Phones

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit to being somewhat anti-technology when it comes to communication. Please notice that the important word here is "somewhat." I definitely see its advantages, but as a professor who works with international students, I am very aware of its disadvantages. Students who spend more time on their phones, messaging in their first language to family and friends back home, have a more difficult time adjusting to their new cultures and learning the new language. Even knowing this, I realized we had to send my daughter to Germany with a cell phone.

My sixteen-year-old daughter had never had a smart phone, and I still don't have one, which I acknowledge is hard for most people to imagine. However, all of this ignorance on my part is definitely to your advantage now because I had to ask a lot of questions. This topic generated the most conversation among parents at the YFU orientation. I will summarize what was discussed and what my daughter and I discovered later. This information was accurate as of the summer and fall of 2016.

Can my child bring his/her current phone?

If your child currently has a phone, you may be wondering if he/she can just bring that phone with your current plan. Well, it depends. Several plans (T-Mobile was most mentioned at orientation) promise coverage in Europe and other international locations while still applying your family's plan rates. Several parents at orientation had this plan and had been to Europe. For about 1/2 of them, the plan worked. For the other 1/2, they were stuck with no coverage anywhere in Europe. It seems risky to assume that your current plan will work reliably. If your plan does not work, your child may be stuck without a phone since what he/she needs is an unlocked phone that can take a SIM card from a local company.

What should I look for in a phone?

As I mentioned, the phone should be unlocked. There were not a lot of options in stores, but there were many options online. Additionally, you want to be sure the phone can use the GSM system; some phones in America use CDMA. It is reasonably easy to find phones that use both GSM and CDMA.

If your child currently owns a locked phone, you can contact your current phone company and see if they will unlock it. If not, you can find a service online that will send you a code to unlock your phone (for a fee). I'm not sure of the ethics of that service, though, so I do not advocate that approach. Additionally, I have heard that mobile phone shops in Europe will unlock your phone for a fee, too. Again, ethically speaking, it may be questionable.

What will my child have to do to activate the phone in the new country?

I would imagine that what my daughter had to do in Germany is pretty similar to what students will have to do in most countries. (It is what the international students in America have to do.) She had to order a SIM card. It was free, they mailed it directly to her, and she inserted it in the phone. The company in Germany is Vodafone, and she ordered a "call-ya" card. For about $17/month, she gets 850 mb of data per month, 200 texts per month, and unlimited calling within the Vodafone network with a flat rate for any other calls. She reports that she has never needed that much data or texts as almost everyone uses Vodafone (so free calls to them), and no one texts; everyone uses Whats App.

Since it is unlikely that your child will use the phone to call you, international rates are not an important factor. We didn't even take them into consideration. We use Facebook and Skype for talking.

Before your child leaves, have a conversation about how often you plan to be in contact. Of course, it may change depending on circumstances, but it is good to know upfront what everyone's comfort level is. Expecting to hear from your child daily is not wise, but do you expect weekly? monthly? Just remember, the more they are talking with you, the less they are talking with the people around them.