how parents control att please help!!!!

[trapstweety]

I have had smart limits for my teens phone and although a good program it does not inable us to fully control all aspects that we need to.....it lets us control who our child can talk to  and time of day and all and will block up to 15 numbers but seriously our teenagers are smart and can figure out a way considering only 15 numbers can be blocked.....i think that att needs to listen to us parents and what we need.....the concept is good but we need to be able to BLOCK all imcomming calls and monitor who can call in and out and text through the allowed numbers ....before i even let my daughter have any friends to call i already have 6 family members to add......we at least need 25 numbers that we can allow calls and text in and out.....all other features let you monitor data and downloads and that works but it doesnt do us any good to monitor their calls and text if we cant control them....every kid has a cell phone now days and just blocking certain numbers not to call in isnt working....i know like everyone i wish i had a child that i didnt have to worry about and that wouldnt be an issue but we dont live in wonka town and we need real control on the calls and text comming in......i dont know if att reads this or who answers it but please help us....your program is good but this is what we need to make it work for us and i guarantee you more parents will be thankful and you might even get more to sign up i would even pay a little more to have more control.......

[Scholar Yoshi]

just put all allowed numbers on the allowed numbers list and put the time of day restriction to cover allways. but if you reall dont trust you kid that much maybe you should get them a firefly phone then it can only call the preprogramed numbers.

[trapstweety]

the point is ...this is a program to monitor and control who our kids talk to and it doesnt work there are other options but the program that att has isnt set up right.....we are trying to get them to listen to us so we can have control and make it work my daughter no longer has this phone cause i dont trust her thats how you fix that!!!! i dont let her keep it if i cant control it......even when you set up allowed numbers and blocked numbers and time of day you still cant stop calls and text comming in.....teenagers have a wide range of numbers they can call her from think about it i can only block 15 numbers and they have more numbers to call from than i can block...if you have never used the att smart limits than you dont know.it sounds like it should work but it doesnt.....you have to use it before you can tell people what they have to do....it needs to be set up that the only numbers that can call and text are what you set.........and blocked numbers can get through any time you cant stop that but all blocked numbers need to be blocked to...............firefly is an option but back to the point if i`m going to pay for something that is supposed to let me control who they call then it has to work!!!!

[dfox66]

I am in complete agreement with previous parents post.  I have been on hold waiting for ATT customer service for 30 minutes, gave up and went online.  For over 45 minutes I have been trying to find out how to block my child's ability to access internet and use any data other than plain text messaging on his phone.  I think ATT should be ashamed of how difficult it makes getting this done for its customers.  It was easy doing this with Verizon.  I changed to ATT for iPhone and moved entire family over.  Now I am starting to regret it.  I  can't help but think this is intentional on ATTs part.  I'm beginning to feel like ATT is a predator trying to use kids to get unwarranted monies from parent for children's unauthorized data usage.  If I can't figure this out soon I am forced to cancel all 4 phones, pay disconnect charge and move back to Verizon.  Rest assured if I have to do this I will be contacting the State Attorneys General and FTC to complain.  I will be sure to copy some of the other parent's posts expressing their plight.  

[ormom51]

As long as your child does not have a smartphone, you should be able to have a data block placed on the phone.  Texting will still be allowed but picture messaging and going online will not. 

And although I agree that Verizon does seem to have a better plan for parental control of cell phones, it is still not foolproof.  My sister is with Verizon and had her daughter's phone blocked during school hours so that she could only send/receive calls and texts from her parents.  The Internet was also blocked.  My niece found a way around that and suddenly began updating her social networking sites, sending messages, etc.  Turns out there are old programs that that allow this...short messaging codes, something like that.  I did not completely understand it, nor did my sister when Verizon told her there was nothing they could do to stop or block it.

[ormom51]

trapstweety, see the thread "Can I get copied on my daughter's texts?"  for a tip on mymobilewatchdog.com.  Maybe that site can help you.