Every Child Should Have A Mobile Phone

Clíonas Speech
Good morning chairperson, adjudicator, members of the proposing and opposing teams, teachers, and fellow students. I am going to discuss the importance and need for school going children to have mobile phones in this technological era.
In this high-tech fast world, mobile phones have become a compulsory part of everybody’s life, without any age limit. Mobile phones are now a normal part of modern society, used by everyone from toddlers to pensioners. A study carried out by ORC International, a leading market research agency, for the National Consumers League, stated that many children, if not most, have their own mobile phones
In this so called ‘technology era’, children need to grow up making use of mobile phones if they are to take their intended place in society. I therefore ask you, how can we expect children to fit into the modern workforce with ‘hi-tech’ employers if they have not grown up with the technical advances of mobile phones from a school going age?
Preventing a child from having a mobile phone is putting them at a major disadvantage both socially and technologically. Surely you would all agree that we children are a lot more advanced than some adults when it comes to using mobile phones. This is due to the fact that we have been accustomed to mobile phones as young children and have grown up alongside the major developments in them over the years, unlike most adults. How many of us here have had to help our parents get to grips with their new mobile phones?!
Evolution has taught us that we must adapt in order to survive. You may think this is a drastic statement; however it is not enough to bury our heads in the sand when it comes to technological advances, just because we are fearful. Katie has already mentioned the wonderful programmes in schools teaching us about appropriate mobile phone use. Does the opposition really purpose to remove mobile phones from all children up to the age of 18?
A recent showing of the television programme ‘Reeling back the Years’ showed a baby faced Denis O’ Brien after winning the battle for Ireland’s second mobile phone license. Denis underestimated the extent to which we as a nation, both children and adults alike, would react and develop mobile phone technology. They are not merely a device, but support a number of other programmes such as, alarm clocks, weather forecasts, maps and so on. These programmes are useful for the development of school going children, as alarm clocks can be used as a method of waking oneself up in the morning.
This brings me immediately into my next point. Providing school going children with the opportunity to use such devices as alarm clocks on a mobile phone can bring them increased independence. It means that they are not depending on adults to cater for their every need, thus teaching them to be responsible for themselves. As Caroline Knorr, parenting editor with the non-profit Common Sense Media, stated ‘Maturity and the ability to be responsible are more important than a child’s numerical age’.
So, who is deciding whether or not children of school going age should or should not have mobile phones? Not us children, that’s for sure. Maybe it’ time society embraced these technological and social advancements and realise that mobile phones will benefit school-going children in the future.

.