Comments on: Dad takes hammer to kid's cell for 10,000 texts

A teenager in Cheyenne, Wyo., sends 10,000 texts in one month when her family's phone plan doesn't cover texts. Dad gets a bill for almost $5,000. Then he takes a hammer and smashes his daughter's phone.

[demecles]

That's sending almost 14 texts and hour, every hour for the whole month.

[colamix]

The headlines and your reaction to it are all wrong. The real scandal is the price tag for these text message. $4,756.25 when text messages cost carriers next to nothing is highway robbery.

[notlehs]

3 words for the kid: Are you Serious?

4 words for this idiot parent: Unlimited Text Messaging Plan!

4 words for the teachers at the kid's school to say at the beginning of each class: Turn Off Cell Phones!

Come on people... it is so simple. My children have cell phones and we have an unlimited text messaging plan because as you may have noticed, they don't talk on the phone much...but they text constantly. At our school, it is an automatic day of Saturday School (Dentention) for those who are caught with a cell phone on during class. It is very effective.

[UpajOs]

It's actually more than 20 text messages per hour, assuming 16 waking hours per day times 30 days -- a message every 3 minutes. That's pathological. If I were her parent, I, too, would take a hammer to the phone ... and the computer ... and the television. Children need to get plugged into reality again.

[arboc7]

Why did a 13-year-old have a texting-enabled cell phone in the first place? And why did all of her friends also have texting-enabled cell phones? That's the real problem with society these days: we give children almost everything for which they ask. There need to be boundaries. At school, there's probably a landline, so why do kids even need a cell phone? For emergencies? In the event of an emergency, I'm sure that a person of authority will probably call the parents anyway.

I'm 20, and I got a cell phone for my 16th birthday, but only after I determined what new plan my family should get to save money over the course of our contract. At 13, I certainly did not need a cell phone!

[fleurya]

I agree 100%. Am I honestly supposed to believe that responsible parents would be blindsided by their daughter sent 10,000 texts and failed all of her classes, completely unnoticed? And how about the teachers? Obviously this girl was texting all day in class. The teachers really didn't notice??? You can't place blame entirely on the child. Children will only do what they are allowed to get away with. The parents need to take a good, hard look at how they're raising their child, and how her school is being run!! If I was the CEO of Verison, I would make them pay every penny to teach them a lesson about raising children!

[firefoxluva95]

On the contrary, many students participate in activities after school and do not have an access to a landline phone because those activities do not take place on campus. The cell phone not only enables communication with parents but also with other students who may be collaborating on an event hosted by their club or activity. It is imperative that all situations be considered.

Cell phones aren't 100% bad or 100% good. They have to be used responsibly but not completely removed. Some families do not have a landline; they are all on cell phones. Society is advancing into the wireless world. Pretty soon, landlines will be obsolete. Technology is moving faster than many people anticipate.

[UpajOs]

I agree with your comment. Cell phones didn't even exist in their present form until Motorola introduced the MicroTAC in 1989. In 1989 I was 35 years old; somehow, I and billions of children on Earth since the dawn of Man have managed to grow up without such gadgets.

[zizzybaloobah]

Of course Verizon should reduce the bill - in fact there's no reason that can't eliminate the charges completely. Verizon will gladly allow you to modify your service plan, and even do it retroactively, if you notify them when you receive the bill. I've taken advantage of this on the rare occasion when I went over my minutes (or somebody sent a few too many text messages).

Of course I have no doubt that the father thought that text messaging had been disabled - I've heard my office mate complain to them several times when she asked to have Download It Now blocked on her kids phones and they never get around to do actually doing it.

[fleurya]

So it goes with the child, so it also goes with adults: if these idiots get let off the hook for their obvious and terrible mistake, they won't learn anything and keep making the same mistakes. I say, make them pay it!

I once went way over on my texting and had to pay a hefty bill myself. Did I go whining to AT&T. No! I actually took responsibility for my actions. Don't people do that any more???

This can all easily be translated in several of our society's current ills: terrorism, politics, the economy. Our society is really going down the tubes.

[demecles]

@fleurya
"Obvious and terrible", is that like high crimes and misdemeanors? I doubt it is obvious simply because I doubt the 13 year old was aware that her parents were being charged for each text message sent and received. Since the minor in the case is unlikely to be able to pay for the charges, nor is legally liable for them the monetary loss will not just impact her, but the family as a whole. Trying to pay almost five grand will not bankrupt them, but it will put a serious crimp on their finances, maybe they'll just go hungry or cut back on doctors visits, or hell why not just take it out of her (assuming) college fund, that'll teach her to text.

[fleurya]

demecles, you are so ignorant that your comment is hardly worth replying to, but I suppose someone has to educate you. Obviously a 13 year old girl wouldn't be liable, but unless Verizon allowed that 13 year old girl come into their store, sign a contract, and take one of their activated phones out with her, it doesn't really matter. See, all that matters is that an adult did sign a legal contract for that phone and service. And that adult was her parents, who are responsible for their daughter and her actions. They signed up for the service, they gave her the phone to use, and they are responsible for what she does with it.

Do you understand now, because I seriously have doubts that you do. Maybe, just maybe the parents can go to court and have a judge rule them mentally incompetent to sign a contract and not liable for the charges, because I also believe her parents must be that stupid to have given her a phone and not known what she was doing with it!

[coulterboyz]

Well I'll defend the parents here, because something similar to this happened to me. When I first got my cell (at 16) My parents told me I had unlimited txts and sent me on my merry way. Except I didn't. And the bill was $400. And That signaled the end of happy birthday times lol. But apparently there was a miscue between my parents and the Verison rep, because when they added my phone onto their plan the rep just gave me the same txting plan as my parents. : /. So add that we caught the mistake early on and that my parents are good friends with their Verison rep (I say their because I've moved onto AT&T for the iPhone, though I do wish I could have Verison and the iPhone, but alas, 'tis not to be), we had the bill reduced to less than $100. So maybe this dad will only have to pay a couple grand lol. But in all seriousness, don't villainize the victim here. This is just an honest mistake on the part of both parties. If anything the one to look to is the girl, since I'm sure her parents told her that they had disabled her txting, and if she was txting and didn't tell them then she was going behind her parents back.

[bennywhatever]

I work at Sprint, and holy crap, parents will make up the most crazy stuff to rationalize their kids' mistakes. I see about 2 or 3 times a month, a mom will come in and yell at me because little Johnny racked up $500 in texting. When I tell them that they're legit charges, they say stuff like, "oh, not my kid... he told us he doesn't text!" It's crazy. Usually though, as long as it hasn't happened before, you can get a courtesy credit of about $50 - $100 or so, but it's a one-time credit.

[gadjitfreek]

Sigh...oh, for the days when parents didn't automatically stick up for their kids. Maybe even beat them when they did something like this, or force them to come up with a payment plan to repay the parents. Then it is a lesson learned. Kids are addicted to their phones like they were crack and cell phone blockers should be legal for schools to use. If I had a kid, there is NO WAY I would buy them a cell phone. Period.

[faleiria]

That text message or SMS is a trap! Those unwary or with a compulsion to text are GAMBLING with hard earned money...

[Dan7637]

this was way too far, i mean i bet the father payed for the phone so hes even wasted more money and he is also at fault because he should have known she would text and should have gotten an unlimited plan

[chapibol]

F*ing kids these days. they Don't care about anythin....

[Funkatronic]

I've sold phones for 8 years or so, but I've never seen a bill go into the thousands. the most I've seen is 400. I always tell my customers that if they have kids, unlimited texting or a texting block is a must; no exceptions. I'd rather they whine about 20 bucks a month than to go at me with their 4,000 dollar bill. jeez

[sharmajunior]

I sold phones for over 10 years (well used to) with all the carriers. I once saw a customer who took "advantage" of early N&W and started talking on Friday and used to end the conversation early Monday...LOL

I was like "do you sleep with your phone on?" he said "yeh"....well eventually T-Mobile barred him from ever getting service again (well they barred his social security number), now he still does it through a plan he got on his friends name.....and this time he racked up a bill of around 8K.

[gladman9]

you'd think these kids or maybe even parents would look online. there's sites out there to send free text messages like http://www.smstextnow.com anyway, it would be a way to save a bunch of money. -Andy

[firefoxluva95]

Yeah but more than half of those sites don't provide a way to receive messages.

[mihi64]

In Europe, we have cheaper prices for texting and calls.
In my country, we pay 1 cent per SMS inside network and 5 cents outside.

[theobstruction]

Even that is basically highway robbery. I figured out one time that, if using data rate pricing plans, the cost to send or recieve a text message is something like $0.00015 (0.015 cents) in US dollars. Instead they charge $0.25 (25 cents). That's why i use IM on my G1 for messaging, and if the other side doesn't have those programs, then they just get called.

[pubmat]

If you do the math....its .47 cents a text. Outrageous.

[inachu1]

I once got a bill for $16,000 for calls not made by me.
This was back in the ole Computer BBS days.

Thank god I did not have to pay it.