Cell Phones & Kids

When my friend with a 4-month old baby asked me about when I thought an appropriate time to get a child a cell phone was, I have to admit I was shocked she was already thinking about this topic. She was already thinking about how she was going to keep in touch with her child the first time he went somewhere on his own. But she was also concerned about what he might be exposed to and what he could access via a cell phone with all of today’s capabilities.

Then there are the health concerns. Do cell phones cause tumor or impair cognitive function? Taraka Serrano, a health advocate associated with BIOPRO Technology, writes about the health risks in her article: Cell Phones Endanger Children. But I think my friend’s bigger concern was that her son could be the target of exploitation, bullying and invasion of privacy as well as have the possibility of ringing up a phone bill that could get out-of-hand.

As Larry Magid aptly points out in his article Talk to Your Kids About Cell Phone Use, “When you put a cell phone in children's hands, you're giving them access to the world and the world access to them, including when they're away from home and parental supervision. What's more, today's cell phones are not just mobile telephones. They're also Web browsers, instant messengers and e-mail terminals. In other words, just about everything you can do from an Internet-connected PC, you can also do from a cell phone.” All these exposure points give a parent a lot to worry about.

What limits are appropriate to set with your children when it comes to cell phone use? Should you give them full access to all functions and features available or limit their use somehow? Also, what is an appropriate age to allow a child to carry a cell phone?

-- Pamela Klores, Reichert Communications

Comments

[Rhonda Bly]

My daughter is six and has been asking me for a phone so, she can call me or the babysitter when she needs. I have been holding off until yesterday when she got on the wrong school bus and the system didn't even know she was missing. I would not have found out if she wouldn't have borrowed a phone and called me for help. Even then it took over an hour for the bus system to find her. Now I am reading all these health issues and I don't know what to do.