question for the parents

Snipe do you even have kids?

 

Think about it. Many people consider a winch as a 'toy'. How many mall crawlers have you seen with a warn 9000xp sitting on the front. But if you only use it once in its life, or once a week, it is an indispensible tool for emergencies.

For a few dollars a month to pay for a cell phone contract, that is pretty cheap insurance knowing your kids could get a hold of you if god forbid, an emergency came up.

 

at 15 I mowed grass and worked at the local race track as a soda jerk.... pay sucked but I still had little cash...

I didnt get cell phone till started driving and then it was a pre-paid on card deal my mom and I shared


on teh not driving till 18-21 thing... do you want to drive your kids to work everyday..or have them not work till 18-21..? I worked since i was 14 I think, rode moped to work when I couldnt get ride from parents or grandparents... got moped permit when turned 14 at15yrs9months was allowed to get drivers permit...got license on 16th bday

I should also mention that my parents did not force me to work and its also not like they didnt support me working.. just some times they couldn't take me due to their work

ps please note I'm not an old man with the 8 miles to school up hill both ways type of story.

 

100% agreed, just like home or car insurance it sucks paying the bill when it comes but it would suck a lot more if you had something happen to your home or car and more importantly your child in this case.

 

If he runs it up to 300 bucks, it's gonna take a while for him to mow his way into that. Meanwhile you gotta pay or YOUR service gets shut off (his has to be under your name since he's a minor). But don't take me wrong, I agree 100% he should have to pay.

Thought about one of those pre-paid ones. But again, when he runs it out, you're got a choice: wait until he makes enough to have his phone put back on (so much for the emergency use) or you pay 'till he does.

Got my permit at 15/9 also. You must be from the midwest (got mine in Colorado).

That's why God invented The Bus.

I am.

 

He is usually pretty careful. The first month he had $15 in charges for some site he kept hitting. I took that from his allowance and that has been the end of it. He has been extremely careful since then. He saves every cent he can to buy RC trucks and parts or electronics and has been warned that it will be used to pay excesses on the phone bill if he abuses it. He is learning to be responsible and this is part of it. If he can't look after a phone, his chance of getting his hands on the keys to my truck or his mother's car are extremely thin.

 

You got a good son WW. Takes a good parent to make one of those. Kudos.

 

That's why God invented The Bus.

lol yeah well the bus dont run from my parents farm rd to the race track LOL i live out in country about 30 mins from town and race track is before you get into town lol...

as for the permit I live in md they may have changed the rules since then but you were allowed at 15/9 to get permit may have to be 16 now just for that not sure anymore

 

Thanks for the back pat.

 

I'm not going to get him one right now. I'm thinking next year at some point. I want him to gain a better sense of responsibility, hence the wait. I mainly want him to have one so I can stay in contact if I need to reach him right away or vice versa.
He lives with me part time and then mom. Both in the country, playin in the woods, riding bikes, 4wheeler a lot.
When I was his age I got hurt pretty good playing in the woods. Bleeding like a stuck pig. I know if I had a phone then I could have gooten help a lot faster vs. bleeding out for a good while. But I'm alive.. haha

 

I think they're great for emergencies. AT&T has a parent plan where you can set rules for certain times of the day (e.g. only phone calls to the parent's phone during school, no text during school, etc).
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/parental-controls/

 

I got a cell phone whenever I was 15 or so (10th grade)

The only reason I got one (all of my older brothers got them when they were seniors in HS) is because at that time is when the family plans starting coming out, so my parents figured an extra $10 a month would be worth it if I needed to contact them or they needed to contact me.

Honestly I didn't really use my phone that much until college.