I have been on my parents' cellphone plan since high school. It's an easy choice — for practical and financial reasons — and all the major wireless carriers offer the "family plan" option to customers.
When is the right time to cut the cord?
In college, family plans make particular sense. Research has found college students contact their parents more often than you might think. Barbara Hofer, professor of psychology at Middlebury College, estimates that, on average, parents and students contact each other 10 times a week, a good chunk of which occurs by cellphone.
Toted around everywhere, cellphones are the ultimate electronic tether between worried parents and anxious students. That said, if I were to estimate my own average weekly contact with my parents, I'd say once or twice a week while in school.
But now that I've graduated, I'm facing a tough dilemma: Should I keep letting my parents foot the wireless bill, or become a bonafide adult and take on the responsibility?
Cellphone bills are the exception when it comes to geographically sensitive services. That is, if I move to my own house, my parents are not going to get my rent and utility bills. But they will continue to get a cellphone bill as a legacy of college until someone in the family speaks up.
I am happy to not bring it up, mostly because cellphone plans are expensive. And I suspect my parents stay silent because of a secret fear that if I go off the family plan, I'll stop phoning home.
In the end, though, I think it might come down to diverging cellphone habits. I want to surf the web on my mobile device. But my parents are more interested in phone minutes. That difference might be decisive. It just doesn't make sense to be under the same plan when we have different needs.
I shouldn't be complaining. I should be thankful for parents who are still willing to pick up the cellphone tab post-graduation.
Comments
Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.