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.