For this generation of teens and tweens, the cost of being cool and connected has soared. Cell phones are the main expense: Teens, tweens and younger kids want cell phones to talk to and text their friends.
"It's about being cool -- having that cell phone so you can whip it out," says Claudine Jalajas, adding there's no way her 10-year-old son is getting a cell phone anytime soon, despite his constant pleas. "When we were kids, we saw adults with cigarettes in their hands and we thought that made you look cool. Now it's cell phones."
Have phone, will text
At one time, kids without cell phones were on the other side of a digital divide, based on a 2002 study by Context-Based Research Group in Baltimore. "Now, the real dividing line is whether you're texting or not texting," says Robbie Blinkoff, principal anthropologist and managing director of Context.
Parents end up feeling ambushed by high cell phone bills with charges for hundreds of minutes, thousands of texts and other options they didn't even know existed. Keeping up with the Joneses' cool kids has never been so costly.
"Apparently it is very expensive to have access to the Web," Matheson says wryly. "That wasn't explained to me. My daughter downloaded four songs and those four songs cost me $280. I was really upset. I canceled the service right away."
Unlimited headaches
The next company's plan offered Matheson's teen 200 minutes and unlimited texting for $39.99 a month. But then a bill came for texting a five-digit code to get horoscopes, another $80 in charges.
“Parents are doing ridiculous things to finance the status symbols of their children.”
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"I didn't realize getting a cell phone was going to be so complex," Matheson says. "I didn't realize what was really involved. You'd think the phone companies would tell you these things." Unfortunately, you have to know to ask about opt-out options.
Ellen and her husband hit the roof when they got a $500 phone bill for their daughter's excess minutes and texting. "She had sent over 3,000 text messages and spent almost 12 hours on the cell phone," Ellen says. "My husband checked on the next bill, which we hadn't gotten yet, and it was even higher -- $600. We told her she was going to have to pay it off."
Matheson's and Ellen's girls are paying back their parents by baby-sitting and forking over birthday cash, but their families are footing the bills in the meantime. "Maybe I should take a second job," says a still steaming Ellen.
"Parents are doing ridiculous things to finance the status symbols of their children," says Marybeth Hicks, author of "Bringing Up Geeks."
You shouldn't have to take a second job to pay for your kids' phone bills, music and high-tech games. Here are some tips on holding the line.
Comparison shop
Check price plans online before you go phone shopping, says Matheson, who found a better deal on the Internet after signing a contract at the carrier's brick-and-mortar store.
Consider different service levels, options and charges for extra minutes and services. For example, Sprint offers a wide variety of voice, text, Web and other plans, says Sprint spokeswoman Emmy Anderson.
There are two schools of thought on texting. One is that kids are going to send hundreds, even thousands of text messages anyway, so you might as well get unlimited texting. But do you really want your child sending that many text messages?
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