kajeet Mobile Web – New!
November 13, 2009
by Carol Politi
We just launched some great new mobile web services! This new offering provides significantly more flexibility for those that want to surf the web from their kajeet device and gives parents the ability to select the level of access they think works best for their family.
The kajeet Navigator (i.e., the browser on your phone) now has a set of free sites, a set of kid-friendly sites selected by kajeet (these cost money to access), access to social networking and IM (these cost money and are in a separately controlled category), and a category that allows you to access the web freely without controls. The new Feature Manager on kajeet.com allows parents to control the access their kids will have to various sites on the mobile web. Login to kajeet.com and select Configurator/Feature Manager to see the full set of options.
What does it cost?
The web services are charged based on use – $0.35 per 0.25 megabyte (each 0.25MB expires 24 hours after purchase). What that means is that we charge you for 0.25 MB and that this is good for a day. (Some carriers charge in MB, for comparison purposes this equates to $1.40/MB).
What on earth does 0.25 Mbyte get you and why did we take this approach? First, it gets you:
- About 10 mobile-friendly web pages
- About 2-3 full web pages (i.e., non-mobile optimized pages)
Why did we take this approach? It is nice to be able to, for a very small cost, casually browse the web – e.g., look at the weather once in a while. Many of our customers just want a bit of web access and they don’t want to buy a big bundle. (For those that are very heavy users, we will add a bundle option in the future!)
Please note: it is still free to browse our Navigator store for ringtones, games, and applications – and all kajeet users still get access to select free mobileweb sites! Access to your “MyKajeet” is also free.
We would love some input on this – so please comment here on the new features. Your comments will directly reach our product team and they will listen to you! We could specifically use help in the following areas:
1. What sites would you like to see in the “free” category. Our plan is to consistently make available at least 3 sites as part of our base service. These need to be appropriate for kids of all ages. We would appreciate customer feedback to help us decide if we have made the right choices.
2. Do you know of other kid appropriate sites that should be specifically listed and made available in our “Other Great Sites” category? This is a category of sites that again need to be appropriate for kids of all ages. This category is a bit light at the moment and we would like to make it more robust.
Please comment here to let us know what you think, and to let us know how you would like to see these features evolve. Thanks!
Sleep
September 29, 2009
Sleep
by Carol Politi
Another series of articles have come out describing all the distractions today’s kids have to deal with not only throughout their day, but also throughout their night. A recent article “Night-texting’ taking its toll on N.J. teens” highlights kids that are texting even while they are sleeping.
Research has shown that the lack of sleep impacts not only kid’s school work but also their emotional and physical health. kidshealth.org has a good summary of teen sleep needs.
Kids are going to wake up if they get notified of a text message on their phone. Some parents have a rule that all phones must be powered down and put in a designated spot before the kids retire for the evening. That can work! Another option for kajeet parents is to establish a TimeManager policy that prevents the phone from sending or receiving texts during certain hours. Many kajeet parents put on a block during the nights and during school hours. (Emergency numbers that the parent designates can get through.)
I think we would all love it if our kids would just learn to apply reasonable limits – this is an important part of growing up. However, with texting, we have to be worried not only about our own kid’s behavior, but also that of their friends in homes with different policies and limits. Sometimes it makes sense to give them a little help! Please login to kajeet.com or call kajeet customer care at 1-866-452-5338 to configure TimeManager on your kajeet device.
Back to School Prep
August 27, 2009
by Carol Politi
As you are populating your calendar with all the school activities for the fall, take a few minutes to add school blocks and holidays to the TimeManager for your kid’s kajeet phone (go to kajeet.com, Configurator, TimeManager to do this). You can block calls and messages during school hours and after certain times of night to make sure your kids focus on school and are not interrupted at night with texts or calls from friends. (Note that your emergency or “always allowed” numbers will get through a calendar block).
This is also a great time to get familiar with the kajeet.com site – especially Account Activity which gives you a detailed list of how the phone is being used at various times of day. It will let you know if your child is using picture messaging and whether it might be useful to do some coaching on cell phones and pictures. If you have a teen that is driving, you can check Account Activity to make sure the phone is not being used while your teen is driving.
Good luck with back to school!
Bonus for Each kajeet Referral
August 10, 2009
By Carol Politi
The back to school retail season has definitely started. I have already hit Target & Amazon to stock up on the back to school lists for my two kids. The stores are busy!
If you know of friends with tweens or young teens looking for a phone for back to school, please tell them about kajeet. kajeet is the only phone just for kids with service starting at $4.99 – perfect for that safety phone in the backpack. And for older kids the unlimited texting plan with 150 minutes for $19.99 can provide real savings. Our phones are available on kajeet.com and Amazon.com.
If you are an existing customer, make sure to tell the people you refer to kajeet to put in referral code 102962 & your kajeet cell phone number when they activate. You will get $10 in credit to your kajeet account. There is no limit to how many referrals you can make – 10 referrals will get your $100 in the phone wallet! (Remember – you can put that in the parent wallet and use it just when you need it).
Texting while Driving
July 13, 2009
By Carol Politi
More and more kajeet customers are getting drivers licenses as it turns out a good number of them are between 15 and 17. Our Qwerty phones and texting package options appeal to parents that want the safety and budgeting features of the kajeet service and along with devices and plans that meet the needs of these older kids.
As a result, I have been drawn into many conversations about texting while driving. (Thanks to BabyCenter for the diagram to the left). An update from the Governors Highway Safety Association many states have recently passed laws that ban or otherwise limit texting while driving. Fourteen states and Washington DC ban text messaging while driving entirely. Nine states ban texting by “novice” drivers.
While this is great progress, many of these laws have little in the way of teeth in that the penalties are limited and police are often limited in their ability to pull someone over for texting (it often must be on conjunction with another penalty). And most of us want to make sure that our kids are safe in the car regardless of penalties and tickets (though higher penalties and better enforceability might deliver better results).
What can we do to protect our kids (from those they drive with and from themselves)? Here are some ideas:
1. Demonstrate that texting while driving is unacceptable. Don’t pick up the phone to read your email while at a stop light. Some states obviously think that mature drivers can deal with this kind of juggle but we are most likely sending a message to our kids that staring at a screen while driving is OK. If we do that for 16 years it will become pretty difficult to communicate a different message to our own kids when they turn 16.
2. Talk with your kids about the topic of texting while driving. Point out that accidents happen and people die because they are taking their eyes off the road. Have them read some articles about kids that have injured others or been hurt themselves.
3. Check your kids Account Activity when they go out – and have a conversation with your kids if you discover they might be texting while driving. We could advocate for eliminating text messaging or shutting it off during certain timeframes. And perhaps some kids need us to go that far. However, others might just need continuous reinforcement. We love them and don’t want them to get hurt. kajeet posts Account Activity on the kajeet website in near real-time (it is updated no less than every 15 minutes).
4. Talk with your kids about their friend’s driving, and about how they should deal with friends that persist in texting while driving. This is no less a hazard to them than drinking while driving so we (and they) need to take it seriously. If they are not comfortable driving with someone, discuss how they might avoid it. Jointly come up with a plan for ensuring they have a ride home in case they find they are not comfortable with the driving of any friend for any reason (texting, drinking, etc.).
Vail Christian High School went as far as bringing in a driving simulator to show kids what could happen when they were texting while driving. Nothing beats experience so perhaps this should be a part of all our kid’s driver’s education instruction?
How are you making sure your kids drive safely? Please comment with your ideas.
kajeet Wins iParenting Media Safety Award
June 30, 2009
by Carol Politi
kajeet has been awarded the iParenting Media Award for 2009 Excellent Products in the Safety category. This is the third parenting award kajeet has won in the last eight months!
The product reviewers had the following to say about kajeet:
“Kajeet does a great job of giving kids the feelings of self-confidence and respect that come with owning a cell phone,” said one iParenting Media Awards Reviewer. “It also helps parents feel safe and in control, because they can give their kids as much or as little freedom they need.”
“This product is a great way to give parents peace of mind knowing that they can access their children when necessary,” said another iParenting Media Awards Reviewer. “It also allows children to contact their parents in case of an emergency.”
“My favorite feature is the time-out blocks. They allow me to control what hours the phone can be used by my children, but still allow them access to us, their parents, in case of an emergency,” said the third iParenting Media Awards Reviewer.
iParenting Awards, a Disney Interactive Media Group property, is part of the Disney Online network of family-focused Web sites, including Disney Family.com and FamilyFun.com. The iParenting Award provides kajeet with visibility with the array of parents that use these websites to help find solutions to common parenting dilemmas and to find fun things to do with their kids. (If you don’t already use these sites – check them out! Family Fun is profiling great activities for the 4th of July and also has good tips on cost effective family and kid activities).
Thanks to the everyone in the kajeet customer base for your feedback and help in building our service into the one it is today. We would not be a recipient of these parenting awards without you!
Surfing on kajeet Phones
June 29, 2009
by Carol Politi
Most parents come to kajeet to get access to the latest in parental control features, but also want to be sure the kajeet service contains enough fun stuff to make their kids happy. In that light, kajeet phones now provide access to a limited array of mobile web sites that provide the following information & entertainment:
- Weather
- Sports
- Dictionary
- Nature
- Wikipedia
Kids that want to check out the latest game scores, work on their homework, learn about animals, or figure out what the weather will be for practice this afternoon are all covered!
Remember, if you do not want your child to use Surfing on their phone you can turn it off using FeatureManager as follows:
- Login to the kajeet website
- Go to Configurator and then FeatureManager
- Change “ability to use” to OFF for the Surfing feature.
Please let us know how your child enjoys the service and what else you and your child might like to see added.
Kids, Sleep – and Texting Controls!
June 10, 2009
By Carol Politi
“Teens whose parents let them stay up after midnight on weeknights have a much higher chance of being depressed or suicidal than teens whose parents enforce an earlier bedtime, says research being presented today at a national sleep conference.” from an article in today’s USA Today.
It is hard to be a kid today – there are so many distractions. And this study is shocking with respect to the impact of sleep deprivation. One extract:
“Middle- and high-schoolers whose parents don’t require them to be in bed before midnight on school nights are 42% more likely to be depressed than teens whose parents require a 10 p.m. or earlier bedtime. And teens who are allowed to stay up late are 30% more likely to have had suicidal thoughts in the past year.”
Cell phones – while typically acquired for safety purposes – can be a distraction at night. Even kids that mean to play by the rules have a hard time not picking up a phone when a text comes in at 11, 12, or later…
If you are a kajeet customer, you have tools that can help your child avoid this kind of distraction. You can set your TimeManager controls to block calls, texts, and pictures during sleeping hours. To do this you simply login to your kajeet account, click on the Configurator, and then set up TimeManager controls.
If you need assistance with setting up any of your kajeet controls, please contact customer care at 1-866-452-5338. They will be happy to set the account up for you.
Note that both kajeet and non-kajeet customers can also put a policy in place where all cell phones are left in a certain place each night – far from the bedrooms. Ideally they would be shut off so they can’t ring and distract anyone in the house. This is an honor policy and might just be too tempting for some kids – if so – consider the controls above!
How do you make sure your kids get enough sleep? We would love to hear your tips.
Customer Feedback: “It really was a great decision!”
April 29, 2009
by Carol Politi
We recently queried our customers to find out how they were using kajeet. In doing so we received some amazing reports on how kajeet has been used in unique ways or has otherwise added value to our customers and their relationships with their children. I thought I’d share some of these here (all of these postings have been approved by the customer).
From Kristine:
“I was totally against paying for a cell phone for our 11 year old daughter until I came across kajeet. It was so affordable for her to have for an emergency situation that I broke down & signed up. She was always staying after school for activities, so I was able to contact her if I was running late to pick her up or she could let me know if the activity was running longer than expected. Then one day, there was a situation at her school where there was a shooter running from the police so the school was in lock down. They had no idea where he was & he had already shot the police chief and an officer just a couple blocks from the school. Since most of the students were already on the buses to come home they took them all to the bus garage. She was then able to call us & let us know what was going on and that she and her younger sister were safe. I know the other kids had wished they could call their parents & since there were restrictions on her phone to whom she could call, they couldn’t use hers. I was so glad that I had got it for her & I never regret it for a moment. To have peace and mind for now only $4.99 a month, it’s crazy not too! If she has money that she wants to add to her account so she can use other features, then I am more than happy to add it to her account for her. It has taught her responsiblitly when it comes to her money since she can use the home phone to call most of her friends for free! To be able to be in contact with her in a situation like that was a God send since the school doesn’t call you & you only see what the news is reporting on TV. It really was a great decision!”
Thanks for your feedback Kristine. The team at kajeet is really happy your daughter made it through this situation safely and was inspired to hear that kajeet was able to help keep you and your children connected at this time. While we hope none of our other parents have to go through a situation even remotely like this, the fact is that we all encounter stressful situations with our kids. Whether it be a missed school bus, misunderstood pickup location, or what is in fact a real emergency – we do hope kajeet is able to provide safe link between our customers and their children at all times.
“Sexting” & Keeping Our Kids Safe
March 25, 2009
by Carol Politi
Every day we are hearing more and more about how kids are getting into trouble with the pictures they are sending to their friends on their cell phones. “Sexting”, if you are not familiar with the term, is the trend where teens are “using their cell phones and computers to send risqué photos of themselves.”
This is landing more kids than you might think in extremely embarrassing situations and even in legal trouble. And sexting is impacting kids emotionally during middle school and high school – a time when many view their reputation with their peers to be the most important thing in the world to them.
What can parents do to guide their kids toward responsible use of picture technology – both on the phone and on-line? Some ideas:
1. Set up a contract! If you are getting your child a new kajeet phone, use this as an opportunity to walk through the account controls and talk about appropriate use of the phone. Discuss whether they are ready to send pictures at the press of a button, or whether this function should be turned off for the phone. You might consider getting them to draft an agreement in writing discussing what pictures are appropriate to send and what pictures are not appropriate.
2. Monitor your kids account. Even kids with what we might think is extremely good judgment sometimes make mistakes. You can login into kajeet.com to view the phone account activity which shows every number to which picture messages are sent.
3. Consider viewing the pictures your kids are sending. There is nothing better than real time guidance about what’s appropriate. If you see your kid sent one or more picture messages, perhaps you can talk to them about sexting and ask them to show you the phone and the pictures that were sent.
4. Have them do some reading on the topic. Real kids are getting hurt every day by sending the wrong pictures – often to friends or boyfriends who think it is funny to share them around. A quick google search on the topic will show up many, many articles that might be the reading required to drive this point home.
We find that every family has a different approach toward dealing with issues like this. Some families prefer phones without cameras (we offer that option!). Others turn off picture messaging and just allow their kids to take pictures that remain on the phone (to do this just go into the kajeet Feature Manager and turn Picture Messaging “Off”). Still others prefer to make these services available, and to monitor and guide their use. At kajeet we want to give you the tools required to make sure you can manage cell phone service in the manner that works for your family.
Have you had a discussion with your child on sexting? How are you managing the use of pictures in your family?
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