By Kamiya Jani, Moneycontrol.com
Rahul Mallhotra bought a
mobile phone for his 14year-old son so that he could be in touch with
him whenever required. But today he realises that the mobile phone is
affecting his son's life as a whole. He spends more time talking on the
phone or sending text messages rather than with his family.
Kids
often try to sweet-talk their parents into buying cell phones on
grounds of safety and convenience. But face it! What kids really want
to do is text-message their friends, download music or play games.
Moreover,
cell phones are not fool-proof. If your kid wants to be difficult, he
will be in any case. There is no way for you to find out if he really
is at a place he claims to be in. And if he does not want to be
reached, he can easily switch the phone off. So don't fall for these
talks unless your child is mature, emotionally as well as financially
to use the device responsibly.
Emotional maturity matters as much
as financial. After all, you don't want your teenage kid to be surfing
adult content on the Internet from the convenience of his phone.
As
parents however, it may also be very difficult to convince kids against
such demands because of peer pressure. Therefore the best thing to do
is to buy them one and put in conditions so that they become more
responsible. You give a choice so that they know how to compromise. As
an ideal parent, what you need to do is allow your kid the luxuries
only if they are financially prepared for it.
Explains Zankhana
Shah, Certified Financial Planner, "For example, if you buy them a
mobile phone, ask them to let go of their pocket money or some other
spending like celebrating a birthday." You can take this situation as
an opportunity to get your kids financially mature.
In this way,
he will be able to take his financial decisions without letting his
self esteem go down. The child's emotional management may be affected
if all his friends have a phone and he doesn't. Therefore, you ask him
to make a choice by which he learns to let go. This exercise indeed
makes him mature in all sense.
Agrees P V Subramanyam, financial
domain trainer, "Once you buy them a phone, let them decide how
efficiently they can use their pocket money by paying phone bills along
with other activities like watching a movie, shopping, etc. Teach them
money prioritisation, which can be done if you let them take their own
financial decisions."
In this way, the child realises that he has
to live with his decisions whether they are right or wrong. If parents
lead them in every issue, they tend to blame them for everything.
Managing
money is all about prioritisation, which may not be only for kids but
also for elders. "If you give your kid Rs 1,000 and ask him to pay his
phone bill and also get the trendy shoes he has been demanding since a
long time, he would automatically cut down on his phone calls to save
up money for the shoes," says Subramanyam.
After some point of time,
your kid may not listen to whatever you say and thus the best thing is
to put in some conditions and let him take his decisions so that he
learns with his mistakes and becomes more mature.
Link to the published article: Moneycontrol, Rediff