France mulling laws to ban kid-friendly cellphones

France has been an opponent of cellphone use by children and teens, prompting the French Health Ministry to advise parents to limit their kids’ use of mobile phones. Studies on the effects of mobile phone radiation on humans have been largely inconclusive, but it seems that France is taking a pro-active approach.

And, to further the country’s push to protect children from cellphone radiation, the French Environment Minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, has announced plans for new regulations that would make it illegal to market mobile phones to children. Borloo is also looking to create legislation that would ban the sale of kid-friendly mobile phones designed for the 6-and-under crowd. The new legislation would essentially kill off the kid-oriented handset market in France.

France is also looking to make it mandatory to sell mobile phones with hands-free headsets, thereby reducing exposure to any potentially harmful cellphone radiation.

Rather than waiting for conclusive evidence on the potential dangers of mobile phone radiation, France’s “protect now, research later” philosophy is commendable. Especially since any potential side-effects from radiation exposure would have a larger impact on still-developing children.

Still, we’ll be keeping our mobile phones close to us at all times.

[Via: CellularNews]