Mobile phone products that were the domain of the adult and teen market are being increasingly targeted at a younger age. In the UK, the average age for a child to get a phone is by the age of 8. However, the Firefly phone, designed by 02 and launched in 2010, is targeted at four year olds. It has only five buttons, including two for mum and dad. The company say it is designed from a parent’s point of view with only a parent allowed to input numbers and no text messaging or downloads.
Mobile operators market these phones on the grounds of safety and security, but surely a parent is responsible for a four year olds safety? My eleven year old got a mobile recently and on the odd occasion I have called it, she has never answered it and the call goes to voicemail. For a younger child, the phone is about games and fun with few calls received. For my daughter her phone is largely forgotten unless a friend and she are comparing ringtones, downloaded songs or games. The reality is young children have little use for phones, no money to spend on credit, and the phone receives little use most of the time.
In an increasingly sedentary society with obesity rates spiralling out of control for young people, surely we can protect our children from influential advertising campaigns targeting them at a younger and younger age. Do our four year olds really need another screen instead of more opportunities for active play? Or are they just a new market opportunity in an otherwise saturated market?
Children are being targeted by strong advertising, yet it is the parents who succumb to that pressure and buy. Parenting has become more democratic, yet that does not mean, we cannot say “no phones until you are 9/10/11”, we still need to parent. That means you do not need your child to have a mobile with Global Positioning System (GPS) location tracking to know where she is!
The targeting of children as the next growth market for the telecoms industry should be seen for what it is. Disney, or Mattel’s Barbie branded mobiles, are all using children to pressurise parents to purchase. It is okay to say no. Excessive screen time means less time to learn interpersonal skills which are so essential to a fulfilling life. This week, I observed my daughter and a friend over on a play date where both were interacting with their individual phones, rather than interacting together. Children require interaction as well as play to develop fully and technology is posing a barrier to this.
According to recent research, one in seven children are experiencing bullying over phones through calls, texts and pictures. Bullying has become a huge issue and schools are struggling to cope with the scale of phone and cyber bullying.
The jury is out still on the potential dangers of mobile use for younger children. However, we do know that if there are risks, then the people most affected are children and the younger the child the greater the danger.
Tips:
- Your child’s safety is your responsibility not O2's or Vodafone's!
- Your four year old is simply a new opportunity for profit
- A child has little use for a phone and no money for credit!
- Children need to be active in our sedentary society
- Excessive use of technology is bad for children
- Children learn through play & interaction
- Phones can be used to bully
- If there are health risks, the younger child is more at risk
- It is ok to say ‘I am sorry, the answer is no’
