Little People Big World Forum

JACOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU WERE MY CHILD, I WOULD MAKE YOU PAY FOR EVERY PENNY BY DOING CHORES OR SOMETHING!!!!!! YOU NEED SOME SERIOUS DISCIPLINE!!! AND RESPECT YOUR PARENTS!!! (sorry folks, this was sooooo shocking to me)

I agree, the next time he'd have a phone was when he was 21 and working..
I had a hard time understanding the plan Matt was on.. Me thinks he should talk with his provider and get a better text plan.
I have problems with both Matt and Amy's parenting skills, but what parenting skill does the girl's parents have? They probably got a 8000 text message bill as well.

that was next in my mind...the girlfriend's parents must've gotten the same bill. and why does he have a girlfriend anyway at 12! tsk tsk

does recession exist in portland???

Unless Jacobs, friends' parents has a plan with unlimite text messaging. Most plans offer that. You would think with such a large family Matt and Amy would be on a plan like that. That still does not mean I think Jacob should have a phone. They now have phones you can program to call only, up to 5 people. That would be a phone better suited for a young person and absolutly NO texing.

i think having a phone at 12 is a joke! people in 3rd world countries who are 12 has no phone, no electricity, no running water, no readily available meals, and yet THEY WORK FOR WHATEVER THEY GET! im scared of jacob's behaviour at this point showing signs of serious disrespect and disregard to his parents and other's. I SUGGEST TLC/MATT & AMY SEND JACOB TO A 3RD WORLD COUNTRY FOR A WEEK AND LIVE LIKE THEM... NO PHONE, NO TV, NO GAMES....SO APPRECIATES WHAT HE HAS...

Saw this coming when they gave Jacob the phone. I noticed it was a verizon phone. Isn't there unlimited text plans out there for this.

Giving a 12 year old that is so irresposible a cell phone with limited texting .

I can see a need of a cell phone these days for our children. That does not mean a need to communicate with our friends however. In todays world are children can get into a boat load of trouble and need us fast. Matt told him when he gave it to him it was, I think he said, the farm was big and he might need to get in touch with him right away. Today with all the school problems and kid snatching it is not such a bad thing. They can have it programed to only dial their numbers.

I hope Matt and Amy both sat down and talked to Jacob about the ridiculous cell phone bill. It was good to see Matt and Amy discussing parenting but I wonder if they both talked to Jacob because Amy gave Matt the phone, guess she was the one who took it away. Her talk with Jacob was very "sing-song" and friendly, not the stern talk that he needed to hear. Either he didn't understand the costs of the texting or he just didn't care. He didn't seem to have any regard for the other rules that were put into place--homework done and no calls/texting after 9pm. Good for Amy though, following through on consequences by taking the phone away but she didn't think he should have it in the first place. She said she was concerned that he wasn't mature enough to handle the responsibility. I understand that Matt wanted Jacob to have the phone for safety reasons and so he could get in touch with Jacob. A 12 year old should be able to handle this responsibility if they are made to understand the rules. I think Jacob just disregarded the rules and it was good to see that Amy gave him consequences. The best way I have seen to teach kids about cell phone bills is to give them a pre-paid plan. That way if they use all their minutes in the first 2 or 3 days, they have no more that month. It teaches them to budget. Jacob's attitude was disrespectful, he even called his mom 'Dumb". He had a disrespectful attitude towards his parents during each discussion we saw them having with him. He didn't even say "thanks" to his dad when he gave him the phone! Again, great to see Matt and Amy discussing parenting but it would be good for them to discuss the rules together and hand out the discipline together so the child can see a united front. Also, if you ask a kid if they have homework and they say "not really" you can bet that they have homework.

Jacob must have had that phone for the better part of the month. No one noticed he was texting constantly? M & A must have not been strict about doing homework first, etc. Jacob is a baby at 12.

Sally -- nice post; good points all around. A pre-paid plan would be instructive.

I can see the reason behind giving him a phone in the first place. Matt wanted Jacob to be able to get in touch with them if he was out, and he wanted to teach him to be responsible. But I would never have given him a phone with the ability to text. He should have given him a Pre-Paid phone with no texting. This would have helped him in learning how to use his minutes wisely without using them up to fast in a month, and saved them $2800.00!

If Matt and Amy had used that reasonable approach to giving the child a cell phone, and there isn't much doubt it's the correct one...there would have been no show.

Is that the idea, I wonder, material for a show at all costs?

I was having the same problem with my 16 year old. 11000 text message in one month. Texting during school. Not getting any sleep because he was up all night texting. My son is a little older, but he was breaking the rules with his phone and I felt 11000 text messages was out of control so through verizon I was able to block his text messaging. He can no longer text or call anyone but me on his phone during school hours or after 11 PM. I thought that was reasonable. I do have it unblocked during the weekend. He does not like it but he was warned to get it under control or I would. I too want him to have the phone incase of an emergancy and so I can have conntact with him. I recomend it for anyone with Verizon having problems with this issue.

I wonder if they will actually end up having to pay that bill.

mintjulep, you just hit the nail on the head.

I wonder too it it was just material for the show. I mean, they didn't seem to be too upset over a $2800 BILL. Not just a phone bill, but an unexpected BILL for $2800. Forget everything else about the cell phone situation. The FIRST concern, IMO, should be/would be $2800.00!!!!!!!!!! I don't know about anyone else, but if I got a $2800 bill for anything (let alone cell phone bill), I'd just, well, I don't know what I would do, after I regained my composure!!!

They sure didn't act like someone who had to pay the bill. I would have had to have a sedative. lol Just think of how much the entire families bill must be. Molly, Zach, Amy, Jeremy, then Matt with the entire family texing. Matt said to Jake **you see my bill, your bill should never be over mine**. That was giving alot of free reign to begin with. That is not setting boundries. This was done for the show. I still don't want that families phone bill. lol

You all are so silly I actually thingk AT&T scripted this one as Matt and Amy are way to smart to allow Jacob to have a cell phone and NOT have UNLIMITED TEXTING.... You are kidding RIGHT. 20 bucks a month Matt sure would have taken care of this issue and as a long time AT&T customer I know that if the bill goes nuts they will NOT call you they put you on a plan that will not blow your mind. Especially with the iPhones that they are all carrying... Come on you can't fool this guy, If jacob had acted that way with so much insubordination Amy would have knocked him into next week. then Matt Come on... Oh ground him from soccer practice.. REALLY NOW! Matt you need to get it together or lose it.. Please tell me this show is NOT scripted.. like Survivor..

I'll add one more thing, My kids 5 of them did not receive Cell phones until they were 16 and driving. a 12 year old has no reason to have a cell phone, the reasoning was frivolous stupid, pointless. I hope AT&T paid a lot for this ad that was run on TLC..

Why do some think everything is scripted?
Was Zach's argument with Matt scripted also? Was Amy's blowup scripted? Matt's DUI? Is it so hard to believe that these things actually happened all on their own?

quote:

Originally posted by Cindylynn:
They sure didn't act like someone who had to pay the bill. I would have had to have a sedative. lol Just think of how much the entire families bill must be. Molly, Zach, Amy, Jeremy, then Matt with the entire family texing. Matt said to Jake **you see my bill, your bill should never be over mine**. That was giving alot of free reign to begin with. That is not setting boundries. This was done for the show. I still don't want that families phone bill. lol

It surely seemed like not setting boundaries.

But is typical of Matt's attitude...he has been known to rag on Zach repetitiously to date, look for 'future mates' at LP conventions, and giving him an "At's my Boy" when he once went to a banquet with a girl...maybe he feels Jacob with a 'girl-friend' at age 12 is really a 'cool' thing.

The problem does not lie with one parent. This is Amy AND Matt's problem. They have allowed this behavior for years and they are literally paying the price.

Molly should be the parent. She seems to be the only one left who isn't spoiled, rude. Sorry about that. I do not like to judge, but I can't help it after seeing the SMIRK on Jacobs face the whole time Amy was discussing the bill and cell phone responsibilities. UGH!

It was good to see Amy and Matt in agreement on this issue. I hope it was real.

I have always thought that Molly would be the outstanding member of the family. She seems to be at the right maturity level for her age, she's quiet, and for the most part obedient. And she is growing up to be a beautiful young lady. She has always been my favorite Roloff!

Unlimited texts: $20/month which covers all 3 lines on my family plan.

Not that I think a 12-year old should be texting that much, but it costs so little to prevent a huge bill.

I think it was "staged" for impact.

The kid is 12. He just got a phone. It is a huge deal for someone that age, and of course it is hard for him to control himself.

If they wanted him to have a phone for emergencies, you can get a no texting plan.

And that was a pretty fancy phone for a 12 year old.

Looking at my last post, it looked like I was defending Jacob. I was not. I don't condone his actions.
However, I think if you give a younger child a fancy cell phone with all the bells and whistles, and then expect him to control his usage, you are either fooling yourself, or have an exceptional child.
Take away the phone? Absolutely! But protect yourself by getting unlimited texting just in case.

Anyhow, I don't think money is an issue. I am assuming that was an iphone. They cost an extra $60/month. If everyone in the house has one, that's $360/month before all the other costs.

I'm sorry, I don't get it. texting is a skill I don't care to learn. I have friends who text me occasionally and after I try for 5 minutes to send them a reply I finally quit and call and leave a message! I think that texting is leading to the demise of proper English (some kidding, here). Come on! have a real conversation! I imagine that most of those 8000 texts consisted of simple, misspelled sentences. "U hng up 1st", "no U".

Are you kidding me? This used to be a cute show- now it is just like Jon and Kate. Shame on you Roloff's for selling out. Normal people freak out over a texting bill- Not them. Just a piece of change. Go back to working for a living and not living off tv.

I thought Matt was such a good businessman? He's obviously behind the times with cell phone plans. You can buy unlimited text plans - and they're not much more than the standard plans; or you can have a family plan where one phone account acts as the administrator, and gets to dish out the minutes to the other phones in the account. If a certain phone goes over their limit, they get shut off until the admin adds more minutes. Matt and Amy definitely need to get a new plan...

quote:

Originally posted by sel2137:
Are you kidding me? This used to be a cute show- . Shame on you Roloff's for selling out. Normal people freak out over a texting bill- Not them. Just a piece of change. Go back to working for a living and not living off tv.

You ever stop to think that maybe it is us - the viewing public - that has changed? Lets face it - the shows are on to get ratings. Maybe the producers are EDITING the episodes to show more tension and "conflict".
But then again Matt did plan a "family" vacation when his wife couldn't go. Who books a vacation with reservations and airline tickets without checking with their spouse first??
Tune in next week...

From experience I can say getting Jacob was a mistake. My sister in law gave my niece a cell phone at age 12 with texting. I told her not to . Then I said limit the amount of time she has it. She said my niece needed to be able to call and text her friends. So my niece had the phone all the time. Her record is 12000 texts in a month on unlimited plan. She stayed up at night calling and texting and slept days. Or she slept in school which she is now failing. The boyfriend is now her priority at age 13+. It is a downward spiral that my sister in law doesn't get and now says she cannot do anything about it. Jacob needs no girlfriend at that age and no cell phone.

No amount of editing in the world can cause the Roloff's to yell at each other and insult each other on command. The editing excuse is an old one.

I've lived in a third world country and I can tell you its not as bad for most people living there as we see on tv.

A week isn't enough to learn much, it should be longer... A month at least.

quote:

Originally posted by slytherinnyc:
i think having a phone at 12 is a joke! people in 3rd world countries who are 12 has no phone, no electricity, no running water, no readily available meals, and yet THEY WORK FOR WHATEVER THEY GET! im scared of jacob's behaviour at this point showing signs of serious disrespect and disregard to his parents and other's. I SUGGEST TLC/MATT & AMY SEND JACOB TO A 3RD WORLD COUNTRY FOR A WEEK AND LIVE LIKE THEM... NO PHONE, NO TV, NO GAMES....SO APPRECIATES WHAT HE HAS...

quote:

Originally posted by prettikitti:
I've lived in a third world country and I can tell you its not as bad for most people living there as we see on tv.

A week isn't enough to learn much, it should be longer... A month at least.

quote:

Originally posted by slytherinnyc:
i think having a phone at 12 is a joke! people in 3rd world countries who are 12 has no phone, no electricity, no running water, no readily available meals, and yet THEY WORK FOR WHATEVER THEY GET! im scared of jacob's behaviour at this point showing signs of serious disrespect and disregard to his parents and other's. I SUGGEST TLC/MATT & AMY SEND JACOB TO A 3RD WORLD COUNTRY FOR A WEEK AND LIVE LIKE THEM... NO PHONE, NO TV, NO GAMES....SO APPRECIATES WHAT HE HAS...

I agree with something a previous poster said, send the kids to live with the Duggars for awhile. They would all have major media withdrawals but it might do them all some good! Honestly, I hope they do well. It's just hard to see the selfishness, disrespect and unappreciative attitudes when so many are having a hard time in the US these days. $2800 phone bill for a 12 year old?!? That's more money than most of us live on for a month. It's just sickening. just being honest.

Haven't these people ever heard of a plan with unlimited texting?

We have one. I WISH I could get my 13yo to use it! He has three cousins on the same phone network and he could be texting them and keeping in touch (they live in another state).

I told him go ahead! Text away! Talk to your cousins! Have fun!

He says "Mom, I will use my cell phone for emergencies only"

Ratdog is a MOM? A female? I am surprised. Strange name. Glad you are posting again. Sounds like a great kid.

hey Rita. Ratdog is the name of a band, that may be where the name originates.

Ah ha. I am not in touch with young people so it was not a name with which I was familiar. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by ritarig:
Ratdog is a MOM? A female? I am surprised. Strange name. Glad you are posting again. Sounds like a great kid.

Hee Hee! Yes I am all Woman! (and over 40 btw)

The name is in honor of my little Jack Russel Terrier who is a Rat Dog! (but we love her)

That's funny because here we thought we were being original by calling my sister's Jack Russell "Ratdog". Her name is Annie but we all just call her Ratdog.

My little cousin's plan is on my plan and I gave him 200 texts a month, 1/2 through the billing cycle he's at 270! Luckily I was able to upgrade b4 the period ended.
It's not that hard to just call or check online the usage!

quote:

Originally posted by Gouger:
Saw this coming when they gave Jacob the phone. I noticed it was a verizon phone. Isn't there unlimited text plans out there for this.

Giving a 12 year old that is so irresposible a cell phone with limited texting .

Come on Mods, nothing bad was said. It was a legitimate compairison, nothing rude or vulgar.

8000 texts is nothing.
i have 14000.
but i have an unlimited plan.

quote:

Originally posted by jessica2795:
8000 texts is nothing.
i have 14000.
but i have an unlimited plan.

that's asinine. When do you have time for anything else?

I completely agree. I just watched last Monday's Jacob/cell phone episode. He would get no privileges, no allowance and no big-ticket family vacations until he had paid off every cent of that bill.

The Roloffs should start looking right now for the brat camp they will need to leave him at in a year or two when he's taking off in their cars without permission, lifting money from their wallets and getting the same miserable grades as his dullard brothers. What do you want to bet he goes into Matt's office and takes the cell phone back and gets caught texting again in a near future episode. Their parenting skills are non-existent.