mobile phones for children

Mobile Phones for ChildrenUsefulness, Risks and Myth

© 2008 Mobile Telephone Networks. All rights reserved.

Outline

About MTNMobile PhonesRisksRemediesMTN’s RoleMythConclusion


About MTN

MTN Confidential

• MTN Nigeria’s vision is to be the leading provider of ICT services in Nigeria and alter the way Nigerians live, work and play – our mission is to provide 1st class network quality, customer service and superior value to our esteemed customers.

• MTN Nigeria is the biggest mobile operator in Nigeria and West Africa. We provide network coverage to 87.96% of Nigeria’s land mass, while 85.49% of the Nigeria have access to our services

• MTN has built Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest and most sophisticated Telecoms Network in Nigeria – we are the largest telecoms investor in Nigeria with over N1trillion invested in our Network.

• In 2012 alone, MTN is investing over N218billion on Capital Projects in Nigeria . We are thus positioned to lead the growth in intensive Data and ICT Services in Nigeria.

• MTN is pleased that our commitment to Nigeria and its economy has continued to build confidence for investments by other global players in our sector and in Nigeria as a whole.


Introduction

Mobile phones and other wireless technologies have become an integral part of everyday life. What are the benefits of children using mobile phones, the risks and the myths.


Mobile Phones

The Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) was introduced in Nigeria in August 2001. Before then only about half a million Nigerians had phone lines in a country of about 120 million people. According to a recent report, as at July 2012, there were about 103 million active phone users.

Mobile phones are becoming ubiquitous and, in line with this trend, children’s use of mobile phones has increased to the point where mobile phones are becoming commodities for them.

The average age at which children get their first mobile phone is eight according to a recent study.

Children today are part of the first generation to grow up with the mobile phones. This has created opportunities that simply weren't possible when their parents were growing up.

The penetration of mobile phones among children indicates a change in the perception of mobile phones as tools for work based communications into commodities used for day to day communication.


Why are Children attracted to mobile phones?

• The personal and private nature of mobile phones, which makes parental supervision almost impossible.

• The “always on” facility offers round-the clock communication with friends and also facilitates spontaneity in responding. (Social media)

• It is “cool” to have one(image, status, fashion)

• The mobile phone is now both a communications device and a powerful entertainment tool.

• The phones themselves and access to the services they provide are within the reach of many young consumers.

• Parents, too, have seen benefits from allowing their children to use mobile phones: Arranging to pick up children after extracurricular activities in school. It can also be used for security, to check on children’s location and safety when they are outside the home.


Risks of using mobile phones

The very features and facilities that make mobile phones particularly attractive to young users also offer the potential for misuse that could put children at risk.

The new generation devices (smart phones) are no longer mobile phones only. It is now possible to do almost everything on an internet enabled phone that can be done from an internet enabled computer wherein lies the risks.


Risks Cont.• Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is harassment through

electronic channels such as mobile telephones. • The cyberbully uses the mobile phone in various ways.

For example, they may send cruel or hostile voice or SMS messages, spread rumours or distribute embarrassing digital photos of their victim.

• Social media (blackberry etc) provides opportunities to make inappropriate or even dangerous contact with young users e.g. the Cynthia Case

Contact

• Malicious or harmful content may be perfectly legal, but may nonetheless have the potential to harm children an example is the receipt of malicious images and video clips.

• Illegal content is the worst form of content which directly exploits children through portraying abuse particularly child sexual abuse.

Content • Unsolicited commercial messages could be received by

children by people trying to sell or advertise products. Such commercial messages are known as ‘spam’.

• On a mobile phone, spam is usually in the form of an unwanted text message, picture message or email.

• Some spam messages can end up being very expensive for a child if they are not careful. Fraudsters also send out fraudulent messages advising them that they have won a prize.

SPAM• A mobile phone is a valuable item which makes a target

for theft and attack on the owner.Theft


Remedies (tips and advice for parents whose children have internet-enabled mobile phones: Addressing the potential problems presented by the misuse of

mobile phones is a collaborative effort between the children themselves, parents, mobile operators and all relevant stakeholders.

Understanding how the technology works will also help parents understand the issues that can arise when children use mobile phones.

All mobile operators offer internet safeguards to prevent children from accessing unsuitable content, e.g. filtering (or blocking) technologies. Even with filtering and blocking solutions applied on the mobile phone it remains important that parents supervise their child’s internet usage.

Children should be careful about publishing personal details (name, address, telephone no., school) pictures online as the internet is a public place and you can never be sure who is reading the information published.

Children should never arrange a real world meeting with someone they met online without first telling a parent or a trusted adult. And certainly they should never go alone to meet a stranger.


MTN’s role MTN prides itself in adhering to the principles of good corporate

governance and observes full compliance with all lawful enactments and regulations guiding our operations.

We similarly demand a corresponding high level of compliance from our third party Value Added Service Providers to ensure appropriate content is developed and that our esteemed customers’ privacy is respected at all times and they are not inundated with unsolicited or other spam SMS.

We limit the ability of spammers to deliver spam SMS to our esteemed customers by implementing state-of-the-art anti-spam solutions and a robust escalation process to ensure that customers who receive such SMS make a report and get such issues dealt with.

All adverts are appropriate for our target market, including children, and we do not use inappropriate content to advertise our products or services.

All our customer reward initiatives are restricted to children above 18 years old.

MTN also maintains physical, procedural and electronic safeguards to ensure the protection and confidentiality of our customers’ information.


Myth: Are there any health implications to using a mobile phone?Mobile phones and other wireless technologies

have become an integral part of everyday life. But does using a mobile phone regularly, or living near a base station, have any implications for our health?

Some parents are concerned about whether there are health risks for children using mobile phones or where base stations are sited close to schools, day care centres or homes.


Mobile Telephony & the Environment

Ionising radiation

50 HzPowerLines

RadioSA FM

AMradio Infrared

VisibleUV X-Rays

GammaRays

10 1 100

Frequency

RF transmissions

TV

FMradio

MobilePhones

Satellite

10 1 100 kHz

10 1 100 MHz

10 1 100 GHz

The electromagnetic spectrum


Myth Cont.

There is no convincing scientific evidence that the use of mobile phones can cause brain tumours or other cancers in humans. It is the consensus of the world wide scientific community that the low powered radio signals produced by a mobile phone do not have sufficient intrinsic energy to affect genetic material.

Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.

Radio signals are non-ionising, which means that they cannot directly impart enough energy to a molecule to break or change chemical bonds. This is in contrast to ionising radiation, such as x-rays, which can strip electrons from atoms and molecules, producing changes that can lead to tissue damage and possibly cancer.


Conclusion

The very features and facilities that make mobile phones particularly attractive to young users also offer the potential for misuse that could put children at risk. The challenge is to ensure that the positive aspects for children far outweigh the potential negatives.

Addressing these potential problems presented by the misuse of mobile phones is a collaborative effort between the children themselves, parents, mobile operators and all relevant stakeholders.

There is no convincing scientific evidence that the use of mobile phones can cause brain tumours or other cancers in humans. It is the consensus of the world wide scientific community that the low powered radio signals produced by a mobile phone do not have sufficient intrinsic energy to affect genetic material.

Thank You

mobile phones for children

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