How Young is Too Young? Buying Cell Phones for Kids
Take a random tween, age 8-12, place them in front of a rotary phone and observe at the blank stare of bewilderment. Yes, gone are the days of the landline, pushed aside by the next wave of technological advancement. Mobile phones are fast displacing landlines in many homes; accompanying this movement is the fact kids regularly use and know how to use these cell phones. The mobility of cell phones means you can be anywhere and have the necessity, or should I say the convenience, of a phone. Cellular service providers and manufacturers would enjoy nothing more than exploiting the vastly untapped tween market. However, is it necessary to provide cell phones to kids age 8-12? What makes it necessary today? Is the simple the notion of having the technology enough reason to equip younger and younger customers with phones? Where do we draw the line when it comes to tweens owning cell phones, and when should we be restricting use? The remainder of this article will discuss the pros and cons of purchasing cell phones for kids. It will discuss the social aspects, health concerns, and cost issues. Social and Cost Issues: Weighing in at a paltry 56 grams, designed with a smaller frame to accommodate smaller hands, measuring 88 x 44 x 20 mm, one of the leading cell phones targeted exclusively towards the 8-12 market, the Firefly. It offers up to 2.5 hours of talk time, and up to 100 hours of standby, basically it's your bare bones cell phone that permits parent's to limit outgoing calls to certain numbers and also sports 'mom' and 'dad' buttons for quick dialling. The Firefly is marketed with such catch phrases as "Parents of pre-teens understand that it's time to start loosening the reins and letting their kids travel unsupervised to school, the library, or friends' houses." Pro: Yes kids need a safety mechanism and having a cell phone handy does provide added protection in the form of determining whereabouts and phoning for help. Con: Big safe mechanism, however, if any parent purchases a cell phone for their kid using the catchy marketing ploy directed to parents, '...start loosening the reins and let their kids travel unsupervised,' they have the wrong perception regarding the purpose of a phone. Anybody who believes that providing a cell phone to a child automatically provides them with responsibility and ability to take care of themselves, when they were unable to do so before a cell phone, are relying too heavily on 'parenting by technology'. Be mindful of such reasoning when thinking about buying a cell phone. Con: Another item to consider, are we turning our kids into internet and mobile phone junkies? One should question whether connecting kids 24/7 to their friends via cell phone will influence their social habits. Also, cell phones are quickly becoming the norm and the fashion. Kids will demand to be hip like their buddies from school who sport the latest cell phone, or any cell phone for that matter. Parents will be pressed to give in to ignescent demands of 'everyone else has one', or 'I want to be cool like the other kids'. Sure it may be good to have your kid fit in, but since when is school primarily a popularity contest? Furthermore, when does fitting in cost so much?! The thing with cell phones is there are monthly costs attached -- not a one time sunk cost. Chances are you will pay the monthly fees. Some options are available to have 'pay-as-you-go' options, you pay for whatever minutes you purchase, however, either or, the more your kid talks on the phone, the more you pay. Don't forget too that cell phones are more than phones. Almost all (the Firefly does not) have text messaging and more complicated communication tools included that have an attached cost as well. Boy, this is starting to get expensive! Health Issues: The Firefly cell phone is designed to give the bare phone essentials. However, this phone is a candybar style, which means the antenna is located within the phone unit and does not protrude out. This means cellular frequencies are closer to the brain. The question now revolves around how early is too early for exposing kids to cellular frequencies on a regular basis? On one hand you don't want to risk your child's health, on the other hand scientific research is still inconclusive when it comes to cell phone 'radiation'. The juror is still out on this one, be your own judge regarding the health impacts. There you have it, some helpful reminders to consider before going out and dropping a couple hundred dollars and an additional twenty per month, minimum, on a cell phone for junior. One certainly cannot downplay the safety benefits, you never know when it could save a life, however, at the same time, there are many con items to consider before sending buying a a cell phone for junior. One thing is for sure, the little handset device will never replace supervision from an adult when supervision is due. Barry Nagassar is owner and operator of DiscussWireless.com. Visit DiscussWireless for useful cell phone fourms that include cell phone reviews, PDA reviews, discussion regarding manufacturers, service providers, and the latest tech news. Shop and compare cell phone and PDA prices among competitors in the SHOP section.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Smart Phones ? Are They Really A Smart Decision
First, there was the standard land line phone system; then came the cell phone ? a convenient little portable item that everyone adopted a "must have" attitude toward. Progress didn't stop there, however. Now, we have the Smart Phone ? the answer to the on-the-go lifestyle that demands immediate access to whatever electronic needs that we happen to have, in addition to the ability to phone our family and friends for a chat whenever the whim presents itself.
Mobile Phone Radiation - The Facts & How You Can Protect Yourself With This Simple Technique!
Firstly, it's vital to point out that this short report is NOT one of my many tips or secrets related to saving an absolute fortune on your Mobile Phone expenses. It's about something even more serious and that is - your health and quality of life!
Recognizing Common Cellular Phone Problems
Cellular phones are in schools, banks, malls, and homes across the country. While cellular phones have been an important technological advancement, they're not without their drawbacks.
Why Mobile SMS/Text Messaging?
What is Mobile SMS/ Test Messaging?
Cell Phone in Forests
We are putting cell phone towers in the forests for safety, tourists and Forest Service Workers. Sounds like a good idea alright. They will also help when fighting fires, as they add a net-centric component to the ever-increasing fire fighting technologies to extinguish the big ones. Of course some will complain as they are hiking thru paradise or fly fishing that someone's phone rings? Yes, but if you get injured, lost or the weather gets you, well then you will be darn happy to see four or five bars on the signal strength won't you?
Choosing a Phone and Voice Mail System
Phone and voice mail systems can be pretty costly, even for companies with a low number of users. Before investing in any type of phone system or voice mail system, you need to estimate how much your company is likely to expand over the next few years. Failure to do this could cost you or your company a lot of money in upgrade and restructuring costs further down the road. It is better and cheaper to plan and allow for expansion at an early stage, than wait until it is too late.
How to Find the Best Long Distance Rates
These days the best long distance rates are not found with your home carrier. There's too much competition in the marketplace and many people are discovering that a prepaid card can actually save them money. A coalition of long-distance phone companies has developed a package of reforms that will be implemented as soon as the Federal Communications Commission approves them.
Overview of Cellular Phone Carriers
How many times have you heard of people spending hundreds of dollars on the latest and greatest cell phone only to be disappointed by the bad signal? Dropping calls is another very annoying occurrence with cell phones. You need to look very carefully into the cell phone carrier that you wish to sign up with. You will be signing a contract usually for one year so make sure it's money well spent.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Prepaid Cell Phones
We are constantly seeing advertisements on TV promoting cell phones and cell phones carriers with what they call great introductory offers if you sign up with them on their network.
Senior Citizen Calling Tips
The AARP, American Association of Retired Persons, ( http://www.aarp.org/ ) conducted a survey in 2000 entitled, "Consumer Understanding of pricing Practices and Savings Opportunities in Long Distance Telephone Industry." This report was an update of an earlier survey conducted in 1998. As the title implies, the survey examines the pricing issues surrounding long distance calling plans in the market and the public's awareness, with a particular focus on people over 50, of these types of savings plans. Only one-quarter of those interviewed 65 and older, looked for long distance calling plans that would save them money. More alarming was the fact that only a little more than 40% knew that the best rate was not the standard rate. To read the complete report, click here. ( http://research.aarp.org/consume/d17192_longdis.pdf )
The Convenience Of Prepaid Wireless Service And Phone Cards
Prepaid wireless service and phone cards are a convenient, reliable way to make prepaid local, long distance and international calls. In the old days it was very expensive and almost prohibitive to make a call overseas, especially to countries like Germany, France, Russia or Taiwan; never mind just to the next state.
Motorola Cellular Phone
Motorola cellular phone ? description.
Limiting Cell Phone Use for Re-Allocation to First Responders
Judging from the 9-11 hearings and many reports by first responder organizations for increased needs during major catastrophic events or INTERNATIONAL Terrorism Attacks of communications, it appears that the average citizenry with personal needs will also need their personal communication available to contact family members, make arrangements for travel, etc. If First Responders soak up all available communication lines, methods, frequencies then the people effected will not have their needed communications.
Negotiating a Cell Tower Lease: Getting Help
A recent survey of the FCC's antenna structure registration database showed that in 2001 there were roughly 89,000 antenna sites registered with the FCC. Today, there are over 109,000 registered sites. It is important to note that most towers under 200' are not required to be registered, so there are significantly more towers in the US than this number suggests.
Be In When Youre Out
Busy entrepreneurs cannot be at their desk twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Wouldn't it be great if you could have your calls routed to your mobile phone, or find out who has called you first without having to wade through a large amount of voice mail messages when you get back to the office?
Review of Bluetooth Wireless Headsets
Bluetooth headsets make up one of the fastest wireless markets here in the US and around the world. Headsets with Bluetooth wireless technology are capable of working with a variety of other Bluetooth enabled devices such as cell phones, PDAs, and digital music devices (like the iPod). Unlike conventional headsets, Bluetooth headsets do not require wires of any sort, but rather receive information from your portable device through 2.4GHz radio waves. The range of communication for most headsets is somewhere around 10 feet, which is usually plenty long.
Best Camera Cell Phone
Best camera cell phone - description.
Renegotiating a Cell Tower Lease- Can It Be Done?
While cell towers actually started being built in the late 1970's, the boom in development did not really start until Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Instead of having two wireless providers in any one area, customers now found that there were up to eight companies with licenses from the FCC to provide Personal Communications Service (PCS) in their area.
Cellular Phones and Television
What if you want to catch up on the morning TV news passing the time away on your morning train commute into the city. Stuck in line somewhere and want to find out what your favorite sport team is doing. Well, an alternative that is coming soon instead of TiVo or videotaping your favorite TV program is watching cell phone television.
Americans Catching on to Wireless Text Messaging
Once considered a teenage fad, text messaging popularity in the United States is rising dramatically. According to The Wall Street Journal, 4.7 billion text messages were sent in the USA in December, 2004 compared to 2.1 billion in December, 2003.
|
