First ever mobile phone for 12yo DS - help!

[jodee]

Sorry if this has been covered a gazzillion times, but what phones do your 12/13 yo boys have? DS has not been bothered/needed a phone, but wants one now, and is keen on DHs Blackberry (his 16 yo male cousin has one too).

DS feels a bit left out at school, he isn't an alpha male and not in with the 'cool' crowd. I don't want him to have an iphone, but am not sure about a Blackberry either? What would be on the Christmas wish list this year phone-wise?

DS (10) has a blackberry - so do many of his friends. It's on a 14£ a month contract, so cheaper that the payd he had before to run.

Yes they are cool but also quite sturdy and piratical.

Thanks omletta - I think I've read the internet can be disabled? Does that affect music or games playing?

My twin DS's ( almost 12yrs) have the samsung galaxy mini, again on a contract, which is capped, so they cant go above their set minutes without my consent. They do have unlimited internet access and texts as part of their deal (it was with T mobile as a "Special" last Christmas), but I have parental controls put on the phone by the provider,limiting the types of sites they can access and I also have Kaspersky mobile access cover, which has even more controls on it! We have the rule in our house that I must know thier passcode, and can (and do!) check their phone at any time. I especially check their browser history. I have got them a screen guard and a rubberised cover, and, though they have been dropped, left in bags full of books/pens/lunchboxes, and get generally abused, they are still working fine!

Oh - forgot to say, I got the phones free, and pay £14 a month for their contract, which, as omletta said, still works out less than I paid for their PAYG they last had, and, as capped, I get no nasty surprise bills!

Yes you could disable the Internet, but then BBM wouldn't work, which is one of the main attractions of a Blackberry for most people.

We too have the rule that I must know the password and I frequently check. N problems so far.

Thank you both for your replies, still undecided on which phone, but you've given me a lot more info to go on! And will def be having rule about password and parental controls.

Not true that BBM doesn't work if you disable the browser - I have done this with my 12 yr old's BBerry. HAve put in a passcode so things like Facebook,, Twitter etc are unavailable to her

We actually decided to avoid Blackberry, because of cost, but also because I didn't want her to have instant messaging. I had heard too many stories of children being a bit addicted to BBM, which then caused many arguments when it came to put the phone down. We have a £10/month PAYG, with a certain number of texts and calls (Vodafone freedom freebee). If she uses it up before the end of the month, she just has to wait until the next month.
We set up rules on the first day - 1) no phone in bedroom at night 2) no phones at meal times (adults too!) 3) we have access to phone.

Cheapest contract for BB is £10.50 pm with free phone- I chose this over a PAYG on the basis it won't cost any more than I would top up anyway and a free phone!

ds has a blackberry on PAYG, he just pays £5 a month for his blackberry bundle, it was £90 (he paid for it himself , he saved up for 6 months!) I think they're even cheaper now.

He loves being able to message his friends even though he hardly ever sends one to me except 'ok' .