I am often amazed on a daily basis on the overall dependence in cell phones that society has.  I have a cell phone, actually I have two, and both are sitting on a shelf without any minutes to them.  The first because I never used the plan that I had purchased so I didn’t renew it when my contract was over and the second because I ran out of minutes and kept forgetting to reload it.

If you can’t tell, I’m not a big fan of cell phones.  I’m not overly thrilled about walking through a grocery store and overhearing a sensitive conversation that a person is having.  I, kid you not, have heard some pretty obscene and scandalous conversations that made me turn out of aisles just so I didn’t have to overhear them.  (Can anyone say…don’t shout if you are talking on a cell phone.)  I have also been cut off by happy talkers in their cars and I have been interrupted by texts and people needing to check to see if that call was worth answering.

But that isn’t the big reason why I dislike cell phones.  The big reason is that I don’t want to be tracked down.  Sure cell phones come in handy and if there is an emergency they are a life saver but if I’m not at home, just leave a message.  I don’t need to have a conversation while I drive or as I’m pulling toilet paper off the store shelf.  I’m fine with being by myself and not having to answer questions while I’m out.  I’m perfectly happy with not being accessible 24/7.

So now that you are getting some idea just how peculiar I am, I should probably get down to the reason for my little ramble (or was that rant) about cell phones.

Just last week, the Toronto Public Health Advisory recommended that children under the age of 8 should not use cell phones, unless in cases of emergency.  They also went on to saying that teens should also limit their cell phone use to 10 minutes at a time.  – cbc news, July 12, 2008

This isn’t to say that cell phones are bad for them but since there is little known about the effects of long term cell phone use, teens and children should take extra precautions when using them.

So, I thought I would mention it on That Parent Place and open it up for discussion.  What do you think about cell phones?  Do you think children should have them, even as young as 8 or do you think they should be much older?

I see the benefit of security and knowing where your kids are with a cell phone but there are as many pro’s as there are con’s when it comes to children and cell phones.  And more importantly, do you feel cell phones will have long term health effects on our children.

Please let me know what you think.

Sirena Van Schaik

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