In this case scenario there are four major players who symbolize the following characters, namely:
Decision maker – Parent
A beneficiary – Teenage girl
A facilitator – The mobile company
Accommodator – The grandpa
The decision maker is the parent who chooses either to provide his/her child with a cell phone or deny it. He/she has to make a decision on whether to give or deny the phone after weighing a number of options.
The beneficiary is the teenage girl who does not care about anything and all that matters is herself and her friends. Life revolves around herself and the things that favor her regardless of the impact they have on others; especially the parents.
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The facilitator is the mobile phone company that avails the facility in question and it comes with all specifications as required by teens i.e. internet, music, video, games etc. What matters to them is the market and profitability of their product.
Finally, the old man, grandpa is the accommodator – he accommodates all demands from the little princes without much ado. He quickly asserts that he will buy her the phone on her birthday and her demands to access; unlimited text service goes unnoticed by the old man.
Teenagers are majority mobile phone users in the world. The consumption trend of mobile phone services in the world among teenagers is both erratic and alarming.
It has become a status symbol among teens to have an expensive and expensive phone with the latest technology available in the market. This has become a market opportunity for mobile companies that have gone a notch higher in innovation to manufacture trendiest, sophisticated and more expensive phones for the teens’ tastes.
Having a cell phone for teens is an ordinary simple thing among friends, but for you as a parent it is an enormous responsibility. It has both pros and cons. Cell phones offer teenagers an opportunity to learn to be responsible; responsibility such as staying with the phone charged, text limits, airtime. Etiquette etc, all are positive attributes in teenage life. Cell phones also allow parents to stay in touch with their children.
The disadvantage of allowing teens to stay with phones supersedes the advantages and therefore it requires parents to establish boundaries and limits if they have to provide their children with cell phones. Parents need to set time and conditions of cell phone use and teach them cell phone etiquette.
Regardless of what the teens say, it is the parent who decides whether they should have cell phones or not.
Personally, if I was this 13 year old girl’s parent, I would allow her to own a cell phone but with set conditions that she has to abide to. There are a number of negative impacts of cell phones to teens that every parent must consider before reaching a decision to allow or deny cell phone to his/her teen.
- It is difficult to monitor what they do on phone and the content of information they access. This may expose them to indecent information, text messages, pornography, and cyber bullying etc.
- Mobile misuse among teens has a negative impact on development of communication skills – cell phone conversations are too casual or usually through SMS that hinders deep conversation.
- Teens are also occupied with other activities like watching TV, surfing the internet, video games – besides concentrating on their cell phones. This kind of obsession leaves them with no time for other activities and distracts their attention to school work.
- Teens who abuse phones hardly get enough sleep; they suffer anxiety and depression. Misuse can lead to addiction. Teens addicted to cell phone go through similar withdrawals like those of drug or alcohol addiction.
- There is also a recent research carried out in America that links prolonged mobile phone use to radiation and cancer.
We want to give our children the best, but we fail when we don’t teach them cell phone manners, stop being role models to them or when we simply cave into their pressure without weighing options.
Once you decide to bestow the privilege of giving a cell phone to your teen, it is important that you talk to them about how to use the phone responsibly, dangers of misuse and cell phone etiquette.
REFERENCES
- Teens and Cell phone: Tips for Parents by Kylie Lewis, Deseret. News published Feb 12th 2013.
- Teens Late Night Cell phone are linked with Mental Health Problems. By Rachael Rettner Fox News.Com
- Parents in Action: Teens & Cell phones by Angela Ardolino. Action News.
- Smart Phone for Teens – CNN Global News – Business Magazine by Michael LBV Ram
- Teens Targeted with Cell phone Marketing by Jayne O’Donell, U.S.A Today Magazine
