In the context of the debates about banning mobiles for school children, the issue of phones that constrain use has become relevant. The NYT has done a full survey of the options available to parents in the US, an excerpt of which is given below. Why doesn’t someone do a similar survey for India, Sri Lanka, etc.?
Now for some real cellphones. The new LG Rumor from Kajeet (kajeet.com) is a texting phone for children, and it includes interesting features that everyone can appreciate.
First and foremost, Kajeet offers parental controls to prevent unauthorized incoming or outgoing calls. The service also includes a WalletManager system that allows parents to add talk time to the service weekly, like an allowance, as well as TimeManager, which limits calls to certain people at certain times. The phone also includes GPS mapping so parents can track children on the go.
The phone costs $180, and unlimited texting and 150 minutes of talk time costs $20 a month. A basic plan costs $5 a month for 10 minutes of talk time a month.
Another wireless carrier, Sprint, also offers a similar family-locator plan. The service works for all Sprint and Nextel mobile phones and allows you to pinpoint children on an online map. It costs $5 a month to locate up to four phones, and the service can send you automatic notifications when children arrive at school or home.
Comments are closed.