26 June 2009
Phones for four year olds? Forget it!
Margaret Moran is concerned about the launch of a teddy bear-shaped mobile phone aimed at four year old children. According to the manufacturers of the Teddyfone, it would help parents keep track of their children’s whereabouts.. Yet 25% of seven to 10-year-olds now own a mobile phone which doubles the levels in 2001.
Psychologist Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg, who is an expert on adolescent behaviour, has expressed deep reservations about parents who allow children to take mobile phones to bed with them and let them text friends late at night. He states that almost 1.6 million children are allowed mobiles in their room at night and 40% of such children were sleep-deprived on school nights, leading to a generation of overtired “zombies”.
Margaret Moran says: “I am very concerned about the over-use of mobile phones by young children. The findings of Dr Carr-Gregg’s report demonstrate the potential health risks involved as well as the ill effects on concentration levels at school. I am against this Teddyfone for four year olds which seems to me to be another gimmick for companies to sell more phones.”
Related news stories
- August 27 Children as young as 8 years talk of killing with guns in Luton’s play parks
- March 26 9 out of 10 parents back Sure Start
- August 27 19 children’s centres now open in Luton
- August 27 Is this the worst park in Luton?
- August 25 Benefit Baby Traffickers to be Prosecuted
