After years of begging, cajoling and bargaining, the long nightmare is finally over: your tween is no longer "the only person on the planet who does not have a smartphone." Now that your delighted kiddo is gleefully clutching an expensive device in his or her hot little hands, it’s important to make sure it is used in a responsible way. To help ensure that this happens — at least most of the time — you may want to create a cellphone contract.


The Benefits of a Contract
Giving
your tween or teen a cellphone for the first time is an unspoken invitation
into a more independent and grown up world. While it’s kind of unnerving to
think of your child as having access to the entire world of the Internet, it’s
important to remember that your kiddo is almost always a terrific young person
who is responsible and capable of making good decisions. A smartphone contract
can help your kiddo understand that his or her fancy new toy, like most other
privileges in life, is not a given right, but rather something that he or she
must take seriously. With this in mind, check out these tips for creating a
contract:
What to Include
If you
Google “teenage cellphone contracts” you will find a bunch of PDFs that you can
download and print out. While this is a reasonable option, it might work better
to create your own personalized contract that takes your teen’s personality
into account. The pledge can include things like “I will not touch or look at
my phone when it’s dangerous to do so, including when I’m walking, biking or
driving.” You might also want to add in a clause about how the cellphone will
not be in reach of your teen when he or she is driving, and that it must be
kept in the back seat in a purse or backpack.
The
contract can also include guidelines about the importance of replying to texts
or calls from mom and dad. It is perfectly reasonable to expect your teen to
reply in a reasonable amount of time to a check-in text. To make sure that your
teen can’t use the “but my battery died!” excuse, buy your kiddo a smartphone
that has a long battery life. For example, the Samsung
Galaxy S7 can power up to 28 hours of talk time and 12 days of
standby time.
Since
most teens adore apps, the contract can also address the importance of
purchasing apps from legit app stores, and that when the phone is used to take
photos, they will be appropriate and will not be used in any way to embarrass
or humiliate another person.
Add in a Parental Clause
While
it’s not necessary to add in a section of cellphone
rules for parents, doing so will show your teen or tween that you are not taking
a “do as I say, not as I do” approach to the situation. The parent pledge,
which you also sign, can include a similar promise to never text and drive, to
be a good role model for proper cellphone use and to refrain from using your
phone when it might bother the people around you.
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