Victoria Pericon, founder of the online magazine Savvy Mommy, predicts cell phone purchases are going to be as common as shopping for rulers and notebooks this back to school season. She believes half the tweens in the country will have a cell phone within the next three years. Her reasoning? Parents are now looking at this piece of technology as a source of peace of mind: "If you think your kid is going to abuse a monthly plan, get them a prepaid/pay as you go type phone, so it saves money for you (the parent) and teaches the kid to learn limits." Victoria says the type of phone you purchase shouldn't depend on the child's age, but more their responsibility level. With the variety of cell phones and plans available, parents can find the perfect one for their child. Here are a few options that start at under $45: FOR - YOUNG KIDS - WHEN PARENTS WANT TO LIMIT THEIR CALLING ABILITY AND KNOW WHERE THEY ARE: AT & T Pantech Breeze: This is the simplest phone imaginable for parents who just want a basic phone for their kids $49.99 Three dedicated, programmable call buttons that can be used for mom and dad or other safety numbers. For young kids it is best to have visible buttons, you want it to be easy for them to dial and not get confused. For extra security A t & t offers a new program called - Smart Limits - it can set limits for: ($4.99/month) (with any at &t phone) o Number of text/picture messages o Dollar amount of downloadable purchases (ringtones, games & more) o Times of day the phone can be used for messaging, browsing and outbound calling o Who the phone can call or text (incoming and outgoing) by blocking or allowing certain numbers; access of content inappropriate for children FOR: A KID WHO LIKES TO TALK - PREPAID IS THE WAY TO GO FOR THE KID THAT LIKES TO TALK!!!: KAJEET PAY AS YOU GO MOBILE for Kids starting at $44.99 Kajeet, there are no monthly bills, no activation fees - and best of all, absolutely no surprises. kajeet's online tools allow parents and kids to choose the who (who kids call/receive calls from), the when (no more classroom or dinner distractions!) and the how much (Wallet Manager helps kids and parents stay on-budget). Plus, there's a built-in GPS service to help kids find lost phones and help parents keep track of their kids. All KAJEET phones are GPS capable phones. All of the ones they sell. All kajeet handsets are GPS-capable, which means there is a chipset in the phone that will help provide location information to a capable emergency service provider when a caller dials 911. FOR: A KID WHO LIKES TO TEXT - LOOK FOR FAMILY PLANS THAT INCLUDE UNLIMITED TEXTING!!!!: LG enV²™ $80 Kids are all about texting and the LG enV2's easy to use QWERTY keyboard makes dialing and texting a snap. Advanced messaging features like auto text readout, message sort, and the ability to store up to 300 text messages enhance the experience. The larger internal display, along with Bluetooth® stereo support, a music player, and a 2.0 megapixel camera/camcorder keep you perfectly entertained, and with a microSD™ memory port, you can save all your favorites. Pricing: $129.99 with a 2 year contract. Current online promotions include an additional $50 discount and 3 LG VX5400 phones FREE! ($79.99) so everyone in the family can have one! *VERIZON FAMILY WIRELESS PLAN FOR $59.99 a month includes unlimited texting/picture/video/instant messaging and 450 anytime minutes *FOR: KIDS WHO LIKE MUSIC: Motorola ROKR E8 $99(T-mobile plans for this phone start at $39.99 for 300 minutes) takes you from talk to music in one touch, and is now available exclusively from T-Mobile for $99. Controlling your music and songs on the ROKR E8 is easy: the touchpad transforms from dedicated phone to MP3 player to camera all with one touch and uses vibrating "haptics" to give feedback you expect from a traditional keypad. ROKR E8 is great for teens and tweens that love their music, it stores 4,500 songs, is compatible with Windows Media Player, so it's easy to transfer music from your computer, has an FM radio and supports both wired and wireless stereo headphone listening. All the music you have transferred onto your computer can be put on this phone. This is saving money from downloading on your phone bc you can take it directly from the computer and the parents can montior that. ROKR wireless headphones or wired headphones to use FM radio. $99 TMOBILE ALSO OFFERS A NEW PLAN - 'FAMILY ALLOWANCES" - where parents can choose to establish additional limits on the time of day a phone may be used, set allowances to zero to prohibit the use of minutes, messages or downloads (other than to "Always Allowed" numbers), and establish numbers that are blocked from calling or sending messages to any phone on their family plan. Once the limit is reached parents are notified and the phone shuts off, but the kids can still make emergency calls to their parents!!- this is on $2 extra a month .