Teen Texters' Tabs Take Off

Many parents consider cell phones a necessity, so they agree to spend the money to provide them to their teenagers.

However, says The Early Show correspondent Trish Regan, teens often turn cell phones into tools for socializing. And all this socialization is costing their parents lots of money.

If teens were just making calls, it might not be that much of a problem. But they're taking advantage of additional features on phones, features that are frequently not included in service plans.

Such as text messaging.

Its popularity is exploding among teens, and it's become one of the most common forms of communication among them, Regan reports.

More than 2.5 billion text messages are sent each month, triple the number of just three years ago, and most are sent by teens and young adults. They also happen to be the ones most often not responsible for paying their cell phone bills.

Regan spoke to numerous teens and asked the simple question: Why is everybody texting?

"Sometimes, it's easier just to communicate like that when you can't be on your actual phone. So, you just send a text message and you just wait for a response. It's easier and quicker," one teen explained to her.

And so, says Regan, they're texting -- all the time.

But what many teens and their parents don't realize is that it costs money every time a message is sent.

Unable to make money on traditional long distance calls, cell phone companies are cashing in on texting and other add-on services.

"The cell phone companies are looking to things like text messaging, picture messaging, ring tones as a way of increasing their revenue," observes Consumer Reports magazine Deputy Editor David Heim. …Texting certainly does add to the cell phone companys' bottom line. Do the math. …The problem for the cell phone customer is that those text messages really add up quickly. And if you're not careful, you can be spending 10 dollars a month extra, $100 a month extra."

Still, notes Regan, it doesn't take too many of these additional charges before parents wise up, and look to take action.

She tells The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm text messages generally cost a nickel to a dime apiece, which doesn't sound like a lot, but if you are sending 70-80 messages a day, it accumulates pretty quickly.

So how can parents avoid getting hit with these overage charges in the first place?

First of all, says Regan, parents need to talk to their kids about how use their phones. A lot of parents don't even know what text messaging is until they get hit with the bill. So, it's important to know what the phone will be used for.

Once they know, they need to make sure they're signed up for the right plan. Cell phone companies offer plans that include text messaging so, the key is to find a reasonable plans.

The other alternative is to simply limit the kids' use of their cell phones. Parents need to tell their kids exactly what a plan includes and if the kids go over the limits, let there be consequences -- maybe the teens pays the overage themselves, or perhaps the phone is even taken away.