Jitterbug?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No phone. Not needed.

Not true. Not at all.

Today I spoke to my kid, first by text, then by phone, because he misunderstood our meeting spot and was 50 yards down the way.

Last night, I texted and asked him to pick up an ingredient I needed for dinner - he walked to the supermarket for me while I was commuting. Then he texted his dad to pick him because the storm started with a vengeance.

What is wrong with a phone?

She said it was not needed not that it couldn't be used. If your child did not have a phone you would have looked for each other for 5 minutes and found each other. You would have called him about the ingediant. He would have waited 10 minutes to walk home until the rain passed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No phone. Not needed.

Not true. Not at all.

Today I spoke to my kid, first by text, then by phone, because he misunderstood our meeting spot and was 50 yards down the way.

Last night, I texted and asked him to pick up an ingredient I needed for dinner - he walked to the supermarket for me while I was commuting. Then he texted his dad to pick him because the storm started with a vengeance.

What is wrong with a phone?

The OP is asking about TWEENS. You are talking about TEENS. see there is a huge difference in terms of phone needs and responsibilities - as you illustrate yourself, having your kid pick up stuff on the way home is not something a tween is readily doing.

22:00 here. You didn’t respond to my post by DS is 11. He doesn’t need it but it’s a convenience for me. He calls and texts when he’s at a friends and he needs a ride home or wants to stay longer. His friends do the same at our house. They could ask to use a parents phone but now must have something they can text with. As I said, it’s not a necessity but convenient.

I text him to check in when he’s home alone. He’s more likely to have a conversation by text these days than with the home line.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No phone. Not needed.

Not true. Not at all.

Today I spoke to my kid, first by text, then by phone, because he misunderstood our meeting spot and was 50 yards down the way.

Last night, I texted and asked him to pick up an ingredient I needed for dinner - he walked to the supermarket for me while I was commuting. Then he texted his dad to pick him because the storm started with a vengeance.

What is wrong with a phone?

The OP is asking about TWEENS. You are talking about TEENS. see there is a huge difference in terms of phone needs and responsibilities - as you illustrate yourself, having your kid pick up stuff on the way home is not something a tween is readily doing.

22:00 here. You didn’t respond to my post by DS is 11. He doesn’t need it but it’s a convenience for me. He calls and texts when he’s at a friends and he needs a ride home or wants to stay longer. His friends do the same at our house. They could ask to use a parents phone but now must have something they can text with. As I said, it’s not a necessity but convenient.

I text him to check in when he’s home alone. He’s more likely to have a conversation by text these days than with the home line.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No phone. Not needed.

Not true. Not at all.

Today I spoke to my kid, first by text, then by phone, because he misunderstood our meeting spot and was 50 yards down the way.

Last night, I texted and asked him to pick up an ingredient I needed for dinner - he walked to the supermarket for me while I was commuting. Then he texted his dad to pick him because the storm started with a vengeance.

What is wrong with a phone?

The OP is asking about TWEENS. You are talking about TEENS. see there is a huge difference in terms of phone needs and responsibilities - as you illustrate yourself, having your kid pick up stuff on the way home is not something a tween is readily doing.

I think it's ridiculous that they don't sell talk & text phones with keyboards anymore. My DS has the LG Extravert 2, and it's perfect our our needs while he's in middle school. You can sometimes find a refurbished one for sale, but it's been discontinued.
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-VN280-extravert-2

Anonymous wrote:No phone. Not needed.

Not an answer to the question.

Anonymous wrote:We just got an LG flip phone for my son. Talk and text only, added to my AT&T plan. Honestly, the phone is more for my convenience than his, particularly with sports practices in the evening. I run my kids different places and it’s just me in the evenings so I like to know if DS’ practice is being called early due to weather or is going to go late or whatever.

This is pretty much what we did. I did not stress out about him losing the phone because replacing it was rather inexpensive. DS will get a smart phone in high school. Hopefully, by then he will learn not to lose it.

We just got an LG flip phone for my son. Talk and text only, added to my AT&T plan. Honestly, the phone is more for my convenience than his, particularly with sports practices in the evening. I run my kids different places and it’s just me in the evenings so I like to know if DS’ practice is being called early due to weather or is going to go late or whatever.

Do you have an old phone of yours? We added one of our old ones to our Verizon plan for DS. I put on restrictions so he can’t download apps and I blocked the internet. I’ve allowed some apps and games but I had to put in my code to download. He doesn’t have the phone in his room at night.

Anonymous wrote:No phone. Not needed.

Not true. Not at all.

Today I spoke to my kid, first by text, then by phone, because he misunderstood our meeting spot and was 50 yards down the way.

Last night, I texted and asked him to pick up an ingredient I needed for dinner - he walked to the supermarket for me while I was commuting. Then he texted his dad to pick him because the storm started with a vengeance.

What is wrong with a phone?

Unfortunately, you will have a hard time finding what you are looking for. They pretty much have phased them out.

The thing to do is give him almost no data. However, that still leaves him access to all the goodies whenever he is in a place with wireless.

Right now, as you buy this phone, is the time to establish the behaviors and standards that work for this family - that means limits, the understanding that there is no right to privacy, and whatever else works for you. That might mean some rules about aps.

Personally, I think it is best to work on teaching the habits, rather than denying access to games etc. Eventually we have no control outside of the habits we instilled. My kid really doesn't like social media, so my "success" might be related to my kid being easy.

No phone. Not needed.

Just get a smart phone and don't put any apps on it. Problem solved.

I'm looking for a "dumb" phone- just talk and text - that I can add to my Verizon plan. Something with a keyboard for easier texting would be nice. Any advice? There are too many cell phone options out there. I want to put off a smart phone for another couple of years.