What kind of cell phone should I give my child?

For kids aged between 8 and 10 years, consider a cell phone that's designed for children, such as texting phones, and add the unlimited texting plan if necessary. These phones offer much tighter controls than regular phones, are great for younger children because they have smaller keyboards for young children's fingers, and they don't access the Internet.

Be sure to add a "parental controls feature" to their wireless number, which will allow you to control when your child can text and limit when they can't. The parental control feature also provides your child with the ability to "block" anyone who harasses or threatens them by call or text. Contact your wireless provider to have the multimedia message (MMS) feature -- sending photos and videos by text -- disabled to avoid the risk of and exposure to sexting. Consider purchasing insurance and the location/zoning service as well.