I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence-Central for Virgin Mobile. I received a sample device to facilitate my review and a thank you item for participating.
My daughter has been begging me for a cell phone since last Christmas. She is convinced her seven year old cousin has her own cell phone. So if she has one, why can’t my daughter? You’ve heard those arguments before, right? But here’s the kicker – my daughter is only six years old. She wants a cell phone, now. I was able to talk her into asking Santa Claus for an Easy Bake Oven instead of a cell phone last Christmas. All year she has been asking what age she has to be to get her own cell phone. What do you think parents,
How old should kids be to get their own cell phone?
[Tweet “How old should kids be to get their own cell phone? #VirginMobileMom”]
I have vaguely given her an answer. Usually it is something like middle school age, or when she is 12 or 13. What is the average age kids are getting cell phones in your community? I realize that technology and cell phone usage has sky rocketed among young kids. I mean both of my kids have their own apps on our cell phones and we have three tablets in our house that they can use. They are quite technologically advanced. More so than I was at their age.
This month we had the chance to try out an amazing customizable cell phone plan from Virgin Mobile. Parents, if your kids have a cell phone, do you control their mobile phone plan? If not, I’d like to share with you how easy it is with Virgin Mobile to custom build a plan for every member of the family. {Pretty cool, huh?} I am a pretty big fan of pay-as-you-go no contract cell phones. Virgin Mobile not only offers this, but they allow parents to add lines to their plan starting at $6.98 per month! Then, you build the plan for each line you add. You get to choose talk, text, and data usage for each line. It is so cool. But, not just that, you get to decide what apps your kids can use, and even what time of day they are allowed to use them. This is exactly the kind of control I want to have when my daughter is twelve years old.
[Tweet “Parents, if your kids have a cell phone, do you control their mobile phone plan? #VirginMobileMom”]
To try out this very cool mobile phone plan, we were sent an LG Unify and a $35 plan. So for a month, my six year old has a phone. Yep. She is over the moon happy this month. I decided on 20 minutes of talk, 250 texts, and 1.5 GB of data for her phone. It was easy to set up and choose, plus, I can change it at any time. This mobile phone plan is so flexible. In fact, you really need to watch this two minute video to understand it even more:
Connect with Virgin Mobile
I am loving my LG Pulse phone. I can safely let my youngest son play a few games on it without worrying about him 911 with the guest account feature. Plus, I love the parental controls. My kids didn’t get their own phone until they were in middle school. I think its crazy that young kids have phones let alone smart phones.
Middle school seems like a good age to get a phone. But unless you are passing down a smart phone, I don’t think middle school kids need a smart phone. Plus, if it is a smart phone, there really needs to be parental controls on it. Middle school is hard enough, without constant access to the internet and social media!
It’s always nice to have peace-of-mind. We are almost coming up on the end of our current contract, so we are researching our options.
I really like these no contract options. We’ve saved a lot using a no contract plan.
This is a great idea for kids with cell phones. My kids are still too young for this, but when they’re old enough, I’m definitely keep a close eye on their phone usage.
It’s nice because you can control their apps and the times during the day when they are allowed to use them. I love this!
my kids only get the cell phones once the graduate the 6th grade-because the attend the 7th grade in a new school-the high school which is 7-12 and further away-so its needed.
This seems like a good age. It’d make a great Elementary school graduation gift.
My daughter is 9 and we have not gotten a cell phone for her yet. But we will be looking soon, I think.
My own opinion about the age of kids having phones is 12 or 13 yrs old. That is the age they are usually going places with friends and they need a phone. I do love this plan through Virgin Mobile though,. It may have changed my mind on the age. Thanks for sharing.