How to Convince Your Dad to Allow You to Buy Ringtones

At some point in everyone's life, they were a teenager. Even your parents once were your age, and although the world was a much different place back then, they faced a lot of the same problems you do now.

Time has aged and developed them into the mature and rational people that they are today. You have to take these things into consideration, when you're trying to figure out how to convince your dad to allow you to buy ringtones.

Understanding Your Parents' Thinking

When your parents were your age, cell phones were, by and large, nonexistent. The gadgets they used to communicate were a lot different than the ones you're used to today. While it's nice to take a moment to consider how lucky you are to have a built-in video recorder and unlimited text messaging, it's important to always keep in mind that these are modern conveniences.

Not all parents are savvy when it comes to the nuances of technology. In fact, many of them view cellphones as a sign of the changing times and assume the world was a better place when kids weren't distracted with calls and texts from their friends. 21st century kids like yourself see their cellphones in a different way.

Ringtones have become like the bumper stickers of decades ago; a stylish way of expressing your individuality to your peers. Whether or not you realize it, you're broadcasting your likes and dislikes to those around you, anytime a ringtone you're into starts playing on your phone. You're giving the people around you - you might say your audience - a small taste of your personality.

You're letting the surrounding people dip briefly into your world. Connections are formed this way. They make it easier to find things you have in common with others, people who might otherwise be complete strangers to you. Your choice in ringtones makes a statement, and therefore your ringtone has become a personal social statement.

These are just a few of the reasons ringtones have become as popular as they have in the last few years.

Ringtones Cost Money

Still, times are tougher than they used to be. You've probably noticed how much harder people around you are working to make their dollars stretch. Unless you're from a particularly wealthy background, this includes your parental units.

Your mom and dad, like so many others, have to find good reasons to justify extra expenditures. In dad logic, a ringtone is a ringtone. The free ringtone on your cellphone works just as well as the one you buy off the Internet, and you're lucky he doesn't just get rid of the expense of a cellphone altogether.

It's not that they don't want you to have what you want, it's just that they don't see having cool ringtones as a necessary part of you having a cell phone. In their minds, your phone works just fine without them, and you should be satisfied with that by itself.

Please, No Begging

Convince Your Dadd to Buy RingtonesThis is why it's not always feasible to use begging as a good technique to convince your dad to allow you to get ringtones. Begging puts your parents into the defensive mentality. It makes them want to resist your wishes even more.

Begging also makes it look like you don't know of any good reasons to get more ringtones. To a dad strapped for cash, your begging looks like you're being immature, hoping for something frivolous you happen to want.

Help Them See Things Your Way

Instead, you're going to have to be a little more convincing. You're going to have to approach the situation on a parent's terms, to make them see things from your side. You know your parents better than most anyone, which puts you in a good position to reason with them. You've been influencing them one way or another since birth.

Make your mother and father realize that you've thought the whole process through, and that ringtones are something you'll get a lot of use out of. Since they're not that expensive to begin with, this makes a ringtone seem like more of a bargain to your folks. They won't have to pay much money, but you get what you're after.

Ask your dad if he ever wanted to impress his friends by playing the hottest song in the pop culture. He's lying if he didn't. (Don't tell him that; pointing out their failings never helps you get what you want. Don't go negative.)

Remember that your Dad wants to be a part of your life. Making a connection to a teenager, especially their teenage child, is life-affirming. So talk about the ringtones you want, maybe even show them off, and he's a lot more likely to buy them for you.

Appeal to Their Love of Good Music

If your parents are musical people at all, they'll have an easy time seeing where you're coming from. It's rare, but sometimes even parents can be hip and up-to-date. If that's the case in your family, then they'll already understand that music, to you, is an expression of the soul.

Explain to your parent the importance of a ringtone. Tell them its the equivalent of having the latest cassette back in the day, or spending a pile of quarters to be the best kid they knew at a video game. If your parents are a little older, go online to find out what was big in the pop culture when they were 16 and relate ringtones to that pointless phenomenon. Make sure it cost money.

They'll get what a social apparatus it can be, and if they care about your social life, they should be happy to oblige your requests to buy ringtones, within reason.

Be Casual With Your Requests

The important thing is not to push the issue too hard. Don't make it seem like it's going to cost them an arm and a leg. Some people end up with quite a large collection of ringtones on their phones, but that can represent a significant investment of money.

Ringtones can turn into quite an addiction, so it's good to take things slow. Just like with a credit card, ringtone costs are accrued against your parents' monthly bill. It's an easy thing to buy something today that you know you won't have to pay for until tomorrow, so try to be careful.

Taking any opportunity that makes itself available to involve your parents in your social life helps make this entire process go more smoothly. By making them feel like they're a huge part of your life, which is something that's too uncommon with a lot of America's youth, they'll already know all about the things that are or aren't important to you.

When you convince your Dad to allow you to buy ringtones, he'll be in sync with the things you think are cool, and who knows, you might not even have to ask that hard when it comes to something like buying ringtones. Either way, the right communication with your mom and dad is the key.