My kids have a cell phone. And, no, I haven’t lost my mind.
Actually, we got the first phone (for the kids to share) in February. It came about by an unfortunate event with Piper. She got sick in a dance class at our former studio and was given a hard time about having to use the office phone to call me to pick her up. At that point, I began to research what the cell options were since I realized that most dancers avoided this problem by having their own phone to use.
We first looked at MagicJack which can be used free with an iPod touch and wi-fi. It actually worked really well if the wi-fi signal was strong. But, if it wasn’t super strong, the call wouldn’t take. And, while it’s really easy for the user to call out, it’s not quite as easy for someone to call in. But, for what we needed at the time, it was ok.
Then, there was a day when I got a call from our babysitter saying that the school bus hadn’t come yet. Once it was 15 minutes late, I called to school and found out that the bus had been involved in a slight accident. No kids were hurt, but it ended up taking nearly an hour before the bus dropped the kids off. I wasn’t pleased with the communication that I got from the school (pretty much non-existent) and in talking with the kids about it, I realized that most had phones and could call their parents at will. And, of course, on the flip side – the parents could call the kids! Since we were only using MagicJack at that time and the bus doesn’t have wi-fi, they couldn’t call to let us know what was happening.
After that, I began to research options with Verizon since Don and I have our phones through them. I discovered that Verizon does pre-paid plans with no contract. They offer plans for everything from smart phones to flip phones. I had no idea! After much thought, we decided to go with a traditional flip phone and the “Per Day” plan. On days that the phone is used, you pay 99-cents. If the phone call is to a Verizon customer, there is no additional cost. If the call is to a phone on another carrier, then you pay an additional 10-cents per minute. Texts cost 10-cents per and 25-cents for photo. There are other plans that are similar but encompass additional carriers if you would need to call outside of the Verizon system.
With the start of this new school year and in viewing the kids varied schedules, we decided that it was wise to get an additional phone so that each child had their own. When I mentioned this on Facebook shortly after getting the second phone, it created a huge debate on “how young is too young for a phone”. To me, this wasn’t about age … it was about:
* the kids being able to communicate with me or their babysitter at any and all times
* safety (have you watched the news lately?)
The cost of the phone and activation fee was right at $100, and the monthly cost is $15. Our monthly cost stays low because these are not phones to chat on … they are emergency phones and the kids are only allowed to call us (the parents), their babysitters, and their coach/dance teachers. Any other phone calls that they need to make must come from our family phones.
It’s unfortunate that we live in a day/time that we feel it’s necessary to have a way to communicate with our kids at all times, but it’s where we are. For me, it’s worth $30/month to know that my children are safe at all times.
* I was in no way compensated or persuaded by Verizon or LG to write this post.
