Kid with cell phone, how much do you pay?

My daughter isn't old enough for a phone but whe she is, we'll get her a pre-paid ones, then she can pay for the credit that goes on herself & when it runs out, it runs out - unless she recharges hercredit herself she wont be getting any more! Ours here in Australia don't work on minutes though, they were on how much money you put on & then you look at the call rates & amount per text message. I guess it's a good thing like that though coz as far as i know, you only have to buy the phone & starter kit & then you're all set with a pre-paid phone. Also, all the main carriers here have the contract (phones with bills) & pre-paid options so it makes life easier! My partner & i also only have pre-paid phones, it's not like we actually need any more bills!

See for me I would get my kid a prepaid cell phone that way they only have so many minutes and when they ran out, they wouldent be able to get more minutes untill I was able to get them. That way they learn to conserve there minutes and use them all up in 1 sitting. I think it is totally crazy the way kids use cell phones today.

Well I wanted to add to the discussion about phones because I thought I had some valuable knowledge for you parents. First, while I'm not a parent myself, I can understand how it could get to a bill of over 300 USD. I'm not sure how the bill could get to be over 2000 USD...wow! Anyway I was looking in the Best Buy flyer and they had a prepaid Go Phone (I forget which company offers that..was it Verizon wireless..I?m not sure). Anyway the phone costs around 89 USD and then you can buy the prepaid card for 99 that is for all year, and it says it's 450 minutes a month (plus something like 50 or so text messages a month). If my child was running up the bills I would definitely get the phone shut off..or if I thought my child would do that I would get a prepaid phone like the Go Phone. It sounds cool, I mean 450 minutes (I assume the nights and weekends are free? Maybe I'm wrong about that)...then the teens should be using it for emergency cases only (450 minutes is a lot for me and I don't even go over that each month). Pablo

That amount is too much... i don't think a kid can make that many phone calls or text messages... i think the list of calls made should be check... the kid might not be the only one using the cell phone... In my case if i will give my daughter a cell phone to use... it would be a pre paid one... so that i can control the bills...

I got my kids those prepaid cell phones so they can cover their own calls themselves. Pretty smart, eh? I get a real kick out of some of tbese kids walking around chatting on their cell phone unconscious of that is going on around them. They will be in with a small group of friends and chatting on their phones! I am an adult and don't see the need for a cell phone that much! Do you think young people lack the social skills adults have becuase of the internet and cell phones?

Both of my children are too young to have cell phones still. I can tell you though if it were ever anywhere near that amount I would be shutting it off and they would be getting a job to pay the bill.