12 Ways to Control Your Child’s Cell Phone Use
If you’ve decided that your child should have a cell phone, whether as a privilege or for convenience or safety, that doesn’t mean you have to give up control of how the phone may be used. You might want to consider one of more of these options for controlling or monitoring your child’s cell phone use.
1. Disable texting.
2. Choose a phone without a camera.
3. Set up the phone so it can only call certain numbers, such as parents.
4. Restrict the time of day during which calls or text messages can be made. (Many cell phone carriers offer this option under parental controls, which you can view on the KidCellPhone.net Guide to Parental Controls.)
5. Do not restrict calling options, but tell child you will do so if phone rules aren’t called.
6. Tie cell phone use to expectations such as good grades or chores completed.
7. Confiscate phone when child is home.
8. Set a limited on minutes used, either through the phone carrier or by using a prepaid card.
9. Require child to (if feature is enabled) pay for any minutes or texts beyond the allowed limit.
10. Require child to pay for all phone bills and the phone itself.
11. Get your child the most basic phone model, and set a responsibility goal that allows him or her to “work their way up” to a phone with more features.
12. If your child gets in trouble for cell phone use in class, back up the school’s punishment by taking away the phone at home, too.