need to be reached constantly. Besides, just how narcesssistic do you want her to be. Yeah, yeah, they are good for emergencies, but not necessary. I was a teenager in the 80's when no one had one. It didn't kill me or any of my friends. Just because something new is invented does not make it necessary.

[Deep13]

48. Now you can micromanage your teenager's life!

Teenagers need to get away from there folks once in awhile to learn how to be independent. They need to be allowed to learn from mistakes. Seems like a lot of posters are using mobile phones as extended apron strings to stifle independence in the name of safety. The idea is to raise your children to make the right descisions when parents are not around. The need to stay in constant contact is nuerotic and indicates a controlling personality.