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Re: Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
CHEYENNE - In one month, a Cheyenne teenager sent 10,000 text messages and received about the same - all while her family's plan did not include texting.
That means the family's provider - Verizon - charged them for each incoming and outgoing text.
The girl's parents, Gregg and Jaylene Christoffersen, thought texting had been disabled, so one can imagine their surprise when they got the monthly phone bill and it asked for $4,756.25.
"It just hit us like a rock, like you're stepping into a bus," Gregg Christoffersen said.
The bill was legit.
Dena Christoffersen, 13, had apparently been sending most of these messages at school. That's more than 300 texts within an eight-hour period every day for the whole month.
Needless to say, it drew attention away from what she should have been doing: paying attention in class.
"She went from As and Bs one semester to Fs in two months," Dena's dad said.
Hours after the enormous bill arrived, Gregg Christoffersen took a hammer to his daughter's phone.
He and Jaylene also grounded Dena until the end of school.
"I felt really bad and I have learned my lesson," Dena said with her head down.
Since she lost her phone, Dena's grades have gone up and the texting is down to zero.
As for the phone bill, the family says Verizon has been willing to knock it down to a reasonable level.
The Christoffersens are now asking school administrators at Johnson Junior High School to crack down on cell phone use during school.
(Copyright KUSA*TV, All Rights Reserved)
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
I find it disturbing that someone can send 300 text messages during the school day and this is not prevented by teachers.
Re: Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
I find it disturbing that someone can send 300 text messages during the school day and this is not prevented by teachers.
I thought the same thing. I know when I was in HS, they would flip out if anyone had a cell phone on their person, even if it was turned off. How times have changed.
Re: Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
My kids aren't gonna have a phone in their room, their own cell phones, TVs in their rooms, video game systems in their rooms, computers with internet in their rooms. Maybe I'm a dick. But I'm gonna know what my kids are doing.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
My school district has a policy against phones that are on. You can still sneak in texts, but really more than 2-3 a period and you'll get caught. I never do send but I'll check one I receive during passing time.
This isn't really news. Kid made a mistake and paid the price.
Bri, eventually cell phones become a necessity. Not at 13 years old, but you can't deny them all the way to 18. I'd say by 15 or 16 just about everyone has them and they do serve an important function.
Re: Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
My theory is to give a kid a cell phone when they get a car, since there it would seem to be reasonable. Should their car break down, they would have a way of contacting someone without asking a stranger to use their phone.
Any kid who isn't driving has no reason to have a cell phone. It disgusts me to see so many kids texting and on their phones all the damn time at such young ages. Honestly, there's no reason for your friends to know what you are doing every minute of the day. That's the same reason I don't like Twitter. It's like texting on the internet, except everyone you have added gets the message. I'm sorry, but I'd rather call or text my friends personally than mass message them on Twitter. And I could really care less what celebs are posting on there.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Teen's phone meets dad's hammer after mega-bill
Before I had a car I had a phone, and needed it because of afterschool stuff whose end time was not always listed or guaranteed. There aren't pay phones around anymore, if you didn't have a cell phone in that situation you were going to walk home.
I think a better plan would be get them the phone but not allow texting. Either get a phone that doesn't have that option, or don't include it in the plan.
As for Twitter, I don't see why regular people should have one but I do watch a few (Bill Gould, Trent Reznor) who use it to keep in touch with fans.
