Phone Time For a 14year old?

Question

a 14 year old: how much time on the phone?
she is allowed a certain time to talk on it everynight after homework, chores etc. what is a normal time to talk on the phone for a teen without them causing the bill to go over. we are on a shared plan and i split the minutes up between the two of us. what are some suggestions. i feel like i am holding the phone prisoner from her and i need help!
the reason she has a limit each night is because when she was living with her mom, she ran up the phone bill numerous times and cannot be trusted with a phone.

ps we do not have a home phone for her to use. a cell is all we have!

Answer 1

If your daughter is 14 she should be able to understand that you only have so many minutes and if you go over it is very costly. I would figure up how many minutes she can use per day during the billing cycle and set that as her limit. If you don't give her a limit she will live on the phone, I know I would have when I was her age. If she fights you on it maybe you could let her talk as she wants and just keep track of how long, and when her minutes are up see how she likes going through the rest of the month without getting to use it at all. But even if you had a home phone, a limit is always best for a teen. I know that if my parents were out when I was that age I would stay on the phone the entire time until I heard them drive back up, and if they had let me I would have been on the phone from the time I got home til the time I went to bed. Holding the phone prisoner and not letting her use it all the time is a good thing. Keep up the good work, she will understand one day, unfortunately not soon enough to make your life easier.

Answer 2

As a city dweller who spends time around younger folks, I can't stress this enough: You need to be really firm about cell phone etiquette and respecting the personal boundaries of others. Too often whem I am in movie theatres and other inappropriate places, teenagers and younger folks think they are entitled to behave in such a manner, often leading to confrontations and just lower quality of life. The cell phone driving and even cell phone rage incidents are safety issues that really need to be taken seriously. Also, school and family time should be much higher priorities anyway. Also, it is teaching kids to be fiscally irresponsible when you let them run up huge bills and not pay their share; it will carry over into more important matters in adulthood. So to answer your question, you were probably doing the right thing to begin with; I would say no more than 30 to 45 minutes a day, except maybe on weekends. Technology is wonderful, but employing it wisely is even better. We really need to do a better job teaching the younger generation the respect and morality that comes with the technology. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I personally think that it would come out better getting home phone service also, that way you can have her on the home phone instead of the cell phone, try getting a plan with just basic services, nothing fancy needed, also that way the cell phone can be used when you need to call her and in case of emergencies, you know she probably wont go over her minutes or go into yours, workes out better, also it would come out to the same expenses because the charges most cell phone companies have for every text and minutes overages and what not are crazy, it would work out better also so you can answer her calls and kind of get an idea of what kind of people she is talking to, (older guys) etc.. shes only 14 after all, Most dont get one until they are working to pay for the bills. good luck

Answer 4

get her a cell under her name but do it as a pay as you go..the reason for this she can only talk on a 10 min card and if it runs out she has to find some way to get another card..there is also another idea to which I'm not sure in your state. Have the phone serves put on a toll block..what this does it stop her from calling to places that are long distance if you want to do it that way..if not the cell s the better idea..or give her some change and tell her to go to a pay phone..one other thing having a cell is alot more costly then a home phone.you don't get changer as much like a cell does

Answer 5

A fourteen year old can talk a heckuva lot on the phone, and can easily spend all evening doing so - if you're on a typical phone plan, it'll be free after nine and on weekends. You could tell her she could only talk during that time, or maybe an hour a night?

A good idea is also to buy her an unlimited text program - that way, she can 'talk' with her friends for a flat rate. Kids that age tend to like texting, and it's cheaper than talking - or encourage her to use messengers online, sinec those are a lot cheaper. With friends of course!

Answer 6

I don't know where you live. But in California we have something called Metro. You pay a flat fee of $54 an month and you child can talk and text all he/she wants with out having a real high phone bill. I think that is the best for these teens to have since they like to text alot and be on the phone alot.

Answer 7

I'm also 14 years old and my mom lets me use as much time as i want cuz i dont use much

if she talks a lot on the phone, she should b allowed to talk only certain amount of time, depending on the minutes you have
(i.e if u have 1000 minutes, u should let she use about 400minutes)
tell her to split the 400 minutes herself and use as much as she wants to with her time
if she goes over the minutes, just take her phone away cuz u know shes not responsible

Answer 8

Every city has an "unlimited minutes" phone service. The phone can only be used within the city limits but is unlimited and typically very affordable. Look into one of those for her. Or give her her own laptop/computer and let her chat with her friends.

www.metropcs.com is a carrier like this
www.mycricket.com is another

Look for the commercials, adds and sources like this in your area.

Answer 9

I think that teens should have a good bit of limited time on the phone....

I remember being a teen and spending too much time on the phone was how I got in most of the trouble I got into...

I also think that it is good for phone time to be supervised....

Most of the people I know that spent limited time on the phone as teens...stayed out of a lot of trouble....

Answer 10

i think that you should get a home phone i am a 14 yr old girl and i will talk on the phone for like 4 or 5 hours if i have the chance or i will be on myspace or messenger or watever... whatever way i can talk to my friends and my boyfriend so i would say get a home phone or if she gosent have 1 get her a myspace and yahoo messenger so she can keep in touch with her friends


♥ rissa