Kids Rack Up Debt With Text Messaging

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000913027107/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000913027107/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Young cellphone users caught on to text messaging way before most people but it looks like some kids didn’t realize the cost of their trailblazing. The New York Times talked to some that have racked up service charges in the hundreds of dollars, including one high-school student who got hit with a $150 bill — “I cried,” she said. “I felt like I lost a piece of me.” Wait a minute, we are talking about cellphone charges, right?"</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-Jan2005-CellPhoneSMS.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />Recently we were talking about a <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=48208">study</a> that suggested limiting children's cell phone usage. Now New York Times has written up an article on how young users have racked up huge cell phone bills because of the text messaging craze. 8O

[cortez]

yep! i can attest to this fact. i've got 3 kids, each with their own cell phone, each with 1000 text messages as part of their cell plans and each one of them exceeds it by 500-700 a month. what the heck could they be text-ing?

[Mike Temporale]

Ouch! that's a lot of texting... I don't even break the 100 that are included in my plan. :lol:

[Janak Parekh]

Ouch! that's a lot of texting... I don't even break the 100 that are included in my plan. :lol:
I have 300 and I don't even come close. ;)

Part of the reason is because I type much faster than I could possibly text. I have no patience for SMS unless I'm sending a brief, immediate message like "5 minutes late". Otherwise I'd much rather go to a computer and work that way.

But I guess if you're a kid who wants to chat with buddies and doesn't have ready access to a computer, or if you're a slow typist, it's a different experience. It's interesting to see the US catch up with Europe and Asia in this regard... they've been dealing with paying through the nose for SMS for years now.

--janak

[Kris Kumar]

I also am charged a lot (at least was) for my text messaging fever. In my case the problem was not crossing the limit. :-( I have 1000.

The problem is that T-Mobile few months ago started charging for sending text message overseas. When I had joined it was part of the text messaging bucket. It is no longer true. For me text messaging my family &amp; friends in India works out better because it cheaper than voice call (plus half the time I can't even get thru when I want to, like at new year or festivals). Anyway now I am being charged 15 cents for every outgoing overseas message. :-( Waiting for T-Mobile to introduce a bundle plan.

[Kris Kumar]

yep! i can attest to this fact. i've got 3 kids, each with their own cell phone, each with 1000 text messages as part of their cell plans and each one of them exceeds it by 500-700 a month. what the heck could they be text-ing?

WOW. 8O and Ouch!

But the bright side is that they have a lot of buddies. ;-) And modern tech is helping them stay in touch.

[Andrew]

I receive a ton of txt messages, like 1,500+ per month. But that's because I'm AirSyncing with our Exchange server at work and it send a txt message to sync whenever I receive an email. So I don't even ever see the txt messages, but I get a ton.

[Jeff Song]

I usually send/recieve approximately 500 texts a month. Sometimes it can be closer to 800, sometimes it can be 300. But all in all, I don't know how one can do like 5000 messages a month...

I assume that these kids just like USING their cell phones, even tho there are better (and usually cheaper) ways to keep in touch.

[cortez]

do any of you have kids/teenagers? :)

my kids (3) use text messages becuase they think it's a cool thing to do. at home, at basketball/softball games, wherever, lol. i ask why they don't use their computers (one for each kid) and they just shrug their collective shoulders.

let me help you understand the math... 4 kids are in one SMS converstaion. each time a response is sent it's actually 3 responses. so if a conversation involves 20 responses, that's 60 SMS messages. do this for 10 days and you're at 600.

can't understand it either...but i don't complain too much. my kids stay out of trouble, meet our home and school standards/rules and are generally responsible. that is, unless it has to do with text messages...

[Mike Temporale]

do any of you have kids/teenagers? :)

Yes/No :wink: Both of mine are a little too young for cell phones. :D

let me help you understand the math... 4 kids are in one SMS converstaion. each time a response is sent it's actually 3 responses. so if a conversation involves 20 responses, that's 60 SMS messages. do this for 10 days and you're at 600.

8O That tells you how much I use SMS, I didn't know you could send it to more than one recipent. :oops: :lol:

can't understand it either...but i don't complain too much. my kids stay out of trouble, meet our home and school standards/rules and are generally responsible. that is, unless it has to do with text messages...

If that's all you got to worry about, then I agree. Let them have a little fun. :)

[cortez]

i'm not sure they can/cannot send multiple messages at one time; i'm looking at the monthly detail i receive with my T-Mobile bill! :lol:

[Andrew]

AT&amp;T let's you receive messages for free. That rocks, I wish Cingular followed suit.

[yslee]

Hehe, here, breaking 1k isn't hard.. and I mean 1k in the bill, not in the messages. Think it was featured in our papers a few years back.

See, the thing is that internet access isn't always so easily available. Coupled with the fact that when you're out in town and there's no way you can get a computer with you without looking like a dork, you can start to see the appeal in SMSes. Also the more expensive telco charges for the voice plans make SMS a favourable form of communcation.

I myself use about 200-300 messages a month, and it has it 500-600 before. I'm starting to tire of T9 though, so my next phone will have a thumb board!

[Mike Temporale]

myself use about 200-300 messages a day. I'm starting to tire of T9 though, so my next phone will have a thumb board!

Just out of curiosity, what are range are you in? I think texting has this generational divide, and it just hasn't caught on with older folks yet - not that I'm old. If I was back in high school or even university now, I think my habits would be different and I would be using a lot more text messages.

[yslee]

ugh. what a typo. I meant a month. :oops:

But you're right, it is a generational thing. I'll be 25 soon.

[TheScream]

Pity us poor Aussies... we don't have a great amount of competition here and a much lower population density so prices are higher. Most of the plans here don't even include any messages and the standard price per message is AU$0.25 (US$0.19)

It is not uncommon here for people to rack up AU$100 (US$75) per month in just messages and I have several friends who commonly get over AU$200 (US$150) and one that regularly does around AU$300 (US$225).

Don't complain, we commonly up to $1 per MB for GPRS data!

[nikjones]

Just out of curiosity, what are range are you in? I think texting has this generational divide, and it just hasn't caught on with older folks yet - not that I'm old.

Hmm, there are a lot of people in their 40s and 50s here in the UK who send texts. Tends to be either jokes or finding which opubs people are in during haphazard pub crawls!

That said, my Dad (age 75) hasn't got round to opening a text message someone sent him 2 years ago; he reckons if it was important, they'd have called. The little icon does annoy him, though.

[Mike Temporale]

Just out of curiosity, what are range are you in? I think texting has this generational divide, and it just hasn't caught on with older folks yet - not that I'm old.

Hmm, there are a lot of people in their 40s and 50s here in the UK who send texts.

Hold on a second, I'm not that old. Lets not rush things, ok. :wink: In fact, I'm only a little older than yslee. But it does look to be generational differences - for now - here in North America. That will change, but it takes time, and we're only gettig started on SMS here.


That said, my Dad (age 75) hasn't got round to opening a text message someone sent him 2 years ago; he reckons if it was important, they'd have called. The little icon does annoy him, though.

:rotfl:

[yslee]

Well, I suppose another reason is that SMS popularity in US has been crippled by the diversified telco landscape in the US.