This post about Cell Phone Providers for kids is brought to you by Kajeet. All opinions are 100% mine.

A few months ago our 12 year-old daughter wrote us a 3 page note asking for a cell phone. To her credit she did have a plan to pay for part of the phone and had some good reasonings. However, my husband and I are trying our best to hold off until she starts fall sports at school. So we are now starting to look into the best and most affordable way to add our daughter’s cell phone to the mix. I recently heard about Kajeet , a wireless service provider created to meet the needs and concerns of parents and kids.

                                                               source: Droidtechblog

So what does that really mean, the needs of parents and kids? Why do parents choose Kajeet over other cell phone providers?

1. Affordable plans that start at just $4.99/month.
2.  No activation fee.
3.  No termination fee.
4. No long-term contract.
5.  No hassles if you need to change your plan. Change it whenever you need or want to, with no penalty. 
6.  Parents can purchase a popular Android™ smartphone (including the Samsung Galaxy S III 4G LTE or the LG Viper 4G LTE) or a more basic, “starter” phone (like the Kyocera Domino)
7.  Free, unlimited, award-winning parental controls (all manageable from a computer) that allow parents to:

•  Set time limits on phone use to prevent late night texting that interferes with kids getting a good night’s sleep.
• Block unwanted calls, but always ensure that those from mom and dad get through.
• Manage what websites can be accessed (even on Android™ smartphones)
• Decide who pays for certain services, like games or ringtones. (no more sharing our iTunes account and not knowing whose gift card it was)
• Find your kid (or his/her phone if it gets lost or stolen) with GPS locating (note: included in select service plans or as an add-on)

In the days of technology, this can really work to your advantage. You no longer have to guess if you child is actually calling you from the library. All Kajeet phones come enabled with GPS Phone Locator, which allows you to find your kid/his or her phone anytime for peace of mind. My daughter is quite forgetful, wonder where she gets it, so I love that you can find your phone for that reason too.

  For those teenagers that you may not be able to trust, you can always verify if they are telling you the truth.Track the phone and your kid in real time. Simply log into your account and run a GPS locate on demand. The results returned will display on a map with a time/date stamp. The location will also be added to the “locate history” for the device. For my daughter who pet and baby sits, I will always know if she makes it to the home ok and can guess her arrival without constantly calling her. 

Did she make it to practice each day? Want to know that your kid arrives at soccer practice on Mondays at 3:30? Schedule a locate to see where he/she is at that time each week. GPS Phone Locator will run at that time automatically on a regular basis and deliver the results to you.

There seems to be a lot to research before buying our child a cell phone. 

++ Verify whether or not there is 4G coverage in a particular area, visit the Kajeet coverage map at (purchasers are responsible for verifying their own coverage).

++  Phones can be purchased right from our website (see URL provided later in this document) and from May 1 through June 17, there is a special discount offer on the website – 20% off all phones (except the Samsung Galaxy S4) with promo code PROUD.

++ You may not have to buy a new phone:  Bring Your Own Sprint® Device to Kajeet. This means you don’t need to purchase a phone from Kajeet in order to be on our service; if you already own an eligible (and inactive) device, you can activate it with Kajeet. Eligible devices must be Sprint branded and not all devices are eligible (but the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 are).

I am glad we have held out this long on getting her a phone, however I can see how it would be useful in knowing where they are at all times because things have definitely changed since I had to carry a Quarter around to get in touch with my mom. Things have really changed with all the new cell phone providers.

What age do you think it is appropriate to get a child a phone?