VivirLatino

Kajeet Cell Phones : So Far a Good Option for Padres and Kids

17:00 H | Topics: Family - Shopping - Tech - Telecomm

Thankfully my 10 year isn't one of those kids, the kind that are up your ass to have what all her friends have. Most of her fifth grade friends do have cell phones, used to communicate with their parents as they walk home from school alone. But I still pick my daughter up, so the need wasn't there. However when offered the chance to review Kajeet, a new cell phone service for kids, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to see what the hype was about and if indeed I did have control of how my daughter would use it. I was pleasantly surprised. My daughter loved the cute characters that are used as the phone's spokespeople and promptly decorated her LG 225 camera phone with stickers of big headed alien looking creatures she knew by name. I loved the fact that I could control not only who my daughter called but how calls were payed for.

Kajeet phone is a prepaid cell phone service, meaning you pay per call, per download, and to use the phone (there is a daily service access fee of about 35 cents). The phone is run on the Sprint network. When I registered the phone for my daughter over the phone, I was given so many control options that it actually felt a little overwhelming, but in a good way. The way Kajeet works is that there are two "wallets", a virtual account you put money into via prepaid card available at such popular tween locations like Limited Too, credit card, or online. You can even ask families and friends to add money to wallets as a gift. Kajeet automatically blocks 900 and 976 numbers. There's a time manager that will block calls at certain times of the day (for example when your child is in class or doing homework). The Contact Manager feature allows us padres to get through at any time, even if your kids friends are blocked. This feature also allows parents to block who can call and text the phone and which wallet pays for those calls. For example, you don't want to pay for calls to and from your kids best friend? No problem. You can set the account up so that the costs of those calls comes from your kid's wallet.

It all sounds a little complicated but it's not to hard to navigate through the service's website and their customer service people are super nice.

After three weeks with the phone, my daughter has added a Shakira ring tone and downloaded a Nick game, all with her own wallet.

Kajeet phones give kids what they want : style and function to call and text their friends. Kajeet phones give parents what they want, complete and total control (insert evil laugh).

Check em out at Kajeet

Image Via / Sandman

Related

• National Rican Organization Challenges Presidential Candidates to Speak Address the Community (Wednesday, Sep 17 2008)
• More Info on Haiti Flood Relief (Saturday, Sep 13 2008)