Mobile phones & child safety

As more and more children acquire, or ask for, mobile phones at increasingly younger ages, parents have many questions about the safety of children using these phones.

The Internet can now be accessed on most mobile phones so this involves potential risks to children who use phones. These risks include accessing adult content, such as pornography and “stranger danger” contact in chat services.

Mobile providers in Australia recognise these risks and have taken steps to help protect children from potentially harmful content accessible via their mobile phone. You can also take steps to reduce the potential of your child receiving an unexpectedly high bill in association with their mobile phone service. These include blocking international calls and premium rate services.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority in collaboration with the children’s internet charity, Childnet International, has published a guide which gives a checklist of important questions to ask your provider when purchasing a mobile phone. This will ensure that you have the tools and support to help protect children and make sure they get the most out of using their mobile phone.

This guide can be found at http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_100694

There have also been concerns about the health risks involved with the radiation emitted by phones. A fact sheet on this topic from the Australian Radiation Protection & Nuclear Safety Agency can be found at
http://www.arpansa.gov.au/pubs/eme/fact11.pdf

The US based Center on Media and Child Health has information on the upside and downside of mobile phone ownership for children, including health risks, bullying, safety, tips for parents and links to research on their website at
http://www.cmch.tv/mentors/hotTopic.asp?id=70

Information on parental controls for mobile phones can be found on the UK based Ofcom website at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/files/2009/09/mobiles.pdf

Links to recent information about children and mobile phone use can be found in entries for April and May 2009 on the In the News section of this website.