Tween Cell Phone Stats

by Joe P on January 9, 2008

Today’s world seems full of the sound of ringing cell phones, and it’s not just the business world, either. Increasingly, cell phones are seen in the hands of children younger than 15 as they wait for the bus or walk down the street. The “tween” demographic – or children between the ages of 10 and 15 – has been increasingly interested in cell phones, and surprisingly, parents are giving in.

According to U.S. Cellular stats, approximately 60% of American kids own cell phones. And with the rising tween cell phone market, research from Yankee Group suggests that 54% of tweens will own cell phones within the next three years. That’s pretty significant – and the wireless companies are jumping on board.

Kajeet is a wireless service that caters almost completely to kids. Their credo is that kids should be able to enjoy technology like the rest of the world does. Firefly Mobile is another company who has made a simple “first cell phone” for kids, carried through the AT&T (Cingular) network. Interestingly enough, stats show that cell phone ownership is highest for girls in the age group of 12 to 14. A representative for Kajeet, Annie Nisula, says that the company is ready to focus on boys of the same age. “They represent a greater opportunity for Kajeet,” she says.

Other interesting stats show that two out of every five kids in the age group of 8 to 14 already own a cell phone. That’s a lot of kids with phones. So what are the ramifications of this? How are parents dealing with an increasingly technologically-savvy younger generation?

Carolyn Bartley is a new parent. Her daughter, Ella, won’t be ready for a cell phone for a while, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t thought about it. “I don’t think an 8-year-old needs a cell phone,” she says. “What happened to the good old-fashioned days where parents knew their children’s friends and could simply call the parents of those friends? Anyway, parents should know where their children are without having to call them every five minutes.”

Other parents don’t share her opinion. “I think cell phones for kids are good under certain circumstances,” says a poster on one of Livejournal.com’s parenting communities, Parenting101. “I gave one to my twelve-year-old daughter because she was riding the city bus home from school a few days a week.”

Parents state that good reasons for giving your children cell phones include being able to contact them and be contacted. “I gave my child his own cell because he’s often at practices after school and I don’t want him to not have a way of contacting me,” another poster details. Other replies included, “Until she started riding the city bus home alone, I wouldn’t have considered it. I had actually told her no several times. I really didn’t think she needed one, and to let her take it to school, no way, but then circumstances led to that being necessary. I talked to her teacher ahead of time and let her know the kid would have it with her at school and the rule was it would be off until after school. She’s been a responsible kid and we haven’t had any problems so far.”

To the delight of many parents, a few companies – Alltel and AT&T notably – have introduced programs that allow the monitoring and regulating of a child’s cell phone activities. AT&T’s application works in the same manner that Kajeet has worked since the beginning. Parents have the option to restrict alls to and from certain numbers, as well as setting limits on the number of minutes and text messages that can be used overall. This can be broken down even further: Parents can set times that the phone can and cannot be used. So if a child has a set study time, or a firm bedtime, parents can make the phone inaccessible – save for 911 calls – during those times.

Perhaps the biggest problem with tweens having cell phones is their presence in school. Once upon a time, cell phones were banned in schools. Period. If you were found with it, it would be confiscated. However, after many parents cited security concerns, administrations acquiesced and now allow students to carry around cell phones – but for emergency use only. Clearly, these policies are being abused. Students are routinely caught text messaging in class. The worst part is, many don’t see the problem with it.

“It’s more of a convenience than anything else, and it’s not like you’re making a big disruption in class like picking up a phone or something,” says one teen. Taxpayers, I’m sure, aren’t too keen on funding schools where kids go to text message one another, rather than learn. This illustrates a growing problem, and one that can be nipped in the bud by installing parental controls on phones, which shut them out to all but critical numbers during the school day. Administrators also cite the ethical concerns of having cell phones in class. “Quite frankly, with the ability to take pictures, test security becomes an issue,” says Tom George, dean of an Illinois high school. Surely, these kinds of parental controls would make that less of an issue.

However, many parental control systems aim to take advantage of another feature: GPS. Alltel launched their own parental controls program last year, which includes an application called Family Finder. This allows parents to view the location of their children at any given time. Some tout this as a great boon which will allow for the greater safety of children, while others rail against it as a personal intrusion.

Daniel Neal, founder and CEO of Kajeet, understands the slippery slope of GPS tracking. “The market is still digesting location technology,” says Neal. “We’re not rushing into the market with it. There is a demand, and we want to give our customers the most choices. We’ll do it very carefully, very soberly, while considering customer feedback.”

There is a compromise somewhere in there, but it appears that it won’t be reached for a while. There will always be parents who want to know the whereabouts of their children every second, just as there will always be people who don’t approve of such intrusion. And while Kajeet does offer GPS tracking functions, the company clearly understands that a balance must eventually be achieved.

One can name plenty of reasons why a tween shouldn’t have a cell phone. But it’s a reality now, so such arguments are nearly useless. Instead, it’s better at this point to find a compromise. An example would be to allow kids to take their phones to school, in case of an emergency, but to also have their text messaging and web browsing disabled. This would help accomplish the paramount objective of having the phone, while limiting all collateral distractions. Kids would then be free to use the phones after school, when they’re separated from their peers.

Getting younger, these parental controls serve wondrous purposes for the even younger crowd, the 8 to 12 or so age group. No longer will they have to stand out in the rain while calling a parent from a payphone after soccer practice. Simple, low-function phones are made available so that these kids can have the convenience and security of perpetual parental contact, without all the distractions that can come along with a cell phone.

While it’s easy to just say, “Give them phones!” it’s a bit harder to realize the restrictions that need to come along with that privilege. And that’s maybe the best line of thinking to approach this topic with: Cell phones are a privilege, not a right. Like driving, carrying a cell phone comes with a set of regulations by which the user must abide. Get caught speeding, it’s a fine; similarly, get caught texting in class should incur some penalty. Or we could just take advantage of advanced applications and shut off the service during those times.

Cell phones have become part of our society, but that’s no reason they need to take away from it. There’s a balance to be found here.

Filed under : Consumer Issues