Disqus
So here is a nice controversial one – do you think kids should be allowed Mobiles? I bring this up in the context of the upcoming Santa-related day, and the likelihood that many, many “kids” (come to that definition in a minute) will be getting Mobile devices amongst their presents.
Now, I would define a “kid” as someone up to age 12, after which point they become a ‘teenager’ at 13. So I am asking, should kids up to 12 yrs old be allowed Mobiles? Also, setting aside the health implications (or not) as there may be, this is more of a moral question – should we be allowing our children (kids) to have mobile devices?
My thinking is NO. Why? Well, living in the UK I see daily an increasing trend of our children up growing up too quickly. Don’t get me wrong, Mobile usage/ownership isn’t the cause of this per se, but I think it’s a really good indicator of how fast parents are willing to let children grow up. Since Pay-as-you-go has existed (which helpfully combats the potential financial penalty of a child having unlimited calls/texts on a contract!), I have witnessed a gradual easing of strictness, and growing permissiveness, amongst those parents/guardians of kids, to let them use mobile devices.
And it’s everywhere – in the media, their peers, online and offline – pretty much anywhere you look, younger and younger kids are being targeted. Is there even a cut-off any more, when you can buy baby toys that essentially look exactly like a Mobile??
I know there are safety benefits to allowing kids to use Mobile devices – both from a communications and also location perspective, but could this be achieved in other ways? Certainly. Would it be ‘cool’? Probably not.
If as a society we are eroding our kids’ “child-like innocence” and delivering Mobile tech in at ages where many of us used to be out playing on our bikes etc, are we driving headlong in to a society where we have a bunch of non-active, mobile-coveting, social networking fiends for children? Your thoughts, most welcome…..
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
