Cell phone use and teenager

This is what we have chosen to do with our teenage son and it has worked super well for us: we bought a Gabb phone from Gabb wireless – it looks like a smartphone but is basically talk and text only except for a couple of tools like calculator, etc.  No internet or gaming access – he has access to the internet on our laptop at home but we felt like having it on a tiny personal screen was more freedom than he was ready for.  Moreover, it virtually eliminates the screen-time management issue – all of his time on his phone is spent connecting with actual people via call or text, which I am fine with.  I struggle at times with managing my time on my phone, too, and just feel that if most adults struggle with this, it is too much to ask of a teen boy to have that kind of self control.  The only other rule we have is that text threads with girls have to be group messages. If your son already has a great phone, you might have more resistance to changing to a Gabb phone, but I highly recommend it. It gives my son just the right amount of freedom for his maturity level.