Cellular Phones for Teens – Taking the Good with the Bad

There are many reasons why your teen should have a cell phone. Of course, there are just as many reasons why your child shouldn’t. Weighing the pros and cons of purchasing cellular phones for teens is something every parent has to do for themselves.

How do you choose the right teenager cellular phones? Why are teen cell phones so important? These days, over half the teens in the United States have cell phones or wireless hand-held device. That means that there are literally millions of parents on either side of the coin when it comes to allowing the use of cellular phones for a teenager.

The cellular phone companies themselves couldn’t be more delighted. When it comes to cellular phones for teens, they have set aside billions of dollars in marketing and service packages directed right at the teens and students, hoping that their impulsive buying habits and attachments to mom and dad’s credit card will pay off in spades for them.

Not surprisingly, it has. Particularly in areas such as pay-as-you-go cellular phones and services, as a teenager can use these themselves with no contracts and no hefty sign-up fees. Here are two common arguments both for and against allowing students to own their own cell phones:

It is an easy and safe way of getting in touch with children in their teens, who are often much more mobile and active than they were when they were younger.

This is a major selling point used by cell phone companies that is directed at parents of teens in an effort to make cellular phones, common safety devices in every home. You see commercials for this sort of thing by companies such as Sprint PCS and also Verizon Wireless, who market directly to teens and to the parents of teens as part of their advertising strategy.

The truth is that cell phones are a great way for students to be in touch with their parents, and vice-versa. Cellular phones for teens is a market that should not be overlooked. Being able to call home in an emergency is a huge source of relief for many parents, as is the ability to have a direct line straight to their teen in the event of an emergency at home.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way.

A teen simply doesn’t have to answer their cellular phone, or turn it off if they don’t want to talk to you, which can happen if they are out past curfew or doing something they probably shouldn’t.

This means that the idea of simply ringing up your teen when they are late for dinner or out past bedtime doesn’t work nearly as well in reality as it does in cell phone commercials. A teen can figure it out quickly.

Having a teen cell phone, teenagers deserve the extra freedom and privacy that a cell phone can provide; they also free up the home phone and reduce the amount of arguments over "phone time".

Becoming a teen in today’s culture definitely means that more freedom is in order. Your children are growing into adults, and being a teen is really the last leg of that journey. It is a time when students are going to be testing boundaries and becoming more aware of the world around them (as well as themselves!).

Spending time with friends on the cellular phone is a common activity for many teens, and can result in stress in the home from both parents expecting phone calls (or simply tired of incessant phone chatter) or other children in the house who may or may not be expecting phone calls.

The easy way to fix this, of course, is to get a cell phone for students that spend a lot of time on the phone. In this way, they can use the phone without bothering anyone and with the privacy they desire away from other children or parents.

This is certainly a double-edged sword, isn’t it?

On one side, you want to be able to give your teenager as much freedom and privacy as they can handle and you are comfortable with, and you want to keep things running smoothly in the household with your family and your kids.

On the other side, you want to know what your kids are up to. You also might be thinking about the cost of your teens owning their own cell phones, and whether they can pay for all or some of the cellular phones cost themselves.

Teenage years are turbulent ones, to be sure, and it is up to every parent to make sure that although they let their teen take the wheel from time to time, that they are always close enough to step in and help out if things start to get crazy.

Having their own cell phone suddenly takes you out of the loop as a parent in that regard, because you may have no idea who your children are talking to or even be aware that they are making calls at all. The typical teenager is quite private with their personal stuff and having a teen cell phone is a new issue.

Having a cell phone may definitely allow your teen to be more mobile and free, but it could also serve to isolate them from your core family unit, especially if they would rather be holed up in their room talking on the phone than being in the living room with other members of the family.

As you can see, there are many things to look at and think about when deciding whether or not your kids and students are ready for their own cell phone or not. Ultimately, the only right are wrong answer to this is whether you have made an informed decision (the right one), or and uniformed decision (the wrong one).

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