Mobile phones cause "Bankruptcy" in teens?

How aware of the pricing of premium content, data plans for mobiles are you? Most of us read the fine print and are very careful with our mobile plans/services we sign up for from our service providers. We all know there are lot’s of loopholes, and even covert seemingly innocent, ways that service providers dupe us into signing up for costly services, that we don’t need. The rise of "mobile spam" has seen a spike in people signing up for services that they really didn’t want just by opening a MMS from their service provider. I’ve had it happen myself, and the hoops I had to jump through to remove the service, were excruciating, especially dealing with off shore support.

What about the phones you give your Kids? How do you monitor their usage? A recent article from "The Age" an Australian newspaper really made me aware of the fact that, we value our mobility, but most of us are not highly tech savvy, or speak legal-ese. Legal-ese being the language of contracts.

Mobile phones are to blame for the increasing numbers of young Australians seeking to declare themselves bankrupt, the NSW government says.

Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney said a survey conducted by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) had highlighted concerns about "premium" mobile phone content and the massive bills being racked up – often unknowingly – by users.

As more and more desirable devices, that support more and more services, come on to the market, we are faced with a dilemma. Should we/our kids have a phone that is a phone only, or a mobile device that supports the features that most of us have come to love, and be launched into debt that can be a life long inhibitor?