Title:
Mobile Phones: The
Intersection
of Technology, Policy and Social Issues
Abstract:The global
mobile
phone industry recently surpassed the one and half billion customer
milestone.
Among the one and half billion users a significant portion of users are
children.
This is a group that has embraced mobile phones technology more than
any
other. This obvious appeal of the technology to children could be due
to
the fact that mobile phones offer privacy, ease of communication,
contact
with friends and relatives and arguably an exceptionally useful tool
that
advances personal communication. For instance, the new generation
devices
are no longer mobile phones only, but have functions which could carry
out
activities once available only on the Internet. Now, mobile phones
offer
3rd Generation technology, access to a diverse mix of information
including,
video, camera functions, music, games, Internet browsing, chatting and
services
such as Short Message Services (“SMS”) and Multimedia Message Services
(“MMS”)
among others. Moreover, new wireless technology such as “WiMax”
promises
to combine the speed of broadband Internet access with the ubiquity of
mobile
phones offering higher download speeds than 3G technologies at 1/10 of
the
cost. Therefore, every technological advance that provides such
dramatic
benefits has consequential social costs. It is these consequences of
mobile
phone usage that warrants more attention, especially to young people.
According to research carried out, the mobile phone industry has had an
impact
on children in the following manner. First, children have been
the
focus of marketing strategies in mobile phone retailing. Second,
according
to research mobile phones have had an impact on the personal
development,
including health risks on children. Third, children are exposed to
physical
danger through the usage of mobile phones. Therefore, it is crucial
that
children and parents and those concerned are aware of the safety
measures
that are available on various services and the tools that are available
at
their disposal to keep children safe from mobile phone dangers.
However,
it is not entirely sufficient to rely on self-regulatory measures as
the
development of mobile technology is occurring at different rates in
different
countries and self-regulation alone may not prevent a child accessing
for
example, obscene or illegal content on his or her mobile. Although,
different
countries have different methods to respond to mobile phone challenges
present
for children what must be universal from the outset is a commitment to
recognizing
that children and young people across the world have a right not only
to
be empowered by these technologies but also a right to be protected as
they
seek to make the most of the benefits and opportunities which the
mobile
phone revolution presents.
Author: Manique A.E.
Cooray