Summer's Here, and the Textin' is Tempting

Now that summer is in full swing, have you noticed your kids on their cell phones more?

Harris Interactive surveyed more than 1,500 tween and teen cell phone users between the ages of 10 and 17 and found that they are on the phone an average of 3 hours and 45 minutes a day, up an hour from a typical school day.

Speaking of the school year, the survey (for Disney Mobile) also found that 65 percent of kids say they use their phones during school even though they are not supposed to, and 58 percent of them text message during class—something definitely forbidden.

It's always a good time to check in on how your kids are using their phones, even if you've got unlimited texting and calling family plans. Every good thing can be abused. It's also a good time to go over what you expect from your kids when it comes to using the phone that you are most likely paying for.

The Disney survey finds that nearly half of young cell phone users text more than they call with phones, which, as many parents have found out, can add up to a sizable bill when you're paying for individual text messages in and out. Services such as Disney Mobile and kajeet offer parents and kids tools to set times they are allowed on the phone, and block times they are not. You can also easily block the numbers of unwanted texters and callers.

We've started out with a pay-as-you-go plan for our teen because I think it's a good idea for teens to see what it costs to use a cell phone and to think about how they use it instead of taking an expensive privilege for granted.

Related: Making the Leap: A Cell Phone for Our Teen
Cell Phones + Kids: What Age is the Right Age?