
Having cellphone is becoming a great trend even with the young ones, a cell phone is a must have. Parents most of the time are being faced with a decision to either get their kids a cellphone or not. However, if you decided to finally give your kids a cellphone here are some tips that I got from NorthTexasKids Magazine. These are simple ways that we as a parent can do to make the buying experience easier.
1.
Understand your current plan. Children use up minutes and text messages allocations quickly and they will also make use of extra features, like picture messaging and music download. Knowing what your plans support will help you decide what your new cost will be.
2.
Spend some time researching potential phones. Before you walk into the store with your child, make sure that you did all your research on which phone you are buying. Look for phones with camera, a very popular feature with young people and phones with integrated music player. Phones that protect their screens, like flip phones offer less risk of accidental damage. Some phones will require you to sign up for additional services to make use of their features; make sure you understand those costs.
3.
Explain to your child how a cellphone works. Children will not understand about peak and off peak hours, text messages charges, weekend rates and other things that affect your bill. Explain to them what's a "free" and what's not: the times when the cellphone can be used without incurring different charges, that you get charged for all text messages incoming and outgoing, and that downloading a music or games costs money.
4.
Set ground rules for cellphone use. Let your child know what is to be expected in terms of late calls, downloading things, etc. Go over your school's rules for cell phone usage on campus.
5.
Help your child practice safe cell phone use. Work out with your child what to do if they get an improper call (hang up and report it to you to start). Tell them always to look at caller ID before answering and let unknown callers roll to voice mail. They can pick up the message later and return the call if it is okay. Don't be afraid to get involved if the situation persists.
6.
Accessories. Keep the accessories, especially the manuals, in a place where you can find them if you need them. If the cellphone accepts a memory card, buy some extra memory for the phone. You can get a 1 GB card for less than $20 that will hold lots of pictures and songs.
7.
Read your bill. Your bill provided plenty of detail about when and who your child is calling/text messaging. This allows you to discreetly monitor their use of the phone and helps you see how they are using it.
8.
Review your plan - again. Once you have seen a couple of bills including your child's new phone, this is a good time to see if you need to make any changes to your plan, like adding unlimited text messaging or increasing your shared minutes.
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