Mobile Phone and Children
Should children be allowed to own and use mobile phones?
Mobile phones keep children safe
Mobile phones keep children safer, as it is easier for parents to stay in touch with their children and for children to contact someone in an emergency. Through calls and texts, parents can know where their child is and be reassured that he or she is safe; all the while their children know they are never more than a phone call away from help. As Leslie Sharpe argues, ‘I wanted to ensure that they had a way of contacting me in an emergency’. It is, however, true that some children carrying the most sophisticated or ‘Smart’ phones are more susceptible to being robbed, but thieves are always after something new. Phones now are both much more widespread and security coded, so the benefits to thieves are no longer as great or immediate. Traffic accidents that are the result of children being distracted by their phones while walking across roads should be blamed on bad safety education rather than on the actual phones. Ultimately, mobile phones provide parents and young people with peace of mind and children with a safety net in emergencies, whether calling parents or the emergency services.
Children should be comfortable with modern technology
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is now a normal part of modern life, used by everyone from toddlers to pensioners. So children need to grow up making use of technology such as mobile phones if they are to be able to fully participate in contemporary society. The average age at which children get their first mobile phone is eight according to a recent study. To prevent a child from having a mobile phone at that age is to put them at a clear social disadvantage compared with their peers. Mobile phone use develops skills for the modern workplace with its need for tech-savvy employees with communication skills and the ability to work flexibly. In any case, children often have better phone manners than adults – they are less
Mobile phones keep children safe
Mobile phones keep children safer, as it is easier for parents to stay in touch with their children and for children to contact someone in an emergency. Through calls and texts, parents can know where their child is and be reassured that he or she is safe; all the while their children know they are never more than a phone call away from help. As Leslie Sharpe argues, ‘I wanted to ensure that they had a way of contacting me in an emergency’. It is, however, true that some children carrying the most sophisticated or ‘Smart’ phones are more susceptible to being robbed, but thieves are always after something new. Phones now are both much more widespread and security coded, so the benefits to thieves are no longer as great or immediate. Traffic accidents that are the result of children being distracted by their phones while walking across roads should be blamed on bad safety education rather than on the actual phones. Ultimately, mobile phones provide parents and young people with peace of mind and children with a safety net in emergencies, whether calling parents or the emergency services.
Children should be comfortable with modern technology
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is now a normal part of modern life, used by everyone from toddlers to pensioners. So children need to grow up making use of technology such as mobile phones if they are to be able to fully participate in contemporary society. The average age at which children get their first mobile phone is eight according to a recent study. To prevent a child from having a mobile phone at that age is to put them at a clear social disadvantage compared with their peers. Mobile phone use develops skills for the modern workplace with its need for tech-savvy employees with communication skills and the ability to work flexibly. In any case, children often have better phone manners than adults – they are less