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