how long should a parent pay for a kid's phone?

Congrats, you just pushed your son to turn gay just to spite you.
 
Might I recommend some uppercuts in place of the phone.
 
Fedorgasm said:
That's funny. He's always comparing me to that strict Asian father meme.

I take it you think I should pay for his phone til he graduates?
Click to expand...

I think he should be helped into finding a part time job, just a couple of days a week, and he should pay for his own phone with that money.

Learning to be independent is vital as an adult but at 17, he shouldn't compromise his education over it.
 
Do parents get to see the naughty photos the kid receives from hot girls?
 
My first job as a kid was to pull out my mother's grey hairs. I think it was like 20p a hair.

She didn't really have any, but I'd still have like a fiver after I was done...
 
Old enough to use a phone old enough to push a lawn mower. Drop him off at Lowes or Home Depot at 5AM and let him hustle.
 
buy him a pay as you go phone, then its on him.
 
Fedorgasm said:
The way I worded it makes it seem like I did it without warning. My fault. I actually told him 3 months ago that I prepaid for 3 months of service and that's the last time. I did that to give him time to get a job, but he only applied to 2 jobs. He got 1 interview but I think he sabotaged it because he doesn't want to work. Then he never applied for anything else for months and now his phone service ran out.

If he were getting straight A's then I'd keep paying. But his grades have been bad the past few years. He's smart enough to be in the advanced classes but since he failed them last year, he had to switch to all easy classes this year.

He's not getting into Harvard. If he goes to college it will be the junior college probably but honestly I don't know if he'll even put effort into that or will he just get bad grades there too.

Just trying to get him to feel some sense of urgency to work hard at something.
Click to expand...

I think you're doing the right thing.

I used to work Sundays at a supermarket from 16-18 to pay for my phone and socialising and it didn't affect my grades.

He's old enough to have some responsibility.
 
Each case is different. I paid for my son’s entire university degree. He got about $20k in scholarships but i forked the balance as i didn’t want him to work while he was doing his software engineering degree. That program was hard enough without adding a job in the mix. Most kids who worked ended up quitting because of the demands.

So yeah i paid for his phone too. Now that he’s working for big tech with no student loans to repay it was all worth it. There is more than one way to help kids become financially independent.
 
I'd never pay for it.

My son is 10, he purchased his own ps4.
If wants a phone, he needs to get more work.
 
I think that’s a good idea TS. A part time job in HS builds character and teaches the value of a dollar. Also builds life experience. Many kids come out of college never having worked. They have this great degree and no practical life experience. Guess who I never hire? I would rather a kid that worked since HS because he doesn’t need to be taught things like work place behavior, expectations, team work, responsibility, and the realities of pay, taxes, working hard for little pay etc.
 
I'm truly surprised with most of the replies itt. I always had the impressions that westerners are extremely independent. Moving out at age 18 or so when they goes to college and so on.

So many itt are saying to pay for their kids phone until they grad after like 20? Because it will put additional stress on their education years? How much are mobile plans over there? How would $30 ~ $60 per month put stress on their life late teen?
 
5crew said:
I'm truly surprised with most of the replies itt. I always had the impressions that westerners are extremely independent. Moving out at age 18 or so when they goes to college and so on.

So many itt are saying to pay for their kids phone until they grad after like 20? Because it will put additional stress on their education years? How much are mobile plans over there? How would $30 ~ $60 per month put stress on their life late teen?
Click to expand...
American kids are not generally expected to be independent until after education is complete.

Honestly I think a lot of the time when people try to force indepenence say right after high school, they’re just setting their kids up for failure. Like @Ottawaguy mentioned, often the pursuits that lead to quicker and more complete financial independence are better served by heavy support than the sink or swim style of parenting that was common in past decades when things like housing, automobiles and college were more affordable.
 
No phone. Make him clean the gutters for 6 dollars an hour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,666
Messages
55,433,009
Members
174,775
Latest member
kilgorevontrouty

Share this page

Back
Top