Your teen by now is probably looking to have a cell phone. Teen cell phone usage is growing. One third of all teen or tweens are carrying a cell phone. As a parent you need to decide if a cell phone is the right choice. Most teens are out and about, making a cell phone a good choice for you and for them. You can use the phone as a way of keeping curfew. Or, you may choose to receive a picture mail from your teen after they arrive at an event.

Parents are often worried about costly bills coming from teen cell phone usage. All of the following features of plans can cost you: Extra minutes text messages, email, Internet usage, picture mail, and ring tones. There are many choices of plan that may fit into you or your teen's budget. If overuse is a concern you may consider a TracFone or other types of prepaid wireless plans. Your teen will have all of the features of a standard cell phone, without the costly features. With prepaid plans you will need to help your teen learn how to manage their remaining cell phone minutes. However, your teen should be responsible enough to manger their own cell phone usage. Paying for phones and service is another choice you will need to make. By making your teen responsible for the bill you may be able to help them control their own usage naturally.

Several plans exist that may or may not meet you needs. You can select a Stand Alone Plan where your teen will have their own phone, plan, and bill. You can control the number of minutes they have in this plan, but not prevent them from going over. However, you can view their usage each month on a bill or online, including dialed numbers. Add A Phone Plan consists of adding a phone to your line. In a lot of cases you can do so with little cost and may even get a free cell phone for your teen. Picking free phone for a teen may be a challenge due to cell phone styles. This is where you may decide to allow them to pay for which ever phone they may want. You teen will be using your minutes within your shared plan. This option does not prevent over usage. Prepaid Plans allow you to select a phone that does not require a service contract. These phone come with the same features, but are not tied to an account. To use the cell phone you or you teen must purchase minutes. The minutes may be managed to talk or to use features like email and text messaging. The only downfall to this option is the cost of each purchase minute.

When selecting a plan you will want to keep the following in mind:

What is the basic monthly charge?
How many anytime minutes are included?
How many free night and weekend minutes are included?
What is per minute airtime rate if included minutes are exceeded?
What is the long distance charge? (most now include long distance)
Are there roaming charges when you are outside your local area? If so, how much per minute?
What are the hours per day for peak versus off-peak minutes?
What is the charge for text messages, email, internet, and picture mail?
What is the length of time for the contract if any?
Can you make changes to the plan during the contract period?
What is the cost of termination during the contract period?
Is insurance available on the phone. (protect your teen cell phone from damage)

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From: http://www.mychildtoday.com/Teenager/Advice/Development/Teen-Cell-Phone.asp