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Wow! Now I'm wondering how I ever survived without a mobile in my youth, oh wait a minute... I actually went outside and got in trouble... err, socialized with my friends.
I didn't get a mobile until I was near 30. Sure as he!! didn't want or need one as a teen!
(Yes I know, its different circumstances for different eras.)
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All my friends have cellular devices, except the select few that beg their parents but they won't bulge. Very few have blackberries, I only know about 15 or 16 kids at my school that have Blackberries, but almost everyone has a cellular device of some sort. Welcome to the generation of technological geniuses. Haha...and bad decision makers, man that round of **** pong killed me.
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18 or so as a present for college, and then they have to pay their own cell phone bill :P I had a regular, every day flip phone until I was old enough to drop the money on a Sidekick, and then later when I was 20 on first a Curve, and then the Tour.
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When they get a job.......
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Like many others, my kids can possiably get a regular cell phone as young teenagers. But a smartphone will be once they can pay for it themselves!!!
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Hmmmm my daughter is now 5.75 yo, my son is 7 1/2. They got their 2nd cell phones this past Nov (2008) as a Thanksgiving gift and since they qualified for their 24 mo upgrade credit. Also, they were learning how to spell and their first phones did not have QWERTY keyboards, their new ones (Rants) do - so they can not text me junk anytime (and visa versa)! [So you do the math, to determined when they got their first cells.] Plus they love to watch youtube and sprinttv. Keeps my wife sane when driving them around place to place everyday.
OK, so we have a spare Treo 755P and Centro and Palm 800w sitting around. Shortly we may have two BB 8300's sitting around IF we upgrade ours to Tours.
Hmmmm, we have been throwing the idea around with whether to pass our Treo's or BBs to them shortly. :D
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I personally wouldn't give my child a BB until they were 18. I didn't have a cell phone until I started college and I survived just fine... and that wasn't that long ago (I'm 27 yrs old and started at 18). I do believe that it should be the individual parent's choice, but if it were my child I would be a nervous wreck worrying that something that expensive would get broken because kids tend to be careless. Even responsible ones make mistakes. Additionally, more and more articles are popping up every day claiming that radiation from cell phones is linked to cancer. On the flip side, I love my Blackberry and can't imagine not having it or going back to a "regular" cell phone. :D
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once they can be bound by their own contract legally...so thats 17 in some states and 18 in others -earlier than that a reg handset should take care of their needs if they are on my bill
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I'd say 18 at the earliest. No one really needs a bb in high school. I'm 21 and in college and I don't actually need it either, but at least I can appreciate it which is the bigger issue. I see WAY too many young snobs dickin around with their bb and it really grinds my gears.
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If you are under 18, the only thing you need a Blackberry for is popularity. Why else would you need such a device? I did not get my first Berry till i was 19 (I am 20 now), and it has helped me a great deal to keep in touch with my professors, managers, and to prioritize each busy week one day at a time.
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Yeah but kids do 90% of what they do based on popularity and not wanting to feel like an outcast :eek:
But really, when they get their own contract and job, then they can go for it. There are PLENTY of cool phones that are "almost" advanced devices that should get any child by just fine.
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agreed.
When i was in high school, the coolest phone i had was a Motorola Razr, and it got me by just fine. Today, younger kids are able to get phones with full QWERTY keyboards, 5+ MP cameras, **** loads of memory, touch screens, etc, and yet the majority of them are still probably not content.... always wanting a new phone every 6 months. Kids are spoiled these days.
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I'm 22 and just got my first bb as a birthday present. I didn't have my first cell phone until going to high school at 14. I think a high school or even older middle school student would be okay having a phone in case of emergency but I can't see their need for a bb.wait until college.
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Agreed. When my son gets to probably 14 or 15 (in 7 years) he might get one of my old blackberries...if he wants it. No new ones though, those are MINE! Lol
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my 4 yr old has been playing with my treo 650 and my q9m...deactivated, but he can navigate it like no tomorrow.
he found the BB even easier.
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When my child is old enough to work and buy one for himself, he is free to do so.
I will not buy one for him, but that's me.
Ultimately the decision is the responsibility of whomever is paying the bill.
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Well I'm 14 now and this isn't my first smart phone I had an wm touchscreen thing I think it was an xda 2 my dad had it from work and it was bust I fixed it up and unlocked it now 2 more of my mates have bbs and well we acctually use it quite abit for bb messenger and stuff
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I dont have kids lol, but honestly, my kids wont get a cell phone until they drive, there is no reason for them to have one anytime before that. Who are they going to call that a house phone cant call, and its not like they really can go anywhere since they dont drive.
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I got my first phone at around 8 and went through about 8 or 9 haha until a couple of months ago when i got my pearl, upgrading to an iphone or curve in November :)
It's not really a case of popularity, I know a couple of people who have them and its good for bbmessenger but mostly just a lot easier to type etc.
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well i'm only 20, but i know my mother would not have gotten me a BB...i was lucky to get a phone with a camera, mms, sms and phone calls.
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Well if would get get him/her a camera phone , with text/picture sending package but thats it :p. When they got a job they could get what they wanted to get.
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My baby girl is still in the womb but I have a BB already picked out for her.
/Sarcasm
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I have a son, he's only three but I'm going to use my niece, who's 14, as an example. She was about 12 when she first started on prepaid because she would be at school and my sister would be at work. My sister wanted to make sure she was okay. Prepaid didn't work out since she would waste all her minutes quickly. We got tired of putting money on the phone so my sister added her to her Verizon account. My niece ended up with a very expensive dumbphone($300). Ran up the minutes and text. Then lost like three of those. No more phone for her for a few weeks. All of sudden, she wants a SideKick so they get her a used Kick LX from '07 or something. Guess what, she calls uncle(me) and asks me to hook it up for her since I was with TMO. I spoke to her about it and I granted her wish. She had it for abour half a year, stepped on it and broke the screen so the phone was crap. Guess what she has now, a brand new Sidekick LX 2009 with 3G because I got it for her a few days ago. I even got her a netbook last Christmas. Talking about being a spoil kid huh. I have another niece coming into this world in a week or so. Is she going to want a Sidekick LX 2025 with 10G? LMAO Note: She's a good kid. Does good in school so she deserves it. I told her "when you grow a bit older, you're gonna have to come to other side to the Blackberry world". She said "yeah, yeah". She loves that new Kick. So a good age for a Blackberry is when they show responsibility, whether they're 20 or in their early 30s. :) I got my first Berry a few months ago and I'm in my early 30s. :eek:
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I have thought long and hard about this and I think it is the point when they start going out with other friends and you need to get in contact with them. But I would make them earn the phone to make them learn that if they lose it then it hurts them in the pocket. My cousin never had to earn her phone so she loses it and runs up the bill all the time.
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I find it humerous that people think there is a "set age" at when a child can have a blackberry.
as if maturity were tied that closely to age. Obviolusly All children understand the difference between TV and reality at same age, can handle the death of a loved one at the same age, and make mature decisions regarding Sex at the same age.
Individuals require Indiviual assesments.
The world and technology change. What was technologically inappropriate for a 10 year old 25 years ago may be appropriate today.
I know My children will have cell phoens of some sort as soon as they start spending significant time at their friends houses. Too many people are dropping house phones and i consider it a safety issue.
The maturity displayed after that will determine what type of phones they could receive.
The world communicates differently today than it did 25 years ago. If the world does it then it seems logical that the way Children communicate with each other and Adults will change as well.
Then there are other contributing factors that peopl have mentione din thei tread, Divorce, hearing imparemnt ETC