Family Phone Contract with My Teen

Call me the overbearing custodial father, but this is the original contract I had with my then 13 YO teenager Caitlyn. Give me your thoughts and feel free to copy. 🙂

The Campos Family iPhone Contract with Caitlyn Campos

This is a parental contract between The Campos Family, hereby referred to as “Daddy”, and our lovely 13 year old daughter, Caitlyn Campos, hereby referred to as “Caitlyn.” Each item listed below will need to be initialed and signed on paper and affirmed as “I do hereby agree.” on this blog as the first comment in the comment section. This contract may be modified from time to time and reflects the rules as they pertain to your age, trust level, and responsibility reflected on 01/01/2013. Daddy is not trying to be a kill joy to Caitlyn, but rather guiding and parenting her to use this traceable piece of technology appropriately to become “healthy, wealthy, and wise” which is his ongoing parental goal for Caitlyn.

My Phone Contract with My Teen

1. Despite popular belief, having a phone in the Campos Family is a privilege and not a right. Many Americans, including your Daddy, did not have one growing up and turned out just fine. Privileges can be taken away and repeated offenses could lead to starting college, like your Daddy, without one.

2. It’s cute, it’s decorative, it’s loaded with your email, your music, and your app selections; but it solely owned by your Daddy and on loan to you. We must treat borrowed things with slightly more care than we do our own. Like library books, there can be fines and penalties for improper use.

3. With no apologies, you were born into a Christian home, with a technology wizard, social media guru, code cracking, big-brother tracing Daddy, who is also running in local politics. NOTHING, and I mean, NOTHING you SAY on your iPhone, TEXT with your iPhone, EMAIL with your iPhone, CHECK-IN with your iPhone, take PICTURES with your iPhone, PLAY on your iPhone, SEARCH with your iPhone, even VISIT with your iPhone is private. You must assume that Daddy is tracking, reading, viewing, scanning, EVERYTHING. After all it’s his property, re-read Rule #2. As such, you must talk, write, post, photograph, text, tweet, and “Like” as if Ed Young, your Fellowship Church pastor, Steve Chapman, your H.E.B. Superintendent, and your Daddy’s friend, Dave Lieber, writer for the Dallas Morning News, are all reading it.

4. To further spell out, there is to be no cussing, no scheming, no gossiping, no cheating, no belittling, no harassing, no sexting, no inappropriate searching, talking or viewing of inappropriate content that you would not show to your 2 YO brother Daniel, or have repeated from the Fellowship Church’s pulpit. YOU and YOU alone are libel for all content on your phone, regardless of what it is, or who it’s from. Your last name is CAMPOS. It carries no hyphen, and represents your words, your political Daddy, and that of your families. You are a Christ follower, and an ambassador for Christianity. It is recommended you choose wisely to whom you communicate with and further recommend that all communication stay positive and edifying. You may be the only Jesus people see. Think before pressing send. Nothing is private.

5. The phone is not to be used during school hours and according to the Harwood Junior High rules, not to be seen from 8:15a – 3:00p. You will be given 30 mins to use the phone once you get home, but then not again until the clarinet has been played and homework has been completed and spot checked by a parent.

6. The phone will be collected by “Daddy” each night one hour before bedtime and returned after you are completely ready to walk out the door for school. It is recommended you keep your phone passcode locked and confidential. However all codes must be shared with Daddy same day or penalties in Rule #11 apply.

7. Amazon Prime has been installed on your iPhone for use in the Campos Family home. It currently has PG-7 restriction, and you may ask permission and allowed codes on case by case bases for other movies or shows. All music and apps must have parental approval before being added to your iPhone. This also goes for Contacts and eMails. Any new additions must have Daddy approval.

8. There are three simple, but weekly ongoing fees, required for continued phone usage: 1) you must post a blog at least once a month, 2) you must resolve any failing homework or test within 48 hours bring it back up to passing—no zeros allowed, and 3) you must maintain a consistent passing six week grade in all classes at all times. Loss or absence in any of these areas will result in loss of phone for a week and/or until grades return to passing as it pertains to Rule #8.

9. Your cell phone provided by your mom, previously confiscated for “inappropriate texting,” will be returned for you to call her on January 9th. It will be returned permanently to her home on your January 19th visit. Daddy doesn’t ever want to see it again, not at our house, nor at school. Starting Wednesday, January 16th you will call your mom weekly on your new iPhone.

10. In an effort to aid effective communication, you may text your mom specific information regarding school activities, if needed, between the court appointed weekly phone calls of 6p-7p on Wednesdays.

11. Finally, as verbally outlined before and now outlined in writing, breaking any of these rules will result in the loss of phone and usage for a minimum of four weeks or longer based on the circumstance. Keep in mind this has happened three times prior in trial with your mom’s phone, so learn from your mistakes, communicate effectively, edify and encourage powerfully.

Signed: The empowered, awesome 13 YO blended teenager, Caitlyn.
Signed: The all-knowing, monitoring, caring, loving, Daddy.

Parents, what do you think–too structured? Kids, what do you think, am I being fair?

Image courtesy of  Sean MacEntee at Flickr.com