eGuide Archives: Cell Phones
Cell Phones According to a 2007 study by research firm iGR, 50 to 70 percent of 12- to 14-year-olds have their own cell phones, and the numbers are even higher among 15- to 17-year-olds. focusonthefamily/mediawise/teens_and_mobile_phones There's even talk of a "significant percentage" of 5-to 9-year-olds who have a phone.1 According to Disney Mobile, cellular users ages 10 to17 use their phones almost four hours per day during the summer, and an hour or so less than that during the school year.2 And they don't use their phones just for talking. They access the Internet. They text message. They instant message. They play music. They play games. They shoot video and take pictures. Not surprisingly, a recent survey by OTX reported that text messaging is the favorite mobile phone activity of 72 percent of teens.3Parents who add their kids and teens to their family cell phone plans say they're doing so primarily for safety reasons.4 Teens appreciate the gesture, with 75 percent saying that a major benefit of having a cell phone is the security they feel in being able to reach their families at anytime.5 Cell phones can be a wonderful safety tool for your child. They can always call you or text you when they need your help. Some possess GPS capabilities so you can always know where your child is. Cell phones have even helped rescue kids abducted by sexual predators. newsletter/vol4_iss39 But they also have received unwanted pictures and even videos of classmates engaged in sexual activity. newsletter/vol6_iss8 And some believe that they can become so addictive in children that Japan is proposing limiting children's use of them. newsletter/vol6_iss41 They have even been used by pedophiles to "groom" kids. newsletter/vol6_iss4 According to the National Coalition for the Protection of Families and Children, all top five cell phone companies have now developed and implemented some type of parental controls. icarecoalition.org/parentalcontrols They range from controlling the quantity of minutes and messages, to limiting purchases and web access, to filtering content, blocking usage and installing a tracking device in order for a parent to monitor the geographical location of a child's phone. These settings can be customized by calling Customer Service, or by using the wireless phone itself, or by going to the company's website and logging into one's account to establish the desired controls. Select your wireless provider for more details:
The best way to protect your child on a cell phone, just as on the internet or in most other aspects of their lives, is to arm them with information and to set clear, precise and mutually agreed upon expectations about their behavior. The National Coalition has developed a "safe use agreement" that is available online at icarecoalition.org/safeuseagreement. We would also recommend clearly establishing consequences for failing to live up the agreement. Most cell phones can have traffic to them blocked for specific periods of time. Your carrier's customer service number can give details on how to do this. The best way to know what your child is doing with his or her phone is to take a look at the text messages that they send and receive. wiredsafety.org/chat_safety Most phones save at least the last 50 messages. The lingo (language) used to send text messages consists of many shortcuts which appear as acronyms and/or symbols that, to the uninitiated, can be incomprehensible (like f U do not undRstNd DIS sNteNc U nEd 2 Lern txt lingo). There are obvious risks here, from the potential danger or embarrassment of responding inappropriately to a message you do not fully understand to not being aware of what your child is sending or reading. It is vital that parents learn the basics of text messaging, despite the way kids cringe when they hear their parents using the latest (or what they think is the latest) "cool" youth buzzword (in factusing "cool" or "buzzword" may be prime examples of that particular cross-generation social gaffe 1Jeff Goldman, "How Phat is Your Phone?" *Wireless-Weblog.com (May 7, 2007). Accessed December 9, 2007. 2"Teen and Tween Cell Phone Calls Rise During the Summer," *Cellular-News.com (July 11, 2007). Accessed December 9, 2007. 3"Teens Use Cell Phones to Stay In Touch, Not to Look Cool," *Cellular-News.com (November 19, 2007). Accessed December 9, 2007. 4Mike Sachoff, "Safety Drives Teen Mobile Growth," *WebProNews.com (June 4, 2007). Accessed December 9, 2007. 5Cellular-News.com (November 19, 2007). See footnote 3. Reminder of the week: Just as you would check the history file on a computer that your child uses (see link) you should check the history on his or her cell phone as well. What pictures are on there? How about saved text messages? Who besides you are the most frequent calls? We recommend physically doing this on their cell phone (ask them for it), but text and calling history can generally be checked online as well. And while you're at it, it's time to check the internet history too. vol1_iss1 |
© 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010,2011 Survivors And Victims Empowered, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
No part of this publication may be reprinted without permission unless used in an article reviewing this publication. The organizations listed within this publication are not necessarily endorsed by Survivors And Victims Empowered.
Survivors And Victims Empowered
38 Doe Run Road, Suite 250
Manheim, PA 17545
Correspondence should continue to be addressed to:
P. O. Box 8875
Lancaster, PA 17604-8875