Children And Mobile Phones

There are a few advantages for children to obtain mobile phones, as it is very convenient for a parent to be in contact with his child through out the day. It makes a parent feel more safer knowing he can reach his child immediately if something occurred or happened. On the other hand , it offers emotional security for the child to know that he can take his phone and talk to his parents at any time. Also many teens see having a phone as part of fitting in with their friends. Twice as many children have cell phones now as in 2004 Most teens. 85% of those aged 14 to 17 have cell phones. So do 69% of 11-14 year olds and 31% of kids aged 8-10, according to a 2010 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. This puts pressure on the parents so even if they choose not to give their children mobile phones , the society around them will pressure them to give them phones. ( Susan Davis , Is your child ready for a cell phone , Webmd )

Over the past decade, the use of technology in children education has exploded , and there are now literally thousands of tablet and smartphone apps created to help kids in more creative and entertaining ways. There are still parents who refuse to give in in the new technology but still they cannot deny the benefits that the technology has on their children. Although some can disagree , many experts say that apps can be a very good tool in education. The apps increase the interaction between parents and their children. They increase competitiveness between children and make them do better at school . According to Rose Luckin, a professor based at the University of London, Preschool or kindergarten age children who complete activities on a smartphone or tablet and then repeat the process to show their parents engage in important “talk time,” which not only reinforces the lesson or skill that they learned but also creates important engagement between parents and their children. The key to taking advantage of the social opportunities offered by mobile apps is to engage with your child while he or she is using it not to always use it as a babysitter.

Many informative programs have appeared in the new smart mobile phones like the android and iPhone. These programs are called apps and range in many different varieties . There are educational , entertainment and health apps. Since many children are starting to use smart phones, the manufactures of these programs are making apps specifically for children use . A child can benefit from games that help increase his critical thinking and imagination skills . There are apps that are designed for use in school to help the child comprehend the concepts of the subject. Studies have shown that mobile apps promote learning because they are entertaining rather than purely educational. Disguising a lesson as a game makes a child more interested in completing it, and it also makes it more likely he will want to engage with it more than once. Also, level-based apps that reward users at the completion of each level provide incentive for learning information and completing tasks correctly. A study show that apps do, without a doubt, enhance learning; for example, the iPhone app “Martha Speaks” increased 3-to-7-year-olds vocabularies approximately

31% over the course of two weeks. 
One might object here that mobile phones have a greater negative effect on the children than it’s advantages. With technology affecting all aspects of life and taking away the simplicity and purity of things , parents don’t want their children to loose their innocence and their cherished childish memories to sitting on the mobile phone all day while they can go outdoors and play with their friends. Other’s concern that when giving a child a mobile phone you open up a wide range of the internet that a young child should not be given privilege to , as he might stumble in 18-rated sites such as pornography or violent websites. These sites affect the growth of the child mentally and emotionally and some children aren’t able to comprehend the meanings of these website. On the other hand , one might argue that website owners and mobile phone manufactures have grown to be aware of these problems and made child safe searches . Also, the ability for a parent to control what his child can see online has very widened , without even the child knowing that he’s being watched.