Should I buy it for her?

Question

My 12 year old daughter Isabella wants a cell phone. My hubby and I are very over protective over her. She really wants one. She will be going into 7th grade. She said she wants one before school starts in Sep. If so? then what kind of cell phone should we buy. And also she is really mature for her age. She gets pretty good grades. Except for in science.

Answer 1

I would recommend it. If she is responsible, get her one. Invest in a good phone :)

Answer 2

Personally I will be 12 in July and going into 7th grade! She doesent need one whoever she needs to call she can use the house phone or the family cell phone!! She doesent need a cell phone unless she is being sneaky calling boys she doesent need one!!

Answer 3

this is my phone it's great and reasonably priced http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products...

Answer 4

She's 12 years old...if she wanted to have s*x in the back of your car would you let her?  She doesn't NEED a phone.  She doesn't sound all that mature if she can't afford to purchase her own phone and pay for the time herself...I wouldn't be paying for her to have a phone that's for sure.

Answer 5

Yes. Buy it for her! It would be a great experience and teach her responsibility! Get her a razr. They are good first phones.

Good luck with your daughter!

Answer 6

In my family we get them the same age but we get very basic ones, no pic text videos, or dowlading music we get a 2 year contract with no phone insurance. If they break it they wait tell their 9th grade year. In 9th grade they can pick out their own phone under $100. Good luck worked on me. Sucjh as this one in 7thhttp://www.alltel.com/wps/portal/AlltelP... actully the one I have.

Answer 7

Hmmm.  That's a tough question.  It would be peace of mind for you since you know she can reach you at any time and vice versa, but I would definately set some rules as far as texting, minutes, etc.  It's hard to know what to do when the kids are this age...

Answer 8

If you think she is mature enough to have then she is probably capable of handling one. I would shope with her to see what you both can agree upon. The one I went through for my brother who lived with me was the disney mobile website. He was able to get a phone he liked. Plus it came with tracking. I think any child who is getting a cell phone needs to have the tracking device in it.

Answer 9

I don't think a child needs a cell phone. Where does she go where there isn't a phone she can use?  My 2 nieces (ages 9 and 10) have cell phones and it drives me crazy. They only talk to their friends down the street and go to school with (in the same class), when they could simply go down the street or wait until school to talk to them. You don't really need a phone until you start driving on your own and really then only for emergencies, but 12 year old kids don't have any emergencies where they need a cell phone. It's just a waste of money and setting bad habits.

Answer 10

Yes I think you should, it's a great way to stay connected to your child.

Answer 11

I think she is too young and at an age when she does not need the distraction of a mobile phone.

Fortunately the decision is yours although you sound as though your mind is made up.

Answer 12

Yes, you should buy one for her. Just think of the advantages. If she does after school activities, then she can call you when she needs picked up and you wouldn't have to wait the whole practice. If someone terrible (God forbid) happens in school, then she can call you to let you know. You could buy her a prepaid phone and if she goes over her minutes or texting limits then she'll have to pay for the extra. You could also buy her a track phone that shows you where she is at all times.

Answer 13

if she is responsible

im 13 and i just got my phone...

but lots of ppl are saying prepaid and razrs

and i know razrs are pretty "old-fashioned" now andd they break super easily

so theres this thing in T-mobile where its prepaid sorta and she can get w/e phone she wants

and she gets 100 minutes for $20.00 and she can swithc the minutes for texting and u can always buy more minutes

for example she talks for 87 minutes and uses the rest of the minutes for text messages..

personally i dont have tht plan but it sounds real good for me and this way she wont run up the phone bill at least for a couple of years..

-lols<3

Answer 14

get her one. research the phones themselves online, and you and her decide wich one you like best for the price. me, my husband, and 2 oldest have razors, wich break very easily, all but mine have been replaced at least once in less than a year. We all get new phones next fall, and they want Rumors. we probably will just get the same phone as the kids b/c of the chargers and car chargers being the same and stuff. I also would reccomend an unlimited texting plan, which is what we have b/c of the 13 yr old. she texted over like $200 the first bill, so we made her pay that back, and upped the texting to unlimited....and also the pic mail...teens go crazy over that stuff. good luck, u will enjoy always being able to get ahold of her too!

Answer 15

I am 12 and I have a blue razor. I love my phone, it's especially fun to text and stuff! You should get her one!!!

Answer 16

Figures. She just wants it to fit in with the other kids. Why not get her a trac phone. Less expensive than paying for your daughters texting and hours of being on the phone. U might regret it.

Answer 17

Me personally would not buy a cell phone unless all grades are in good standard.

I have  a 12 year old and she cannot have a cell phone, due to the fact she uses the house  phone and pretty much i have to monitor her phone calls only because she is 12 years old and at this age they are still vulnerable to everything.

Answer 18

If you already have a contract cellphone accountin your name, you can purchase one for your daughter & just add it to your account.

However, I would recommend a Prepaid service regardless if you have an account or not. Having a prepaid cell will allow your daughter to learn responsibilty since she will only have XX mins for the entire month (also, it will keep you from seeing an unexpected Overage Charge on YOUR cell bill)Since she is 12, Virgin Mobile is geared toward adolescents/tweens/teens & have a lot of free stuff she can do, some will actually give her bonus minutes on her phone for participating (the service is called Sugar Mama). at&t, Tracphone are a few more good prepaid services & have reasonably priced phones that would also fit your need.

I've added Virgin Mobile's web below so you can take a look at their plans, phones, etc.

www.virginmobileusa.com

Answer 19

Why not make her save and pay for the phone herself? Then if you can add her to your cell phone plan it shouldn't cost that much more. My kids phones only add $10 each per month(we have no texting) and they have to pay for half out of there allowance.  Also for half the insurance. I am hopong this is teaching them something about responsibility. When they really want to start text messaging they will have to pay for a monthly plan for that. Hope this helps.

Answer 20

Env's are good, i have one.

try a flip phone?

Answer 21

yes if you guys are over protective then let her get one because do you know how many bad people are out there.

I would get her one on the line

Answer 22

I think she is old enough to have one. I bought one for my 9 & 7 yr old kids... bcuz they walk home from school sumtimes. They are little so I bought sumthing not to expensive. I bought a "virgin mobile" one. They have pretty good deals. I got the plan that's $36 for 300 anytime minutes & 1000 night & weekends.

I'd recommend u get the T-mobile prepaid (since she wants the sidekick).

There's is also a new company (i have not tried it) but a lot of people is saying good things about it. The name is Metro PCS $35 unlimited calls, txt, & e mail. The only thing I've heard is that it has bad signal in remote areas (like mountains, or desert, etc)

WHATEVER U DECIDE MAKE SURE U GO "PREPAID" .... NO MATTER HOW RESPONSIBLE KIDS ARE THEN TEND TO GO OVER THEIR MIN'S (NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY MIN'S THEY USED.... THEY GET LOST IN THE CONVERSATION). I'VE SEEN VERY MANY OF MY RELATIVES & FRIENDS LEFT WITH THOUSANDS OF $$$ IN DEBT WITH THE CELL COMPANIES CUZ OF THEIR KIDS.

Answer 23

I would get her a phone.  I got a phone in june of grade 5.  I am in gade 7 now now so you might not belive me but I would get her a nice phone and pick it out with her so you do not get the wrong phone.  I would also get insurence it only costs aroud $6 a mouth and it is worth it.  If your phone breaks you only have to pay a $50 claim.  That is how it works with verizon.  I have verizon and my parents added me to their family plan (best way to go)  also get her her a nice phone because at that age you kind of get made fun of if you have a bad phone.  If I were you I would take her to the store with me so you can get all the feathers and stuff like that their

Answer 24

i think you  definitely should buy it for her

if she gets good grades then she earned it

she is 12 years old and you should trust her with it

a cell phone is a great way to keep track of her whenever she needs you, an emergency or something

get her the cell phone and see if anything happens like grades drop or anting else then you can take it away.

Answer 25

First off she is only 12 so just get her something simple. My 10year old brother has one and its a Nokia flip phone. Nokia's are great...I highly recomend them ESPECIALLY for young ones. They are very durable and last alot longer and are harder to break. I dont know where you are from but if you have T-mobile where you live I would go thru them....They have a child protection type program...Im sure other wireless providers do too. You can monitor when she can recieve calls and make calls. Its really cool. And alot of places have great rates to add on phones. T-Mobile is only $10 extra per line. Good luck...I would definatly get her one....alot of kids have them these days...I think its good for parents also because you can call them anytime. Good responsablity lesson too! GOOD LUCK!

Answer 26

Kids don't need Cell Phones.  Kids need to be outside playing, not on the phone talking to their friends.

I got my daughter a phone when she first started to drive.  Just in case she had a breakdown on the road.

I've only had a cell phone for 3 yrs.  Just because I drive a half hour to work each day in a rural area.

Answer 27

I would get her a more simple phone for her first phone.  Getting her some of the phones you listed would greatly encourage her to send many texts...which makes the bill go up quickly unless you plan on adding some text addition to it.  She is only 12 and doesn't have after-school activities, so the phone doesn't have to be an expensive one.  In another 1 to 2 years when she shows that she has had more experience and shows more responsibility about the phone, she could then get a more expensive and complex phone.