[JustPlainJef]

I got my daughter and wife their blackberries a month or two ago, but neither have data. Through a partnership agreement with TMo and UPS, I got the Curves for free, so I got my 11 year old one. Does she use all the features? No. Does my wife use all of the features? No. Heck, I don't even know all the features, and I've had BlackBerries through work for prolly 3 or 4 years now! But I'm getting better, especially with this site, and I'm going to be educating my wife, and I'll do the same with my daughter. She has been very responsible with her phone, most of the time only costing us 20 or 30 minutes of air time. If she picks up the extra features, and wants data in the future, we'll talk about it.

I'm trying to get my wife to use Outlook and her BB more to keep track of appontments and tasks and such. She also doesn't have a data package, but even without it, if you sync with Outlook, the BB can still be a very powerful tool...

Just testing T*Mobile's picture album online. Wonder if I can hit that from my CrackBerry!


That's Woody on my desk @ work.

[Jedi_Blackberry]

For teens it is who has the hottest item, the most trendy thing, or who has something different. So when my 15 year old daughter, who is in high school wanted a Blackberry Pearl I helped her get it. She did some extra work "chores" around the house and earned money for the purchase of the hardware. She is responsible for the data cost on the bill. If she was not in a position to earn money to buy the handset or pay part of the bill then she would not have a Blackberry.

I have an 11 year old son who wants a cell phone period, (would most definitely soil his draws if we gave him a Blackberry)but 95% of the time he doesn't go anywhere that my wife or I are not. If he is at a friend's house or around the neighborhood he is not unreachable. He asks for one just about every christmas and my response is why do you need one? Where do you go that you need one in order to call your Mom or me? As soon as he gives legitmate answers to those 2 questions will be the day we consider a celly for him.

My oldest son who is 13 lives with his mom, has had a cell phone for about 3 years now. He says he needs it so his mom can call him when he is at a friend's house or to check in....WRONG!!! Bring your little tail home to check in!!! His Mom calls him on cell phone when he is over....it ticks me off!! I think it is underhanded for a parent to call a child on the cell phone when the child is with the non-custodial parent. If you feel you have to check on the child....call the other parent and do it the right way!!!

[Rizzleman716]

Wussup CB fam?
Well I have been following this thread for some time now, and I thought I would finally add my opinion.
I actually like this thread being a teen myself that is... Okay I am a teen to some I am still just a kid but I don't think that you have to be a full adult to own a blackberry because as it was said before you don't need to use all the features of a blackberry to have one, some would say that you must be really busy to own one. But I disagree I have family all over the place and I still like to keep in touch with them via my blackberry because of push email and all that good stuff. I use this thing to its full advantage and more some people may not understand. But I also think its how that person takes care of things they get, if you are the type of person that just breaks your phones and could care less than maybe you don't need a blackberry hey maybe not a phone at all. But everyone has their own opinion and I respect that. And I love to read them. But I will say the thing with giving a 5 year old child a blackberry um I'm not too sure with that, but hey. I guess they'll learn responsibility some way, and the blackberry is the perfect way to do it!!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Bluekid]

I'm 19 and a sophmore in college. I just got my first bb (a curve) in july. It was my upgrade and i bought it myself (parents pay data plan, but my mom realized she gets a discount where she works around the same time, so the bill only went up like $5). I love it and all the things you can do with it. lol i prolly don't get the full use of all the features, but there are so many. I like it a lot better than my old phones which were just regular phones on verizon. But I don't think I needed it when I was in highschool just because I didnt have a need for it even though I was in 3 sports and a lot of clubs. I think if a teen buys it themselves, they appreciate it more and are less likely to break it (especially if they kno they will have to pay for another one). My friend in college last year went through 8 phones (that his parents all bought) in 8 months. Over the summer he paid around $650 (from his own pocket)for an iphone (not 3g) and he has had it for almost 4 months now. So I think when they realize mom and dad arent going to replace it and they have to take care of it, they are more responsible.

[Rock2damax]

every kid has one

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[simsx28]

i only got my BB because I was kicked off the family plan and had to get my own so I got what I wanted.
And it is really helpful in my last year of highschool

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Rizzleman716]

Is it really that serious? NO, if a kid is responsible enough to have a BlackBerry so be it. Just as with any phone, BB's are nothing different. We just make it seem that way, cause we cherish them and are addicted to them