The day of costumes and candy are here again, which includes hordes of children going door to door for their candy treats. Younger children are almost always accompanied by parents or older siblings, but what can parents do to feel better about letting their children out on their own. Well, if your child owns an iphone, Android, Blackberry or Windows phone you’re in luck. On all of these smart phones there are GPS location apps that can help you keep track of your little trick or treaters.
Oct 31
Sep 28
I remember when I was in middle school and I got my first cellphone in 8th grade. It was an old Nokia with a green and black interface, fat antenna on top and was barely able to fit into my pocket. Best of all it had “Snake” built in! I was 14 at the time and seeing a 14 year old with a cellphone back in 1999 was out of the ordinary. During the late 90′s and even the early 00′s, cell phones were considered an adult device. It had the stereotypical attachment to businessmen and soft top sports cars. Now anyone with a few bucks and a prepaid card can get a cellphone from Walmart and be connected instantly. Of course children can’t just go ahead and do that, but the visual of a teenage with a cellphone is now common place.
According to a report done by The Republic, more than 75% of teens going back to school have cellphones and that number continues to grow. but one market is growing even faster, and only recently became an officially named demographic, “Tweens”. Tweens are the ages between 9 and 12, not quite a teenager but not a child either. This market was exploited by businesses the most, with boy bands, MTV and, more recently, romantic vampires. With cellphones getting cheaper, not to mention having gps tracking features, parents are giving their children phones earlier and earlier in life.
But does your child “need” a cellphone? You only need to ask yourself a few questions to know for sure. Do you want to be able to contact your child 24/7, and vice versa in case of emergencies? Can you trust your child with a phone? Or will he or she lose it? How much do you want to spend? Do you want to get a smart phone with GPS tracking and several bells and whistles? Or a simple clam shell phone only for calls. Perhaps buying a used or refurbished cell phone? The National Consumers League has a guide with some of these questions they want you to keep mind when deciding on what phone to purchase for your child.
Next you’ll want to decide on some ground rules. Do you want to set up a limit of texts per-day? Or just accept teens, and tweens, text more than adults and just purchase the unlimited texting plans? You’ll want to explain the dangers of “sexting” and riding a bike while on the phone (just as, if not more dangerous, than driving your car and doing the same). You’ll want to explain strict rules when bringing their phone to school, not just by you as parents, but by the schools rules themselves. Some phones even allow you to set limits to incoming and outgoing phone calls.
The age for cellphone use is only going to get younger and younger. Our phones are turning into more than “just a phone” and soon enough, seeing tweens with cellphones will be just as commonplace as seeing a teenage or adult with a cellphone. The best advice we can give you is to go phone shopping with your child. Just like an adult, you want to be sure they can use the phone, handle it correctly, and like the phone they’ll be getting. Everyone has different opinions on when a child, tween or teen is ready for a phone. But they are your children, so make the decision yourself, and keep the questions above in mind. Happy shopping!
Sep 18
Have you ever received one of those text messages or emails that promises bad luck or good luck if you forward the very important message to 10 people? Or a series of really cute pictures of kitty cats or babies? Of course, we all have! We assume that those friends of ours (it is always the same people that send us these messages) are extremely superstitious or perhaps just having a little fun. For others, the messages become warnings, a matter of life and death.
Recently in Nigeria, a rumor spread via text message like wildfire warning the receiver that there were 7-10 deaths reported after accepting a phone call from “09141”. The text warned that if they answered calls from this particular phone number, they would drop dead. The Nigerian Communications Commission called this possibility “unimaginable,” and denounced the rumor as “unscrupulous.”
“It is not possible for such a thing to happen,” said Reuben Muoka, a commission spokesperson. “It is only very gullible people that will believe such a rumor.” The report strains credulity but isn’t the first time a rumor has frightened the uneducated among Nigeria’s residents, who previously encountered false bomb warnings and even hearsay of acid rain that burned people alive.
The African incident follows last week’s false Twitter reports that drug cartels attacked a school in Veracruz, Mexico, inducing panic among parents who raced to the school to check on their children. The two people responsible for this rumor were arrested for terrorism and sabotage.”Here, there were 26 car accidents, or people left their cars in the middle of the streets to run and pick up their children, because they thought these things were occurring at their kids’ schools,” said Gerardo Buganza, interior secretary for Veracruz state.
For some it’s a game, but for others it can cause mass chaos. While the incident in Nigeria is pretty far-fetched, most would have to admit that if they were to receive a text message warning that their child’s school was shot upon they would fall prey attempting to get there as quickly as possible. Both of these incidents show just how quickly information can be spread using modern technology, even if it’s fear mongering misinformation, legitimate news or just a funny joke.
May 04
Kids these days get a lot of tough talk from the previous generations. Smart phones, video games, and computerized entertainment have a stronghold on the youth of today–and to quote the great Willard Christopher Smith, “Parents just don’t understand.”
Where the leisure and necessary daily activities of your parents and grandparents had trained them for their lives ahead, technology rules and guides this generation.
According to statistics gathered by www.PewInternet.org, kids are utilizing the available technologies especially
smartphones for everything from education to play; and they are accessing these internet tools at younger and younger ages. Kids are connecting to others through Smart Phones predominantly–but they also use home entertainment consoles (Playstation, Xbox, Wii) and portable consoles (Nintendo DS, PSP).
While these outlets for entertainment also provide kids with access to more information and interactivity than ever before, they also create several emerging concerns for parents; amongst which are Cyberbullying, ‘Sexting,’ Cheating, and texting while driving (among the 16+ crowd).
While it is true that technology has perhaps become an overpowering and dominant force in the lives of young children, the progress must be accepted with the newly created issues.
Children are getting smarter faster, learning problem solving skills earlier, and improving certain aspects of their communication skills. We’ve hit an enormous plateau of consumer technology–and your children had better embrace it, or be left behind.
Sources: Pew Internet | Education.com
Nov 11
I came across a couple of interesting articles today involving cell phones and the holidays. The first is about a survey conducted by a British website, which shows that 58 percent of the 1,014 people polled said they would be sending holiday text messages instead of traditional cards this year from their mobile and refurbished cell phones. I was actually surprised that the percentage wasn’t a little higher as the idea of a traditional holiday card just makes no sense to me. Why pay five bucks for a piece of cardboard that someone will throw out within hours of you giving it them? Plus, in reality, texting instead of sending a card is the “Green” thing to do. Think of all the trees that will be saved this year if more people just text their season’s greetings. Sorry Hallmark, but it looks like your racket is almost up.
Merry freaking Christmas kid
The second article that caught my eye, is about a website called TextSanta.net, which seems like one of those brilliant ideas that makes you go, “Damn it. Why didn’t I think of that?” At TextSanta.net, you can pay $5.49 to have Santa Clause text your children either on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. There are three stock messages to choose from, or you can create your own customized message, which is a great option as it allows adults to send “naughty” greetings as well. If your child doesn’t have a cell phone, you can have the text sent to your phone. Keeping in the holiday spirit, TextSanta.net will donate $1 for every text sent to the March of Dimes in support of its mission to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
