<p>OK, D's first mini-crisis: lost her cellphone briefly -apparently it was in her pants pocket and fell out when she got out of a car returning to campus from town. (She has already lost a hat, which also fell out of a pocket.) Fortunately, she got the cellphone back later by calling her number and talking to the finder , who was well-intentioned. </p>
<p>So I told her--put the phone in a) your backpack b) your handbag/purse c) a little pouch thing hung over your shoulder but NOT in your pocket. But she says "I want it on my person not in a backpack" "I don't carry my handbag/purse everyday 'cause that where I keep credit cards etc." "Nobody wears a pouch thing like that." She also says that since she wears her room-key and campus cashcard around her neck on a string-thing she got at orientation, she can't hang another thing across her neck-shoulders.</p>
<p>So what's the solution? What do most college girls do? Trusty parents, help, please! I don't want to be faced with frequent cellphone replacements.....</p>
<p>First, she is telling the truth, most girls at college do tend to keep their cell phones in their pockets. I always did, it's convienent to have it in my jacket pocket at all times and is very nice especially when I receive calls on the bus and other public places (so I don't have to fumble around to silence the call on a crowded bus). </p>
<p>I have seen a number of girls on campus placing their phones in a cell phone compartment on a shoulder strap on their backpack (they are becoming increasingly more common as a standard on backpacks), but wouldn't likley be of help if she is out on the town with friends.</p>
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I don't want to be faced with frequent cellphone replacements.....
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<p>Your daughter is an adult now, I think the responsibility should be on her, not you for cell phone replacement. Give her suggestions on how to keep it safe, but be stern and let her know if she doesn't take your suggestions to keep it safe she will be required to foot the bill for a new phone (which will likely be less fashionable).</p>
<p>My mom has replaced phones for my younger sister before, as she is clumsy and tends to drop things a lot (which I don't condone...I really think she should have paid for it...but anyway...). Well, once she got a Samsung flip-phone she has never had problems with cell phone breakage from drops (such as out of her pockets). If she has similar problems with droppage, you may want to look into a cheap Samsung flip.</p>
<p>ophiolite beat me to it. My guess is that after she experiences the hassle and expense of replacing the phone once, she'll adopt one of your suggestions that she's currently resisting. Or come up with an alternative that works for her.</p>
<p>You're both right but whether it's her money (earned by campus work-study) or our money, it's still "our money" in the long run. 'Cause when she runs out , we have to pay necessities anyway: So who pays is not really the issue. I think making her go through the hassle would do the trick, though!!!</p>
<p>Just wish "a word to the wise" would work instead of trial and error. There's enough of that in life anyway.</p>
<p>My D lost her cell on a Sat night attending a couple of different functions. Despite the fact that she knew we'd be upset at her carelessness, she did call us the next day so we could get the phone turned off. Her college has a daily online bboard emailed to the students, faculty and staff. One section is personals so lost and found notices can be posted. The phone was reported found on the following Tuesday and we reactivated it after a week or so...</p>
<p>Yeah, a pause before reactiviating might also be an added disincentive to "lose" the cell phone (it was a Siemen's flip phone). Our S could never hang on to his cell phone when he was living at home & didn't get many calls on it (often left it off & dead battery at home). Before heading for college, we got him a Razr (which he chose & thinks is cool). He's never had any problems hanging onto the phone & receiving all his calls on it now. He still has his old cell phone, which he uses for T-zones (I believe).
My D is following her brother's example & often leaves her Razr phone home & dead, but has never lost it for any extended period. Oh well. She often carries it in her pockets as well, since she rarely has a purse & her backpack is often full of junk so it's hard to find. A neighbor's son lost his phone & found it a week later in one of his little-used pockets of his backpack. Fortunately the family just bought him a new SIM card & made him use an old cell phone, so it's wasn't that big an expense.</p>
<p>If a cel phone is lost you can suspend the number for a bit of time in case you find it again. My son is on a college kids insurance plan that covers lost/stolen cel phones.</p>
<p>My D. was always having problems finding her phone (never actually lost--just would lay it down somewhere). She complained that many pants didn't have pockets comfortable for phones and often didn't carry a purse. She has finally started using the clip and clips phone to her waistband or pocket. I don't know how stylish that is, but it seems to work for her if she doesn't have purse with her.</p>
<p>With Verizon, any phone (not just college kids') phones can be reported lost or stolen thus resulting in suspension of service.</p>
<p>Over the 3-4 days it was lost, I did look into having her old phone reactivated. Verizon said it would cost a fee as her lost phone has a camera (which she never uses) and her previous phone did not.</p>
<p>Yea, my hubby has a case for his cell phone that allows him to clip it to his slacks/shorts. He finds that very handy as well. For folks who wear cargo shorts, there is inevitably a pocket you can slip the phone into that can be made fairly secure (velcro, buttons, zipper, etc.)
By the way, especially with cargo shorts, be SURE to check all pockets for phones & other things before washing. My S has washed his phone & many mechanical pencils in his shorts. Fortunately, we were able to put the phone in the dryer (in a sock), dry it out & have it continue working!</p>
<p>Hah, what a joke. My kids know that I am not buying them any more phones, so they are really careful with them. </p>
<p>Reminds me of one place I worked, pencils were free, but to get a new one you had to turn in an old one that was 4 inches or less in length. The supply lady would really measure them and give it back to you if it was even a tiny bit too long. Cell phones are the same way. I'll buy another if the old one is worn out, but you have to show me that.</p>
<p>dt123, that's a great story. I can remember pulling my pants up high around my waist to try and prove to my mother that I had grown and needed new slacks. lol</p>
<p>what I do is EVERYTIME i leave a place, I check to make sure my cellphone is on my person somewhere, and I mean EVERYTIME</p>
<p>when I walk my dogs, I put it in my coat pocket, but pockets aren't all the same, so sometimes it falls out if I am bending down etc., so I check ALL the time, get in the car, feel it is there,get out of the car, feel if it is there, leave the movie theater, check, leaving a school meeting, check....</p>
<p>once you start the habit, it becomes automatic</p>
<p>my D who has ADD- actually is the only one of us who has not lost her cell phone in the two years that we have had them ( H thought he threw his away- but found it in a jacket pocket several months later)- younger D, washed hers- and then lost the replacement when she was bringing her snowboard stuff into the hotel & mine was stolen out of my car.</p>
<p>I think the trick for D was either she didn't take it with her ;), or she did wear it in a small bag that I got her for her wallet/lipgloss/inhaler
I try and get my kids in the habit of having a small purse that they can wear all the time- instead of switching things around out of backpacks etc
I do the same thing- I have a small leather pouch that I wear and I don't use my pockets- it stretches out your clothes anyway - when I use pockets I have to pat myself down everytime I try and find something- easier to have a pouch</p>
<p>Put your name and a land line phone number where you can be reached, or someone you know can be reached, on the outside of the phone. People who find your phone may try to locate you by calling numbers stored in your phone's memory. However, if the phone has lost its charge before being found, the memory is useless. </p>
<p>A name and phone number can help Good Samaritans locate you even if your phone has a charge. Twice in the past three weeks Ive returned lost cell phones. In the first case, I scrolled through the contacts list to find names of people who would likely know the owner. The first obvious suspect was Aunt Tilly. That call reached an answering machine. I left a message, then tried Daddy. Daddy said the phone might belong to his youngest son, but he didnt think so because he had never heard of the location where I had found the phone and his son didnt live anywhere near there. I gave him my contact number but could tell that Daddy wasnt writing it down. Then a friend pointed out that calling ICE Home might be productive. (Im old. I thought ICE Home had something to do with snowmen or frozen water.) A young girl answered. She said her parents werent home. Any message left with this girl would likely be garbled, so I asked her if anyone else was home. She admitted her parents were home, but still asleep. I told her the phone call was important and asked her to wake her parents. Her father answered the call, then grumpily informed me that neither his wife nor he were missing a cell phone. Furthermore, he had no idea to whom the phone might belong. Just as he was about to hang up, I asked if he knew Aunt Tilly. Shes my wifes aunt! He woke up his wife, who checked her purse. Sure enough, her phone was missing.</p>
<p>In the second case, the contacts list on the cellphone was quite lengthy. No one name seemed any more promising than another, so I tried calling people on the recent contacts list. The fourth person I called thought he remembered to whom he had been talking at the time indicated on the phone and offered to contact that person, who turned out to be the teenaged owner of the phone.</p>
<p>In both cases, locating the owner would have been much easier if a contact name and land line phone number had been on the outside of the phone. A name and number would also help technologically inept people who cant figure out which button to push to turn on your phone.</p>
<p>Never place a cell phone on top of the car when loading the trunk, guys...it may fly off when you accelerate out of the toll booth... At least restaurants collect those left on tables...(fortunately the car episode was years ago with an old phone, he could have just upgraded...). Shallow pockets are a problem.</p>
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<p>What do most college girls do? <<</p>
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<p>If mine is any judge, they keep cell phones in their pockets and lose cell phones or drop them and have them break. D has had to replace her cell phone once in each of freshman and sophomore year. So far, she's OK in her junior year, but the year has just started...</p>
<p>I think I might have to spring for the Verizon insurance on DS's phone when he goes away next year. I think it is around $5 per month with a $50 deductable, but would reduce the worry level.</p>
<p>Replacement phones can be bought on e-bay sometimes and then just activated. You need to make sure that it's a phone that will work with your cell phone company. You can also use old cell phones for replacements and just reactivate them. I looked into this when my daughter fried her phone in Peru. It was time for her brothers replacement on his phone so we changed her number to his old phone and he got a new one.</p>
<p>Another trick for getting a cheap phone is to buy a "pay as you go phone" and activate it on your actual account. My mom did it once for my brother and just this weekend for herself when her phone completely crapped out on her.</p>