Twenty years ago, the telecommunications issues facing the American family involved nothing more than teenagers who were spending too much time on the phone. Times have changed and so have the phone needs of the family. Now, any family with teenage children needs to maintain multiple cell phones and a complex calling plan. Making sure that your children use their cell phone responsibly can be a daily struggle. With that in mind, we’ve provided the following tips to help parents best manage their young callers – without racking up huge bills or overage minutes.

Tips for Cell Phones and Kids

Here is some expert advice about how to make sure your kids take good care of their cell phone and also act in a responsible manner in terms of usage.

* Tell your kids to keep their phone close at all times. Leaving a cell phone on a table or is a discarded jacket pocket is all the opportunity a thief needs to swoop in and make their move. Even if you’ve purchased an unlocked discount cell phone for your child, it is still an expense, and one that should be protected with smart behavior.

* Always review your child’s cell phone bill. While nobody wants you to invade the privacy of your children, it is important to review their bills for more reason that one. For one thing, you need to watch their usage minutes to insure that they don’t go over their limit and incur significant fees. Second, there may be people you do not want your child communicating with at all. A quick scan of their bill for unrecognized phone numbers

* A cell phone is a privilege and not a right. Remind your kids that the non-essential use of their cell phone is a privilege – and one that can be taken away at any time if the child chooses not to follow the rules.

* Cell phone use should be limited to emergencies. Some parents feel strongly that their younger children should not have a cell phone until they are older – however, they do like the certain level of safety that the phone provides. For these families, you can give the child a cell phone, with the express instruction that it only be used in the case of an emergency.

* Find a good calling plan. The best calling plans let you share minutes among family members. If you have more than one child with a phone this can make monthly minute budgeting much easier to handle. Also, look for “friends and family” calling plans that allow your kids to program in the names and numbers of their best friends. Once they do, provided that the other person is eligible for the program, all calls to that number are free. Finally, look for plans that allow you to “roll over” minutes from one month to the next. With these plans, any unused minutes can be added to your available time the following month.

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