Deciding to give your child a cell phone is a big one, said Laura Merritt, a Columbus-based spokeswoman with Verizon Wireless, and mother of a 14-year-old.

And there's always that problem of parents and children having completely different ideas of how phones are to be used.

When a lot of parents think about cell phones, they think about vocal conversations in which their child calls them to say when they need picked up, or to say if they're going to be late getting home. They envision texts that are like e-mails, summing a whole conversation into one or two messages.

"That child has different idea of how to use the phone," Merritt said.

They text in short bursts back and forth. It could take them 15 text exchanges with a friend to cover "Hi, how are you," and "When and where do you want to meet before the movie," Merritt said. And younger teens especially like to take pictures of themselves and send them to several friends, just for the heck of it, she said.

"It's really a whole different world," she said. "Their ability to text different people at one time and set up distribution lists, it makes it so much easier for them. And it's at lightning speed. It's mind-boggling to watch them sometimes."

What this all means is that if parents don't have a conversation about how the phone will be used -- before handing it over -- "you could end up with sticker shock," she said.

Merritt remembers talking to a woman in Cleveland whose daughter exchanged 15,000 text messages in one month.

"She said, 'Oh, she's on the unlimited (plan) in messaging, so it's no problem with my bill. I'm just amazed she has the time,'" Merritt recalls.

Parents of teens may want to consider packages that allow the most possible texts, because teens are likely to use them, she said. But there's also the possibility of blocking texting altogether.

What's crucial is for parents to stay on top of their child's cell phone usage, she said.

"The parents can change the plan at any time, and they can be checking their account online to see how many texts the child has sent at this point -- or check on the phone."

Verizon Wireless offers the following tips for parents in talking with their children about their cell phone use:

Discuss with your child how it will be used before purchasing a wireless phone. Will it be for emergency purposes only? Will they be using it as their "primary" phone at college? Do they plan to use text messaging?

Set some ground rules. If the parent is paying for the service, make sure the children understand how many minutes and texts are allotted each month. Hold them accountable for usage above and beyond. For the younger child, break it down by day. For example, if they have 300 minutes a month, tell your child that he/she will have roughly 10 minutes of talk time per day. If he/she goes over one day, they will need to make adjustments in their calling the next day.

Make sure they understand the package they have and how much minutes cost above and beyond the existing package.

Keep tabs on your child's usage. Check how many minutes he/she used. For example, Verizon Wireless customers can dial #MIN for minutes used or #DATA for text messages and they'll quickly receive a free text message estimating their air time for the month. You can also check your account online at any time to view the current or previous bills. The online bill provides details including call history, texting and data downloads.

Consider Messaging Bundles. With teens often sending thousands of texts a month, an unlimited texting plan can dramatically reduce an unpleasant surprise when you view your cell phone bill.

Create a budget for music, video, or game downloads to reduce the number of unexpected charges and encourage more communication with friends and family members.

Consider FamilyShare plans if you have several family members with wireless phones. This plan allows the family to share the monthly bundled minutes and can be more cost-effective than separate plans for each user.

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