But for every parent, they must soon face the reality that a kids phone is not enough. No, in a year or two their child will outgrow any kids phone you get them and start wanting a “real” cell  phone.

That Means They Want a Smartphone of Some Kind

Did you see the news of the survey done on teenagers that said more than a third of them have iPhones? Seriously? I really find those numbers hard to believe and hope it had to do with the areas and schools the survey was conducted.

Nevertheless, one thing is clear: kids continue to grow up fast and their demands/needs/wants keep escalating with no sign of them slowing down.

Right now there are hardly any companies left that make phones just for young kids. There is the leader Kajeet and behind them is Firefly. That is about it.

Moving Away From Kid Phones To Adult Phones

All the other kids phones aren’t really kid phones at all. The major carriers try to sell parents on the idea that their children should have “real” cell phones and most parents seem to be fine with that. The biggest trend is that a large number of parents just give their kids their hand me downs when they upgrade to the latest iPhone etc.

If parents don’t give their kids their cell phones they aren’t using, they might alternatively look for prepaid cell phones. But again, a prepaid phone is not a kids phone.

So, it seems the need for special cell phones made just for children is dying. All those parental controls that parents once demanded are going by the wayside. Parents in 2012 are themselves totally comfortable with using smart phones and many find it hard to live without them. It is understandable then that they are becoming increasingly comfortable with their children, no matter what their age, also having a real adult phone.

Your kids can get around all texting charges if they start using a free download app by the name of WhatsApp Messenger. Anyone who has an iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or Nokia phone can use this app and you wont be charged any SMS charges because it uses your Internet data plan that you use for emailing.

The only real problem you might have getting your teenager to switch is that all their friends also need to start using WhatsApp as well. As long as your teen uses the app to text their friends who are also using the app, no texting charges will be incurred.

More and more phones for kids are of the smartphone variety and if your teen has one you might be very interested in lowering their texting charges. Getting them to start using WhatsApp to save money each month is a good way to do it.

Whether you are looking for a good phone for a child under 10 who has never had one or whether you need one for a teenager, they have a good variety of phones that all ages will like. You get a variety of plans to choose from and all of them include the parental controls that Kajeet is known for.

Right now there are a handful of phones on sale for back to school so now is a great time to buy. Please watch the short video below from Fox 4 Missouri where Kajeet is mentioned as the place to get great phones for kids. (see first 1:30 of the video)

I rode the bus home from work the other day and two teenage girls got in and sat in the seats in front of me. I’d say they were about 15 or 16 years old, somewhere in that range anyway. They started talking and then had to stop as one of their cell phones made that noise that phones make when a text comes in. The one girl quickly read the text and then you could tell her fingers were really going at it as she responded. She then pushed the final button, collapsed the phone, and stuck it back in her pocket.

The two girls started talking again and about a minute later you could hear that text chime that told her another message was just received. Pulling the phone out of her pocket, she proceeded to read it and respond just like the first time. Putting the phone back, they then started talking again.

This went on for about 5 more times and during about the fourth one, the other girl’s cell phone went off! Just like the first girl, the second girl started doing the same thing: reading messages, responding, putting away her phone, pulling it out again, and responding over and over.

The two girls didn’t have any time to talk to each other any more!

This very clearly showed me that this is the way teens communicate with each other in 2011 and beyond. Especially once you get to high school, if you want to have lots of friends and be part of most any group, you have to be social and to be social you need a cell phone that is easy to text with. You also need a phone plan that allows unlimited texts!

Kids have always had to deal with peer pressure in one form or another but today’s youth has it very different than kids did when I was growing up. We wanted the trendy clothes, the latest hair styles, and other simple things that we thought we needed to fit in and make friends. Teenagers today need all that AND they have to be part of the technological social revolution that is happening all around us.

In order to hang with the cool kids in 2011, you need a cell phone that can keep you in the loop. And for many of those teens, that means convincing their parents that they absolutely “need” them.

The real reason parents get their young children cell phones is for their safety and for the parent’s peace of mind. In order for that all to happen, your children must be taught the importance of never leaving the house without a fully charged phone. While that sounds obvious and simple to adults, it might not be for a young child.

Kids that are that young aren’t necessarily thrilled to get a cell phone and they might not even know what it is. They will think it is a toy and must be shown how to use it, when to use it, and how to maintain it. They must also be instructed how to keep it charged and made to understand that it is useless without power. Getting them into a routine every night like charging their phone before they go to bed is a good way to do it.

Cell phones for kids can be a great safety device if they are used properly. However, for younger children, there will be a learning curve and a lot of things need to be carefully explained to them. Parents must take the time to make sure their young children learn what their cell phones should be used for and that they are NOT toys.

The Internet is a very personal decision for parents and their children. Some parents feel better totally shielding them from it as long as possible while other parents don’t care as much. No two situations are the same and Internet access and usage for kids will most likely perplex parents for generations to come.

Many kids cell phones come with the Internet or some form of it. Just the ability to text has many parents scared after all the hype about cyber bullies and sexting. This article summarizes how difficult it is to keep kids off of websites they shouldn’t be on and how social websites are now the common playground of teens.

Ultimately, the most effective thing parents can do is try to teach their children the difference between right and wrong. As children grow up, they need parents to be attentive to their needs and involved in their daily lives. Parents can try to use all the software blockers and other technology that is out there today but sooner or later a child will figure a way around it or be exposed to questionable things on the Internet away from their homes.

Cell phones for kids that allow access to the Internet can become a problem when they are in the hands of children, young and old, who have different maturity levels. If you are a Mom or Dad who is concerned about getting your child a cell phone because of all the trouble they can get into, finding one that has great parental controls is a good idea. Right now, Kajeet is a leader in that field and they have a nice selection of phones at different price points that should fit your child’s needs. They even have GPS features for an added monthly charge if that is something you desire.

On my list of phones, the ONLY phone that has GPS features are the Kajeet phones. It’s too bad that there are so few options when it comes to GPS for kids cell phones but luckily Kajeet has it covered pretty well. The information below is take taken from their site:

To my knowledge, no other cell phone maker has this kind of child GPS locator / GPS feature on their phone. Again, all phones that you buy though the Kajeet website will have this feature and it costs an extra $7.99 per month to use it (the two most expensive plans include GPS in the price).

You will be able to get alerts sent to your mobile phone at predetermined times and be able to go online at any time as often as you want to track your child with the $7.99 service. If you want a more complete review of Kajeet and what they have to offer please go here – Kajeet review.

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Another alternative is to buy a child locater such as the one from BrickHouse Security. With this you are getting something that functions as a watch but is really a GPS child locator. It attaches to your kid’s wrist and will alert you if it is taken off. You can get information about where your child is at any time via your cell phone or your computer and the Internet.

This wrist child locater is designed so that young children should not be able to remove it and that gives parents a more secure feeling than having the GPS in their phone that can be lost, misplaced, or turned off.

The Dad, Brett Harrington got there quickly and then he and his daughter drove around looking for the guy. They did find him and restrained him until the police arrived.

Safety is one of the big reasons many parents are okay with their kids having cell phones and especially with teens, a story like this can hit home. Say what you may about all the pros and cons of cell phones for kids, it is a dangerous world we live in today and parents who have teenagers often feel better knowing that they have a cell phone with them. Never mind that they spend most of their time texting and fooling around with their phones, the fact that it is there when they REALLY need it is the important thing.

Right now in 2011, people who are old enough to be parents didn’t have a cell phone when they were young because there weren’t any back then. But as each year goes by, parents are getting closer to the age were they will have grown up with cell phones themselves. This means as the years go on, parents are probably going to be more and more receptive to allowing their children to have cell phones at very young ages. After all, they had them so why wouldn’t their kids as well?

Parents also have to deal with the fact that not every child matures at the same rate. It is well known that girls mature quicker than boys but does that mean your girl should get a phone before her brother? What does a parent do when they feel their child just isn’t ready for a cell phone but most of their classmates have one? It is a very difficult decision because those kids that don’t have cell phones definitely feel left out when most of the other kids in their class have one. It is a new kind of peer pressure that we never had to deal with when we were kids.

But now parents have a new worry and it is something every Mom and Dad should be aware of. It is called SpoofCard and it is a parent’s nightmare when it comes to cell phones for kids.

With SpoofCard anyone can cheaply go online and impersonate someone else and have the incoming caller ID changed to match the person they are pretending to be. They actually have a term for it: tele spoofing. Please watch the short video below to see how it works:

Obviously we already have the problem of online bullying and text bullying which has gotten a lot of media coverage. With something like SpoofCard there is no telling what kind of evil pranks and damage can be done by kids that are very creative and mean. There is also the ever present concern about child predators and with SpoofCard along with a little information, a predator could call your child and pretend to be you. Very scary!

SpoofCard is something anyone can use to fool your child so it is a danger to them no matter what age they are. Teenagers can be very cruel and use it to play mean pranks on kids they don’t like. The more you think about how creative kids are now days, the more scenarios you can envision where they can use SpoofCard for no good.

There isn’t much parents can do about something like this (because it is apparently legal)  other than to be aware of it and talk to your child about it if you think it necessary. You also might keep a good line of communication open between you and your child by periodically asking them how their phone is working and ask whether anything strange has happened on or with it. The more you and your child trust one another, the more likely they are to tell you if someone “spoofs” them or they hear about others doing it at school.