[reenniiee_]

I think the topic title is pretty self explanatory.
I've always wanted people's opinions on this, though.
Do you judge them, or not care at all?
Do you think to yourself, "they're too young to be carrying dataplans"
or do you not mind ?

Personally, I think that's a big phone bill to pay @ such a young age (which their parents are actually paying for most likely) and I once heard BB's were orginially for business? Well clearly that changed, but I'm not here to judge; I'm asking this because I, myself, am pretty young and was wondering if it's just better to stick with a texting regular phone rather than a smartphone?

Thanks!

[tirahbunny]

actually i think about that all the time when I see kids in middle school with smartphones and young kids in high school carrying around blackberries. if it were sidekicks then i would understand since i believe sidekicks are aimed towards high schoolers and such but i'm just like wow these kids must be spoiled. why on earth would they need a bberry? theyre probaly just going to go on the internet during class or go on twitter >_<

maybe young ones should stay away from smartphones that are meant for other things, and just go for a basic QWERTY phone with an internet plan that would be cheaper.

[live.love.laugh!]

There are actually cheaper student plans for the smartphones that are designed exclusively for students. Though, I agree that there really is no point in a younger kid getting such a phone but hey, it's 2009.

[jxmode]

Senior year of high school this year. I have a blackberry. xD
I really actually didn't want one, nor did I beg my parents for one.
My mom got a special plan for buy one blackberry and gets the other free, also the data plan we have is relatively cheap compared to the original. So my dad gets one blackberry and since my mom didn't want to waste the opportunity she got the another.
When she got the phones I was with her, and since she said she doesn't really need the internet, let alone does she have an email account and such so she made me get the other one ( as odd as that seems). She wanted to have my phone, which I really really liked. >____> ( as odd as that seems again)

Though I do text a lot on my blackberry. I do have 2 emails linked with it. One for casual use, and the other one is for College Apps... etc. I do mark out events and refer to it when I don't have my planner at hand.

But I see kids who are younger than me, and all they use it for is for texting, that is a complete waste of a perfectly useful phone. =T

[paulinaaa]

im amazed that the parents are willing to pay for them
i know my mom wouldnt pay the internet for me lol
but im getting a blackberry soon =D for college ^^
my contract is ending soon so yehh =]

[tinatran_]

i don't, and probably won't, understand why 11-12 year olds at my sister's middle school have Blackberry's.

[wiwi_an]

i did not even know middle schoolers were into blackberries now? i feel so old lmao. but whats the use of a blackberry when youre busy being on it rather than listening in class? i even feel ''err'' when i see a jhs kid holding a sidekick. hs students i understand w/ the sidekicks but blackberries are kinda over.

i nvr even had the THOUGHT of asking my parents for a blackberry or even a sidekick. so for the kids who asked their parents to get it for them, are SPOILED. learn to make money first! i wuld not even let my little sister get a phone until jhs, and just a simple cellphone too. shes not touching any of those blackberries and whatnot till she earns her own money.


i'm ranting i shuld just stop now

[peppermintsugar]

I don't understand the problem.
I was 17 or so when I got my first Sidekick. It just made more sense for me to get something that I could text on, and not have to worry about going over the limit (T-Mo had no unlimited texting plan outside of the Sidekick plan back then). I kept going over minutes from talking on my other phones, parents complained, I told them if they got me a Sidekick it wouldn't happen anymore, they got me a Sidekick, and go figure, they never had to deal with me going over anything ever again.

Now that I have a normal phone (Softbank 707SC II), I still keep the Sidekick plan so that I can text as much as I want, and have 1000 minutes -- plus, who knows, I might go back to a Sidekick someday.

[jiwoneex3]

i don't know whether i could fall into the category, or maybe not because i'm a senior in high school.
but i actually don't have the data plan for my bb, i have unlimited text and use wi-fi for the internet.

and rather than for business, bb's are great for texting, thus my reason for owning one.

overall, young middle-schoolers should start with simple phones if they end up having one.
my first phone in sixth grade, didn't have a camera, no games, no nothing.

[tirahbunny]

I don't understand the problem.
I was 17 or so when I got my first Sidekick. It just made more sense for me to get something that I could text on, and not have to worry about going over the limit (T-Mo had no unlimited texting plan outside of the Sidekick plan back then). I kept going over minutes from talking on my other phones, parents complained, I told them if they got me a Sidekick it wouldn't happen anymore, they got me a Sidekick, and go figure, they never had to deal with me going over anything ever again.

Now that I have a normal phone (Softbank 707SC II), I still keep the Sidekick plan so that I can text as much as I want, and have 1000 minutes -- plus, who knows, I might go back to a Sidekick someday.

well theres nothing wrong with this since it was a Sidekick that you got and you were 17 since when I was in HS alot of kids had Sidekicks anyway when they first came out. but it does raises eyebrows when i see 15 yr olds with Blackberries and to be honest Sidekick is nowhere near being a Blackberry but im not gonna go into that lol off-topic.

I also recall a time when one of my 11 yr old cousin's friend who came to our family event had a T-mobile Wing...which is odd to me because first of all she was 11, and the Wing is considered a business PDA much like the Blackberry. And also the fact that the 11 yr old girl was chatting on AIM with it. I guess these days you can't expect kids to stay kids for that long.

[kcn_]

i've also noticed plenty of middle school and younger high school kids with blackberries
and honestly its just a trend, i highly doubt many of them are actually buying these
phones for their features and such.

but i guess who cares if they're carrying around a blackberry if they (or rather their parents) can
afford to keep up with the bills then whatever floats their boat right?

[naoto]

They don't all use data plans~ Here in canada where cellular plans are astronomically high, most of the people in high school carry blackberries without any sort of data plan and they just use it to text + organize. My tech-noob friend thinks being able to sync outlook with blackberry is the coolest thing but I told him most phones can do that :S

[forgottenmemories]

I think kids in general shouldn't have a phone at all. Its pretty ridiculous how some of them are 10-14 year olds with cell phones.

[Namderful]

They're probably just trying to be cool.
I survived without a phone and I;m going to GR.7 (. . . maybe because I have no friends... WAAAH)
Anyways, it's like the new trend is when you're young, you try to look older , hence the tote bags/phones/&aero/abercrombie whatever else.
It's all about looking cool >:3

[ipaul]

To me, Blackberries are BUSINESS phones yet lot of middle/high schoolers use them. For me though, I never used the data plan when I was in high school when I had a blackberry since there's always a way for you to not use a data plan at all College student (including me) might need a data plan for always checking your college email account. I for one, pay for my plan so its not that my parents are paying for it. So if you are in college and you are paying for it, I think its fine to have a blackberry or a smartphone; that includes an iPhone

[adiavoy]

Neh... I don't really care because it's their parent's money haha and not mines. But it is surprising when elementary kids have phones and always talk about texting... and they sometimes abuse their phones just so they can get new ones.

[babiloveyoo]

I know a girl that is 7 and she changes her cellphone like every month like really expensive ones too ....

[pink_berry]

With how things are today, I wouldn't be surprised if an elementary kid had a BB.

[bebexlove]

My cousin is about 14 and she has the bb curve.. I really don't understand why.. but i'm sure it's because it's easy to text with .. but yeah.. shes spoiled like crazy soo..

>.>

[SongBird]

It is only natural that when we have our own kids we want to give them things that we never had, for a lot of people that means superficial things that our immigrants parents could only dream of having at a young age. Of course, this comes with a negative side affect. I just hope that these kids would some how learn what hard work means so that they won't be spoiled in attitude their whole lives. A lot of people don't know what hard work means and you can evidently see that our own society is breaking down due to the misplacing of what is really important and considered a need versus wants in our daily lives.

I don't think kids need to have a blackberry or even a cellphone, but then again I would want my kids to have a cellphone in case of emergencies. With that being said, they don't need expensive data plans and whatnot. I mean why? In our modern age, if a teen needs to have a cell phone he/she should have the standard talk plan or even pay as you go so he/she can learn to fill up their own minutes [teaching independence + responsibility] versus mom and dad paying for the bills.

A 14 year old with a blackberry with a data plan is just ridiculous.