Mobiles for kids

You'd be hard-pressed these days to find a teenager without the latest and greatest wireless communications technology, and now even younger kids are asking their parents for mobile phones.

Kids can add colourful patterned covers to the Firefly phone.

While parents may be interested in equipping their child with a cellphone for a variety of practical reasons, the kids are most interested in the cool factor. Manufacturers are trying to keep both happy with phones designed specifically for the younger set.

At the same time, some groups have raised questions about exposing children to radio-frequency cellphone radiation. A British report in May 2000, for example, noted that there is no proof that exposure to microwave radiation from cellphones poses a health risk, but still recommended cellphone use by children be limited since they have thinner skulls than adults, smaller heads, and their nervous systems are still developing. Likewise, the World Health Organization issued an advisory in 2000 that said, "Present scientific information does not indicate the need for any special precautions for use of mobile phones. If individuals are concerned, they might choose to limit their own or their children's RF exposure by limiting the length of calls, or using "hands-free" devices to keep mobile phones away from the head and body."

• Your View: Would you provide a cellphone to a child?

Others point out that the phones emit little radiation in standby mode, and only pose a potential concern when the phones are used for lots of calling. Health Canada's advisory on safety and safe use of cellphones says, "So far, there is currently no convincing evidence, from animal or human studies, that the energy from cellphones is enough to cause serious health effects, such as cancer, epileptic seizures or sleep disorders. Some scientists have reported that cellphone use may cause changes in brain activity, reaction times, or the time it takes to fall asleep. But these findings have not yet been confirmed."

Ultimately, it's up the parent to decide whether to equip their kids with the latest communications technology. Some parents feel uncomfortable providing a mobile phone to their children at such a young age. Others decide that being able to get in touch with their children in emergencies and even track their whereabouts outweighs the concerns about cellphone emissions.

"There's a trade-off if a child feels at risk to be able to call an emergency number," said Robert Brown, an analyst with Market Research.com. "It's a parental decision that people are making these days they didn't have to make 30 or 40 years ago."

The options

For those who opt for a cellphone for their child, there are a number of options tailored for young people.

The LG Migo, for example, is a mobile phone offered in Canada through Telus that has just four programmable speed-dial keys and one programmable emergency key. Parents can pre-set the phone numbers and protect the settings with a pass code, allowing kids to stay in touch with the people who meet parental approval. It also helps minimize the amount of time kids will be on the phone, since they are limited to a few numbers.

The LG Migo has just four programmable speed-dial keys and one programmable emergency key, allowing parents to pre-set the phone numbers and protect the settings with a pass code.

The sweet spot for a device like the Migo, said Eddie Chan, a mobile and PC research analyst with market research firm IDC Canada, would be children around five to seven years old. "It's more for the parents, in terms of being able to track and get a hold of their child."

Young children are usually with a parent or at school during the day, so that brings up the issue of whether a mobile phone is really necessary. But there may be scenarios, such as when the child has a paper route or goes to a sitter for part of the day, that resonate with parents.

And cellphones aren't just about communication. Features such as location-based tracking may be important to parents who want to keep tabs on where the child is throughout the day.

Telus, for example, offers the Kid Find service in conjunction with its Migo phone — within Telus's coverage area. So far, it's available in parts of B.C., Alberta and Ontario, but the company says it has plans to make the service available across Canada. Parents who sign up for Kid Find can identify the location of a child in real time through an interactive map, displayed either on the parent's cellphone (if it's capable of that service) or on a computer through mytelusmobility.com, a password-protected site. The service costs $5 per month, and users' privacy is protected with pass codes and mandatory permission requirements.

Bell offers a similar service called Seek & Find, which also costs $5 per month (including 20 uses per month). This service can identify the location of specific Bell mobile phones within coverage areas in Ontario, Quebec, B.C., and Alberta. Like Kid Find, a child's cellphone can be located using the Seek & Find website, and cellphone owners are notified by a free text message when the child's phone is located. The service is available on certain Assisted GPS-equipped mobile phones.

Rogers doesn't offer a GPS tracking service at this time.

Fashion concerns

Buying a phone based on useful features does little good if youngsters won't keep the phones with them because they're clunky or unfashionable. Even at a young age, style and design can be important, since kids are bombarded with images of what's hip and cool.

"The child is going to have some influence [over the purchase], because they're not going to be compelled to use something that looks like a toy," Chan said, adding that there are a lot of social pressures at play when it comes to what kids carry.

"Once you get into eight-plus, a kid wouldn't carry a device like the Migo," said Chan. "They would get picked on at school — it's not cool."

A case in point: In 2005, Rogers Wireless started offering the Firefly phone, initially marketed as a "pioneering mobile phone designed for kids aged 12 and under." The Firefly allows parents to program the device to dial up to 10 phone numbers, including a mom-and-dad speed-dial key, as part of the Rogers Call Manager service.

"We decided we liked the concept of the Firefly phone, but we found it restrictive because preteens do want a cool phone," said Reade Barber, director of new services market launch with Rogers Wireless. As a result, Rogers now offers its Call Manager service on any of its mobile phones, giving them the same child-friendly features as the Firefly.

Call manager allows a parent or guardian to log on to the internet and control who a child can call and receive calls from. It also works for text messages. It's designed to offer privacy and security, as well as prevent runaway air-time bills. The service costs $5 per month, and a demo is available on the Rogers website.

"It's a way to introduce a cellphone to the child in a responsible manner," said Barber, adding that it gives parents peace of mind because they have some level of control over who their kids are talking to. As children grow older, parents can add more numbers.

Service plans are a cost-effective way to keep kids in contact with family members. Family plans, or plans that allow the child to make unlimited local calls to a certain contact, can help manage minutes.

"Some parents like a prepaid service, where the parent or child would be responsible for maintaining their account," said Julie Smithers, a spokesperson for Telus. "They can buy a certain amount of minutes on a prepaid card, and that's good for people who really want to control the number of minutes being used."