What rules should our 13-year-old have for her first cell phone?

Have her leave her phone on the counter in the kitchen (or somewhere where you will notice if it's gone) to charge, or at night. That way you can keep an eye on it, and ensures that she is following the rules. The family I babysit for does this with their older children, and it's like habit for them now.

I also do think she should be allowed to take it to school (high school correct?) incase something happens after school like a ride or cancelled activity.

I would just pay attention to the phone bill for a while. If she knows that you're checking whether she's talking/texting during the day most likely she'll not want to get in trouble and have the phone taken away. If you find her doing so, take it away for a couple days. Eventually, if you follow through on taking her phone away when need be, she'll make every attempt to not text or make calls during the day. My mom did this with me about talking on the phone when she knew I was driving. (I'm 23 now.)

If you don't want pictures being sent, BLOCK THEM. If not, make sure you CHECK THE PICTURES!!! It's sad and heartbreaking to see what goes around schools (I'm a high school teacher now)

Best of luck!!

Honestly I'd just let her be; let her have fun! She's probably really excited that she just got her phone, so she's going to be hooked on it for a while. I'm like that whenever I get a new phone; I'm glued to it for a few days, then I just start using it when I'm bored/need to.

I didn't have any "cell phone rules" besides the fact that I couldn't go crazy with texting (so I wouldn't cost a load of money), and obviously nothing inappropriate. But why can't she take it to school? I'm sure at school they promote an electronic free environment. What if there is an emergency or she forgets something? Isn't that the main reason she received a phone...so she can get a hold of you?

What if she needs some information about an assignment she forgot one night for school? If it's 9:19pm she can't ask anyone?

And I mean... she's 13. She's not going to be sending sex-related pictures to her friends. If she has a Facebook, a lot of teens love taking pictures when they're out with their friends and uploading them to Facebook. Maybe just make a rule that she can't send a LOAD of pictures, but what's wrong with it in general?

I'm not trying to attack you with this (sorry!) but I just recommend you let her use it when she needs it!

1. No texting after 9:00 on school nights.

Reasonable.

2. No texting after 11:00 on weekend nights.

Reasonable.

3. The phone doesn't go to school with you.

Ehh.....isn't the point of having a phone to be able to contact people while out?

4. No picture messaging.

Why?

5. If you lose it or break it, you have to buy its replacement.

Very reasonable.

6. Use home phone if you want to have long chats (We have a limited number of minutes but unlimited texting.)

Yes, fine.

7. You can private message your number to people on Facebook but don't put it on a wall posting.

Fine.

ADD: Handing over her phone before she goes to sleep maybe?

pretty reasonable except for 3 and 4.

She should take her phone to school in case she needs it. ie she has a club meeting, her carpool forgot about her, she missed the bus, she got lost, etc. disable it during school hours or tell her to turn it off. you need to have some trust in her, and not be helicopter parents. I understand you're worried, but trust her a little. as for 4 and the extra charges, most phone companies include multimedia messaging along with regular messaging in their plans. I know for a fact T-Mobile does. check out different plans because I honestly 3 and 4 are unreasonable.

That sounds great. Try to leave it at that. you dont want to have too many rules. Every kid will go to school and tell their friends their rules, and their friends will influence them to break the rules,trust me. Im now im high school and i have a friend that broke the rules because she didn't like how much of control she was on...They put WAY to many rules on, and now she has a tracker on her phone..and doesn't talk to her parents much and it caused huge fights a lot. Shes constantly monitored. Try not to control her too much, but make sure you have some control and she knows very well that you guys are the parents and are in charge. Shes a teenager shes a young teenager but she still needs a little space i know its hard being parents and wanting to make sure shes always safe as mommy and daddys little girl. So yeah, i think what you have now is okay, and maybe after every 2 months make the times later, or take away some of the restrictions, and make sure you tell her that :)

Your rules are very good. When I was 13 I had my first cell (flip phone lol) and all I was allowed to do was call my parents. I had to ask permission to call friends. Plus I had no texting. It was still a new thing anyways.

P.S. Do not let her send pictures. You may have a perfect daughter but that can be deceiving. I did it when I was 16, and my pictures were sent all over the internet and I got in trouble for child pornography. I am 18 now and regret it. Protect her and let her know the consequences of sending inappropriate pictures if you do decide to let her have them.

I think it is pretty good. It seems strict, but not too much. I can say that when I got my first phone, I had limited texting amount. I went over my limit, and I got in trouble with my parents. She will probably be texting a lot. Maybe the days when she has to stay after school for clubs/tutorials she can take it. Nice job!! :)

Maybe only give her number to people she has met more than one time? I am not sure, you seem to have pretty good rules for her age. Also add that if she doesn't keep up with her school work or do her chores that her phone will be taken away.

Okay I am a 13 year old and that is too strict. 1 is okay and i agree with and i also agree with rule two those are fine! But she should be able to take it to school, what if she misses her bus or she needs to go to a friends house for homework or something she needs to be able to call you. Just make sure she doesnt use it while class is going on. She should be allowed to picture message, just not naughty sexting pictures. I agree with 5, 6 and 7 too! thats all and dont give your number to strangers and if a stranger calls you tell yoru mom

answer mine!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=201202...

Everything seems good, except 3 and 4. That's crazy! She should defiantly take her phone to school with her, in case of an emergency, and unless you plan doesn't cover it, picture messaging is fine. She's not gonna be sexting or anything.