The Case For – And Against Cell Phones for Children

Much has been written over the least five years regarding the growing prevalence of cell phone usage among teenagers. Indeed, as technology improves and the cost of equipping people with cell phones becomes even less expensive, we are seeing a corresponding increase in the number of pre-teens who have them as well.

The Good

Given the frenetic pace many of today’s families keep, is difficult to argue against the merits of providing cell phones to kids. In addition to being able
to easily check in with parents, equipping a child with a cell phone allows them to phone for help in the event of an emergency or call or a ride home when
they find themselves stranded somewhere. Likewise, parents can easily check in with their kids when they are out with friends.

The Bad

But as in all good things, there’s also a downside. Stories about outrageous monthly bills have been well-documented in other places so we won’t go into
that issue here. The problems we will discuss here are ones that can pose threats to your child’s safety and well-being.

The first problem has to do with the cell phone’s functionality. Remember, many of today’s cell phones come fully loaded with Web browsers, instant
messengers and email access, making it quite possible for kids to do just about everything they would do on their home computer, on their cell phone. This
means that the parental control devices you labored over on your home computers can easily be circumvented by using a cell phone to access “forbidden”
sites.

An additional problem comes in the form of the “unknown” factor. Prior to the infiltration of cell phones, kids relied on the old-fashioned landlines to
connect with friends and make their plans. As a result, the more astute parents had a fairly good idea who their kids were with and what they were up to.
The portability of cell phones removes all of this, leaving parents pretty much in the dark as to who their kids are talking to and what they are doing.
Even scarier is the fact that kids can easily arrange meetings with people they “meet” on line without their parents knowing about it.

Want to hear more?

Cyber-bullying is a term that we have been forced to familiarize ourselves in recent years. While originally limited to home computers, it is now becoming
a growing problem among kids with cell phones. According to one child-advocacy organization, 16% of young people with cell phones reported receiving
bullying or threatening test messages. This compares to 7% who report being harassed in Internet chat-rooms and 4% via email.

Fortunately, it’s Not All Bad

As in many things, it took some time for the cell phone industry to assess these concerns and come up with some solutions. One of the most recent
innovations is the integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology with cell phones, which allows parents to track the whereabouts and movements
of their kids. While this may seem a little stifling to some, all one needs to do is read one of the too-many stories of a child abduction to be convinced
otherwise. And that’s exactly what one man did.

Inspired by the 2005 murder of 9 year-old Jessica Lunsford, Florida resident Joe Dawon has joined forces with California-based CATS Communication to introduce a cell phone that alerts parents when their child is near a sexual predator’s home.

Using a GPS Personal Location and Tracking system, CATS Communication has been able to build a so-called “geofence” around the home of every listed child
predator that lives within the child’s zip code. When a child enters that zone, the parents will automatically be alerted via email, text message or pager.
Linked to the Family Watchdog's national database of registered sex offenders, the phone automatically updates each time a name is added to the database.

Dubbed CATTRAX™ , this service is currently only available to Nextel subscribers, however the company hopes to expand the service to all carriers in the
near future.

Subscribers to the CATTRAX™ service can also keep tabs on novice drivers and even be alerted when the phone (and presumably the driver) is traveling faster
than a given speed limit.

A Company-wide Commitment

Parents should be relieved to know that CATS Communications’ involvement in child safety issues will not end with the successful launch of CATTRAX™ .
According to a press release found on the company’s web site, CATS Communications is the founding corporate sponsor of the National Child Amendment
Coalition™ , a national organization coordinating and promoting the “Jessica’s Laws™” and the Child Protection Coalition™. CATS Communications is also
committed to ensuring each and every state passes legislation that better protects children from predators. It’s a pretty safe bet that we will be hearing
more about this company over the next few years.

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