Kids, Teens and the Virgin Mobile Custom Plan at Walmart

I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence-Central for Virgin Mobile. I received a sample device to facilitate my review and a thank you item for participating.

My eldest son, Jonathan, is about to turn 15 years old in a little over a week. He’s been absolutely HOUNDING me for a phone for what seems like forever though. 78% of all teenagers now have some type of mobile phone or smart phone, and 47% of them say that their phone is their life – they cannot live without it. That would be my son as well.

Kids, Teens and Mobile Usage

Kids and teens are asking for cell phones at a younger age. The Virgin Mobile Custom Plan at Walmart allows parents to control when and how their child’s phone is being used. What parental controls would you take advantage of? Which would you use the most? We received the LG Pulse for our review (along with some sweet lanyard with the Virgin Mobile logo and three t-shirts as well) and its been a huge hit in every way with Jonathan.

One of the deciding factors for us was to ensure that the boys weren’t staying up all night long playing games, texting, watching videos, etc. – especially on a school night. Virgin Mobile knows this and allows us to set on and off times for each phone, for each kid.

Another problem we were worried about – data usage. All that gaming, video playing, music streaming data adds up quick (I should know, I go through mine like wildfire!) Even using WiFi when it is available, data plans can get extremely pricey if you go over your limit, and we know our boys – they would be over their limits in a matter of DAYS, not WEEKS.

Virgin Mobile Custom Plan

There are three reasons why I love the Virgin Mobile Custom Plan:

• Affordability
• Parental Controls from my desktop, my Android phone, or directly from their phone
• Family Plans – share up to five lines however we want

Affordability

Three different plans all under $30 a month. Or you can customize your plan and pick what works for your particular child and your budget. I have the unlimited talk and text with 1GB of data per month for a cost of $53. Not bad considering that for two phones with our carrier we are paying almost double that. (I am seriously considering switching our phones to the Virgin Mobile Custom Family Plan if we can get all four of our phones for under what I’m paying for just two of them!)

Parental Controls

I love the ability to control what happens on my kids’ phones directly from my desktop, my Android phone, or directly from their phones. I can check their usage statistics, I can control the apps that they can download and use, I can limit their time on the phone during school nights with an automatic shutdown and start-up time.Virgin Mobile has literally gone above and beyond understanding what parents truly want and need to keep their children safe. 

Family Plan

We checked with other cell phone service providers – asking what it would cost for unlimited talk and text, what their data package prices were. We figured that anywhere from 1GB to 5GB was a good range of data for a teenager, considering all the video watching, music streaming, and game playing that they do. 1GB is apparently not enough for the teenager – he went through that in less than 2 weeks, so we might bump him up to 2 or 3GB next time. He hasn’t said anything about it to me yet (I can view his usage online – parental controls – gotta love it!) so I’m waiting to see if he does. If he doesn’t – then we’ll leave it where it is at.

What The Teenager Has To Say

Jonathan is literally beside himself with joy over the phone. He has really, really, enjoyed having it the past few weeks – and I am absolutely thrilled that I can now stay in constant contact with him. Being a teen, naturally he doesn’t want to be anywhere near the parental figures. He usually bails on Friday right after school and we don’t see him again until he pops back home on Sunday afternoon and spends the weekend with a friend.

Before Virgin Mobile, I worried constantly about where he was, what he was doing, could he get in contact with us if there was a problem. I never slept while he was gone, always afraid I’d miss a text message from him. Now, I have constant peace of mind knowing that if he needs me, I’m just a phone call away. If my mom radar goes off, I can pick up the phone and call him and make sure he’s okay.

I asked him to tell me what five things he loved about his phone. He told me:

• It has good service. No matter if I’m in a wooded area or in the city, I get great service no matter where I am. (Unlike mom’s phone service – cough cough)
• It has excellent call quality. I can hear everything that the other person says, it doesn’t cut in and out (again, like mom’s phone does) and I don’t have to worry about their voices crackling and breaking up.
• The battery life is phenomenal, Mom! I can charge it overnight and it will last me ALL-DAY-LONG. (poor kid, he’s not accustomed to the finer things in life)
• The speaker on this phone is wicked. I don’t even need to borrow Dad’s external speaker anymore. It’s loud, it’s clear, and I can hear every beat, every nuance. I love it!
• You know I hate slow browsers. When I search for something I want an answer immediately, not have to wait three minutes for the browser to even open. This browser is super fast, the speed is great, and it’s just one more reason why I love my phone!

Learn More About Virgin Mobile Custom Plans

I wholeheartedly endorse Virgin Mobile Custom for any size family. We love how simple it is to control, and we’re planning on surprising our youngest with a phone of his own for Christmas from Virgin Mobile and Wal-Mart!

Connect with Virgin Mobile Custom on Facebook and Twitter. You can check out all the plans, all the options, review the parental control features, coverage areas and more on the Virgin Mobile website.

So as you can see, I have wholeheartedly embraced being a #VirginMobileMom and I know that when the time is right for you and your family – you’ll see exactly what I mean by Virgin Mobile at Wal-Mart is the only way to go when deciding on a cellular phone service for your kids. Definitely a “must” to add to the Christmas list this year!

Happy Texting!