DIGILIFE | Children and the cell phone revolution

Last week, the results of a long-term study of the health effects of using mobile phones was published in Britain. The study spanned 7 years, and came up with a simple result: mobile use among adults cannot be conclusively connected to health problems, and therefore is not considered harmful.

However, the study did caution against the use of mobile by children and early teens- also known as ‘tweens’, between the ages of 8 and 12- in addition to those with underlying diseases that may, potentially, be affected by mobile signal exposure.

On the subject of children, there is a growing debate in Europe and the USA regarding the pros and cons of children using mobiles.To begin with, the pros are obvious: the ability to stay in touch with a child could be important in certain situations.

The cons though are more. For a start, a mobile brings with it all kinds of changes in social behavior, and could potentially spoil a child. Then, there’s the matter of health issues.In the United States, several children's advocacy groups, including Alliance for Childhood, Commercial Alert, and National Consumers League, are asking Congress to investigate the marketing of mobile phones to kids.

They are concerned about children's safety, privacy, education, and health. Privacy advocates even go as far as worrying that pedophiles may use cell phones to contact children. They also argue that cell phones will become a vehicle for showing advertisements to children and ultimately reaching their parents' wallets.

The study in Britain details the health risks. The British National Radiological Protection Board, warns of the possibility that mobile phones could cause benign tumors of the ear and brain. The NRPB urges parents not to provide cell phones to children under 8 years old.

Still, a new wave of mobiles for children are being manufactured in the USA and Europe, aimed at children as young as 6 years old. To add to that, mobile service companies (operators) all over the world, including Jordan, consider ‘tweens’ as a key segment and they are planning to target them. I find it offensive to think that any business would be ‘targeting’ children with a grown-up product.

As a parent, I can’t imagine giving my daughter a mobile phone at the age of 8. When I first used one, I was 24! And I find it unacceptable to be unable to somewhat monitor her ‘communication activities’ during the night and day. How will it affect her schoolwork? How will it affect her social upbringing?When we were children, we did just fine without mobiles.

Simply, we couldn’t go anywhere unless we told our parents first and we had be home on time, as agreed, because we couldn’t call them to tell them we’d be late. No excuses, no unnecessary communication.

Those were simpler times, for sure. But, more importantly, they were more disciplined and probably healthier times too!

zeid@maktoob.com