If you have children, you may soon notice that more and more kids today carry cell phones. If your children begin asking for a cell phone, what should you do? Cell phones may not be necessary for young children, but as your children reach their preteen years, you may want them to have a phone to contact you in case of emergencies, or so that you can contact them. As your children go out on their own to activities, a cell phone can come in quite handy.

When deciding which cell phone to purchase for your kids, you may see advertisements for specific cell phones aimed at children. These typically brightly-colored phones only have a few buttons to enable calls between the mobile phone and a few preset numbers. Although these might be best for young children who do not need a fully functional cell phone, older children will want a phone with more features. Teenagers will want a real phone, not these phones designed for younger children. Your children may grow out of a child phone quickly, and you’ll need to buy a regular cell phone for them eventually. Why not begin with a regular cell phone in the first place?

Still, you may not want to purchase an expensive new cell phone for your kids, and for good reason. They may not understand the expense, and may break or lose the phone. You may not feel that providing your children with a cell phone warrants the expense of a brand new phone. For kids, consider a used cell phone. With a used phone, they can get all of the features of a newer cell phone, but there is less risk of money loss if the phone gets lost or stolen. A used cell phone has more features than one designed just for kids, and usually comes in at the same price range. You should be able to find a used cell phone relatively easily for whichever carrier you use for the rest of your family’s phones; for example, in most cases you’ll need a used Sprint cell phone if you plan to use the phone on the Sprint network.

These cell phones come with additional features over phones made for kids, and these can give you peace of mind. Most newer cell phone models have standard GPS, which can be used by emergency personnel to track the phone should an emergency situation arise. Plus, these phones offer text messaging and allow your child to place calls to more than just a handful of preset numbers, as well as additional possibilities like a camera phone, which your older children will appreciate.

If you’re worried about surprises when the bill arrives, consider choosing a phone that can be used on a prepaid plan, or block features such as internet access or text messaging until you’re sure they won’t be overused. When choosing between different cell phone models, look for one offering all of the features you’re interested in, but remember that extra features can be turned off if you don’t want your kids to access them.