Help me choose a phone for my teenage daughter

[plentyz]

Hey folks!

I want to give my daughter a smartphone for her 14th birthday in September. But I want to protect her too. I need your expertise, experience, and recommendations.

I don't know which phone is best for her. For sure, I don't want it to have a forward-facing camera, so she can't webcam or Skype and so she'll be just a little less likely to be lured into sending pictures of herself.

How do I keep track of her location without her being able to send her location to strangers. Is there any way to keep her from learning the password to the phone's Gmail account? I know about Latitude, but her friends will probably tell her how to disable that.

How do I get a copy of her outgoing and incoming calls, texts, and E-mails? As inobtrusively as possible? I want her to enjoy her new privileges, but at the same time, they're privileges granted by her parents. She's not old enough to have the right to contact or be contacted by anyone she wants, any time she wants. Even so, her friends are likely to tell her to never use Gmail and instead use other E-mail providers.

If we don't give her a smartphone, it's just a matter of time until someone else does. I don't want her phone to come secretly from some 20-something man who hangs out in the mall. And I do not want her to have the latest and greatest phone. I don't want this gift to turn her into some spoiled princess. AFAICT, she doesn't have a Facebook account yet, but it's just a matter of time until she does that too.

There are some threads that cover some aspects of this, but honestly, I got lost in the arguments between members. I need your help.

I'm currently using a 1-1/2 year old Sprint LG Optimus S that's hacked to allow the wi-fi hotspot to keep working without paying extra. The plan is up; I can drop at any time or upgrade to a new phone. I don't know the ins and outs of service contracts. I see this phone all the time in Ralphs supermarket as a Kroger i Wireless monthly phone on the Sprint network.

Thanks.

 

[Irvgotti]

Hey folks!

I want to give my daughter a smartphone for her 14th birthday in September. But I want to protect her too. I need your expertise, experience, and recommendations.

I don't know which phone is best for her. For sure, I don't want it to have a forward-facing camera, so she can't webcam or Skype and so she'll be just a little less likely to be lured into sending pictures of herself.

How do I keep track of her location without her being able to send her location to strangers. Is there any way to keep her from learning the password to the phone's Gmail account? I know about Latitude, but her friends will probably tell her how to disable that.

How do I get a copy of her outgoing and incoming calls, texts, and E-mails? As inobtrusively as possible? I want her to enjoy her new privileges, but at the same time, they're privileges granted by her parents. She's not old enough to have the right to contact or be contacted by anyone she wants, any time she wants. Even so, her friends are likely to tell her to never use Gmail and instead use other E-mail providers.

If we don't give her a smartphone, it's just a matter of time until someone else does. I don't want her phone to come secretly from some 20-something man who hangs out in the mall. And I do not want her to have the latest and greatest phone. I don't want this gift to turn her into some spoiled princess. AFAICT, she doesn't have a Facebook account yet, but it's just a matter of time until she does that too.

There are some threads that cover some aspects of this, but honestly, I got lost in the arguments between members. I need your help.

I'm currently using a 1-1/2 year old Sprint LG Optimus S that's hacked to allow the wi-fi hotspot to keep working without paying extra. The plan is up; I can drop at any time or upgrade to a new phone. I don't know the ins and outs of service contracts. I see this phone all the time in Ralphs supermarket as a Kroger i Wireless monthly phone on the Sprint network.

Thanks.

The best thing to do is call your carrier about the whole getting incoming and outgoing calls etc. id get a smartphone. but something old. you want her to enjoy the phone so she can play games and do girl stuff. Its your daughter and i have no right to tell you what to do and what not to do. I believe there are apps that allow you to track location in real time. I think the app is call "Sprint Family Finder". when you decide to get a phone. Just set up everything for her. so you will have the email address and the password. I say the best thing to do is call your carrier and have them discuss some options with you and the best phones that will protect your kid and you can keep track of them and what they do. i hope i was of some help have a nice day.

 

[cole2kb]

I think you were given a fairly decent answer, honestly. Carriers will have solutions for your situation. Beyond that, it is a matter of trust between you and your daughter.

Do you see her as someone responsible enough to have this privilege? I'm going to come very close to sounding rude here, but I can't think of another way to put it, you need to decide if you are ready to take a leap of faith in your daughter not making poor decisions with her new toy.

As far as getting records of her calls and messages, again, this is a solution best worked out with your carrier, as like you said, someone could tell her how to disable any software you install on the phone. My only idea is like previously suggested, set up the Google account yourself. That way, you can bypass any locks she has on her phone if you feel the need to pick it up and peruse her activities on the phone.

You might want to look into a phone you can install a Cyanogenmod ROM on. These work well with Lookout Mobile Security which you can use to track the location of the phone if I recall correctly.

Sent from my VM670 using Android Central Forums

 

[Vysse]

While I can kinda agree with the above on the trust factor I know sprint offers the best in family tracking and security... I'd sit down with a Sprint store representative and discuss what you need.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[Paul627g]

Agreed with the above suggestions. Sprint's Family Finder is one option and there are 3rd party apps out there too.

There is more control over things concerning texting and other things that can be locked down or controlled better by you within Sprint's Account manager.

Just make sure you don't allow your daughter to have access to your Sprint account management and things should be okay.

Bottom line it comes down to trust in your children. I am a parent of 5 kids, my two oldest daughters 13 & 12 were given smartphones in the last year and it is a tense moment as a parent giving them that first real "freedom" and making things clear between yourself and your children its based on trust and at any time this is trust is broken the phones can be put on vacation which I have done from time to time myself from within Sprint's account manager by locking the phone down from all texting/internet, etc....