This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kajeet for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I have four children, and I know most of you have children, grandchildren, or you have children in your lives. As a parent, I want my children to be able to contact me anytime they need to. I have two little ones, one tween, and a teen who has had a phone for a few years now. I have gone through the losing the phone, not taking care of the phone, and the why do you even have a phone if you don’t charge it, lol. Catie was very young when I got her a phone, and I learned several valuable lessons about children and smartphones.
a
I have learned that there is not a certain age where all parents should run out and start purchasing cell phones for their kids. It is more about each individual child, and what their parents feel they can handle. You know your kids, it is less about purchasing cell phone for kids, and more about finding a plan that works for them and parents. I will never add my children to my plan again, all it takes is them getting grounded and there I am paying for a phone that is not being used.
5 Things to Consider Before Purchasing a Cell Phone for Kids.
When I get Vayda a phone I will likely get her something like Kajeet, and I will probably change my teens plan too. Right now she is on my plan. If you are considering purchasing a cell phone for kids here are a few things to consider before running out and adding them to your plan.
I don’t know if there is a certain age that tells us our children are ready for a smartphone. I think it’s more of their maturity level and whether their parents feel they are ready for a smartphone.
Phone
In my opinion, get a starter phone. There are tons of great starter phones available for kids. Kajeet offers a great starter phone, called the Kyocera Domino. If you want to purchase them something better they also have great phones like the Galaxy S III 4G LTE.
Plan
I made the mistake of adding Catie on to my plan, and the she lost her phone. Oh, and after that it was long and she lost her phone for several months. There I was stuck paying good money for a phone that nobody was using, DARN.. Don’t be like me, there are great plans for kids, like Kajeet who offers plans starting at $4.99, no activation, no terminator, no long-contract, and you can change it at any time.
Safety
I know, many of you hear that word and want to scream “TURN IT OFF,” but it’s a great add on feature when you have a Kajeet plan. Thanks to their GPS technology parents can accurately find their child’s location. Which I don’t know about you, but I can think of several times I would have used this feature. All of their smartphones come enabled with FPS Phone Locator, which allows you to find your kids, or their phone if they lose it.
Children almost have to have some type of gadget to get them online, but you still want to be sure you can monitor what they are doing online, and keep them off certain website. With Kajeet parents can also restrict websites to keep their children away from sites they shouldn’t be accessing.
Responsibility
If your feel your child is old enough, a phone can be a great way to teach them responsibility. You can even decide who pays for what, such as ringtones and apps. Haha, you might get them to pick up their room, the right way for a ringtone.
Limits
The last thing we want to worry about is our kids falling asleep at school because they were up on their phone. Since most parents are sleeping it’s often hard to keep an eye on them, but lucky for us Kajeet has thought about that. Parents can set limits for calling and texting by using the TimeManger. You can also block unwanted numbers from calling.
Kajeet is a great plan for children, and phones can be purchased on their website – Kajeet. AND, from May 1st& until June 17th you can take advantage of their special discount offer on the website! Yepie, parents if you are looking to at purchasing a cell phone for kids you can;enjoy 20% off all phones (except the Samsung Galaxy S4) when you use the promo code PROUD!&
Kajeet A Great Device for Parents and Kids!
- Awesome phones that kids want.
- FREE, unlimited, and award-winning parental controls that can be accessed form your computer.
- The parental controls are GREAT, parents can set time limits, block unwanted calls and texts, ensure calls form mom and/or dad always go through, decide who will pay for certain things (games, apps, etc).
- Affordable plan
- No activation or cancelation fee.
- No start up fees.
- AWESOME GPS locator, that will personally help me not get so stressed when my girls are running a few minutes late, lose their phone, or I want to be sure they are where they say they are.
- Schedule recurring locations. If you ever want to know If parents ever need to know if their child made it to practice, the sitters house after school, or school in the morning they can use the GPS Phone Locator, to run automatically an at a certain time each day you have it scheduled and let you know the results by delivering them to you automatically.
If you already have a device, you can Bring Your Own Sprint® Device to Kajeet so you do not need to purchase a phone. If you already own an eligible inactive device all you have to do is get started.
Pretty cool right, just be sure to check and see if the phone you have is reliable by visiting the website – Kajeet.
While I am totally loving the affordable prices, and the features I am going to have to say my favorite is the GPS Phone Locator. My kids are my life, it doesn’t matter if they are walking home from school or going to a friend’s house I worry. I can think of plenty of times I would have used this service already, it seems crazy not to be using it, especially since the plan is such a low amount. Adding this feature would still be MUCH cheaper than what I am paying to add them on my current line.
Before adding your child to your plan I suggest going your homework, the last thing you want is to be stuck paying something for two years to find out you could have purchased a service for less that meet your families needs better.
After learning about Kajeet, what feature do you find most beneficial and why.
