By: Viraj Shah

As your child ages, they’ll likely ask whether they can have their own cell phone. While your teen is probably motivated by wanting to keep in touch with their friends and peers, it’s also a way for parents to have a way to contact and keep tabs on their kids. Still, it’s a big decision for any family to make. Here are why a prepaid phone is a smart choice for your teen’s first phone.

No Contract

Often, prepaid phones don’t come with a contract. This means no activation fees to worry about, and you pay monthly for your teen’s usage. Even with no contract, many monthly prepaid plans have unlimited talk, text, and data usage.

No Overage Fees

Because you pay as you go, you can control your teen’s phone usage. This means they can’t use their phone when they’re out of prepaid minutes or data. There are no overage fees or automatic charges to worry about.

Parental Controls

Some prepaid plans also allow you to set parental controls on your teen’s phone. Some plans allow you to monitor and limit the number of texts and minutes your child can use. Many also give you control over app and social media usage, if safety is a concern you might have for your teen.

Teaches Responsibility

Since you can end a contract for a prepaid phone at any time, it’s a great way for your teen to learn responsibility. There’s so much they can take away from getting a prepaid phone for the first time: healthy phone habits and social media safety, budgeting and staying within the limits of their contracts, following their family’s rules regarding phone usage, and keeping their device safe and secure.

Replacement Cost Is Low

Even if your goal with getting your child a phone is for them to learn responsibility, we all know that teens lose things. Smartphones from traditional contracted providers can be quite expensive, often costing significantly more than prepaid phones, which are generally available at a lower cost. Prepaid phones cost less than $100, while some could go for as low as $20. This means if the phone is lost, it’s less expensive to replace.

More Control Over the Budget

Because you’re paying for minutes and data in advance, you have more control over your family’s budget. You can decide how much you want to spend on your teen’s phone usage each month and change the amount depending on your needs. It’s the least expensive way to make sure your child has a phone.

Ease of Use

Prepaid phones are designed to be easy to set up and use immediately. Generally, all you need to do is set up an account associated with your teen’s phone and they’re ready to go.

Great Starter Phone

Because of all the reasons mentioned above, prepaid phones are a great starter phone for your teen. They give your child a sense of autonomy while allowing you, as a parent, to control their usage and budget.

Published by: Khy Talara