Cellphones and Pre-Adolescent Children
Helping Parents Make More Informed Decisions on Cellphones and their Children
Audience Analysis
Cellphones are everywhere in today’s
society. They are an important tool that
can help with communication but also can a downside and cause many distractions
with our youth. Our group is focusing on
helping parents understand more about cellphones and the effects they can have
on their children. Our target audience in this paper is Kevin and Shauna
Schollars. However the information we wish to share with them can apply to all
parents who are thinking of giving their children cellphones.
Audience Breakdown
The Schollars family lives in Boise
Idaho; they have four children, Nathan 21, Nicole 18, Alyssa 10, and David 7. Nathan is on a LDS mission in Canada, Nichole
is currently attending Utah State University, Alyssa is a fourth grader at a
private school known as Challenger, and David, the youngest, also attends this
same school. We picked the Schollars because they have led privileged
lives. They have the have the best of both
worlds. They have children who have had cell phones and they (Schollars
parents) are also experienced cell phone users. But also some of their children have not yet
had cell phones, meaning that they are still impressionable with opportunity to
inform them on this subject. The Schollars Parents understand that there are
certain risks that are involved with giving cellphones to their children. As a
result they have certain guidelines for their children on concerning cellphone
usage. For example they will be restricted to use their cell phones only at certain
times. We share the same assumptions that the Schollars do, that although
cellphones have many positive aspects such as safety, learning responsibility,
and staying connected, they also have many negative aspects. Some of the major
drawbacks of cellphones could include but are not limited to: sexting,
cyberbullying, and major distractions in school. This is why, like the
Schollars, we make assumptions that certain limitations need to be placed on cell
phones to help keep the children safe. However, the Schollars Parents are more
experienced when parenting than we are and one of the problems we may face is
sharing relevant information about cell phone use with them. For this reason the
information we present to them and needs to be exact, accurate and it needs to apply
specifically to their particular needs at this time. Both Kevin and Shauna
Schollars as parents are both well educated with higher degrees. Kevin Schollars has a Masters degree in
business and Shauna has an associate in nursing. Because of their education we
will need to be formal and use credible sources that will be a significant resource
to them. Also because Mr. Schollars is a business major we will need to address
his concerns concisely, efficiently, and in a straightforward manner with our research
and information.
Also as specified above, our audience
will not just be just the Schollars Parents but all parents who are
contemplating giving their children cellphones. Due to the fact that there may
be a wide range of educational differences we will need to use simple yet
educated language in our presentations.
Ultimately the choice on when to give a cellphone will lie solely with
the parents, and we will need to become very well informed on the subject to
avoid them not listening to us because of our lack of knowledge.
Audience Attitudes
The Schollars Parents and those parents
like them may be willing to listen to us because we are a generation raised
with technology and have had general experience with cell phones and their use.
So although we may not be experts on the topic we have some prior knowledge on
the use of cell phones, which would make us intermediately knowledgeable. Also the Schollars parents have children our
age so they may be willing to listen to what we have to say. Parents of
children who do not have cell phones may listen to what we have to say if we
are up front about not being experts on the topic, as well as sharing relevant
personal experience and credible research. For those parents who have already
decided, based on previous experience with cell phones, at what age they are
going to give their kids cell phones, it may seem like the different points of
view we have to offer are insignificant and irrelevant. But that is why we will bring new information
to the table that will help the Schollars parents, as well as those like them,
understand more about this subject. We realize that because we are not as
educated as those we are addressing we will be using different articles, study
journals, personal interviews, all these different resources in order to inform
our audience. Recognizing that we do not have a lot of experience with the
subject at hand we may not be as credible as we would like. Therefore we will be
using sources from those who are experienced. We will be using personal experiences
of other parents, different studies from known institutions (ex. universities,
research facilities, child development institutions, credible doctors,
researchers, psychologists, etc.) along with different statistical
analysis. This will overcome our lack of
knowledge and experience.
Another item that may arise is where we
stand on the ladder of authority with our target audiences. The Schollars are
definitely higher on the authority ladder, as they are educated parents and
hold ultimate authority that comes to issues involving their children. Nevertheless there are others in our secondary
audience that could very well our equal or below us. For example parents who
are younger than us, or parents who are around the same age as us.
Due to the fact that our approach will
be unbiased and supported by evidence, the audience should be relatively
receptive to what we have to say. We will not try to lecture them; we are attempting
to be informative. As stated above we
will not just stating our own opinions what is best for thier children and
family but we will be using sources from credible researches, doctors, and well
informed sources from higher education that really understand this topic. These
credible resources will be people with specialty interest in these fields of
study. We will offer such information as what is the best age to give a child a
cellphone, some effects that cellphones can have on the pre-adolescent, and
that certain cell phones that may be more suitable for younger ages and also guidelines
that could be instituted in order to keep children safe. All our information will be aimed at helping
the Schollars Parents as well as all parents make a more informed decision
about cellphones and their children.
History of Cell Phones
When the cell phone was first
invented, in 1973, it was roughly the size of a brick and had little capacity
beyond calling other people. The phone was unavailable for the general public
until the year 1983. The phones name is
the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. The phone
was readily available only in the sales and business world (Maples). These phones allowed many people to talk with
other people at any convenient moment.
Martin Cooper, the creator of the first Motorola phone explained that "people want to talk to other people - not a
house, or an office, or a car. ...people will demand the freedom to communicate
wherever they are ..." (Maples). As the advancement in
technology increased so did the efficiency of the cell phone with size, user
friendliness, and accessibility. We came to today’s modern smartphone when the
original smartphone was invented in 1993. Later, came the development of the
cellphone camera, the blackberry integrated phone, then the IPhone which
branched into the variants that exist today (5 Major Moments). The enticing new
features that were created with each new phone provided a new level of
productivity and use, but also created more potential problems.
Benefits:
Parents have many reasons to provide
their children with cell phones. Amanda
Young, a senior at Utah State University studying Finance explained that she
received a phone to allow her parents much easier communication between her and
her mother. She described that she would
call her parents when she would have to stay at school for extracurricular
activities like choir and theater (Young).
Quick communication with children appeals greatly to many parents. Another appealing feature of a cell phone is
the GPS built into each phone. This GPS
allows a parent to know the location of their child at any given moment.
The benefits are not only helpful
for a parent to communicate with their child, but also for the children. With the development of smartphones, children
gained access to the greatest library for research, the internet. Through the development of applications, a
child can also carry many books and text in one small device.
Problem: Tool to Cause
Harm to Self and Others
Phones have
become great tools in this day and age, but with the rise to these tools, an
increase in risks and problems have arisen.
These problems include poor social skills, behavior problems in school,
technology addictions, cheating, sexting, and cyber-bullying. In schools the use of cell phones can cause a
distraction to students as well as the teacher. Through various studies, cell
phone use has been shown to factor lower grade point averages of students
(Frequent Cell Phone Use). A child can
have their feelings hurt so easily through cyber-bullying, intentional or
not. As applications have been developed
to allow children to access many texts and useful information, many games and
other distracting applications have been developed. Each of these distractions can easily take a
child’s attention away from more important requirements of their time.
Cellphones
can cause many problems in many different places. As mentioned before, the classroom is
dominated with the problems of cellphone abuse.
However, there are many other places where a phone is just as big of a
distraction. Cellphones, when used in a
group setting, can cause many children to develop the aforementioned bad social
skills. Many times, stories are told of
two or more teenage youth texting each other while sitting next to each
other. Another growing problem with
cellphones and children is the effects of cyberbullying. Smart Phones provide
easier access to social media. In this day and age, social media connects
everybody to where negative interactions with people in person translate into
negative interactions over social media. It evolved from bullying in the
classroom to cyberbullying everywhere.
“Everybody in O'Fallon knows how you are. You
are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The
world would be a better place without you."(Pokin) These were the words
posted on 13-year-old Megan Meier’s my-space wall just before she committed
suicide by hanging herself in her closet. Megan fell victim to cyber bullying,
which can take place not only on the internet, but on cell phones through text
messaging, social networks, phone calls, and sexting. Unfortunately, this is
not the only problem for adolescents that may stem from cell phones.
Cell phones can act as a distraction and
a cheating device in school, inhibit development of certain social skills, and
become an addiction. However, the results of adolescents having cell phones are
not always negative. A cell phone may act as a means of communication for
parents to make sure their kids are safe. Cell phones also allow kids to stay
socially connected with friends.
Parents have tried to reduce adverse
effects of cell phones on their children in a variety of ways. By limiting the
amount of texts children may send a month, as well as monitoring the texts
sent, parents can be more aware of the ways children use their phones and
prohibit inappropriate use. In an article written by family physician, Dr. Sax,
he quotes Sherriff Judd in The Wall Street Journal who shared an account of
parents who, after learning that their daughter was involved with sexting, put
a monitor on her phone that allowed them to view all of her pictures (Sax).
Some parents who choose to give their child a smart phone monitor which
websites the child may visit. We interviewed a girl by the name of Amanda who
received a cell phone at the age of 15 and said her family even set times of
the day such as school and night time where cell phone use is simply not
allowed (Young). So, how can parents ensure that children avoid consistently
the risks that come with owning a cell phone but still receive fully the
benefits? What limits should be set on how and when a child uses a cell phone?
Parents can help reduce the negative impact a cell phone can have on their
children by setting guidelines for their children’s cell phone use based on
studies on the effects of cell phones as well as what they know about the
specific child. For instance, in some families there is only one parent and the
kids are home alone a lot so a cell phone may be necessary for safety purposes,
where as in another family the kids could have a stay home parent and it may
not be necessary.
We propose that before deciding when and
how to make cell phones accessible to children, parents study the positive and
negative effects of cell phones because cell phones can seriously influence a
child’s development. Specifically it is important for parents to consider at
what age they plan to allow the child a cell phone. “Gary Small, a professor of
psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and co-author of iBrain” says “
there’s a huge developmental leap between fourth and eighth grades… our brains
evolved to communicate face to face. A lot of this is lost with texting”
(Rochman). Parents may also want to consider what their child is allowed to do
on their phone, such as: who children are permitted to communicate with, what
applications they may download, and what Internet sources they can use. And
last, parents, like mentioned previously, may even consider setting a time
limit for how long and when a cell phone may be used.
Children’s Development
Due to the fact that cell phones can
both harm the development of children as well as be significantly constructive
to a child’s development, it is imperative that parents come to fact-based
opinions on the conditions of their adolescent’s cell phone use. Some toxic
influences that cell phones can enable consist of the child being exposed to
cyber bullying, sexting, addiction to the phone itself, deterioration of social
skills, and distraction in school. According to a study by the Pew Internet and
American Life Project, “26% of teens have been harassed through their mobile
phone either by calls or text messages.” (Thomas) A child who is bullied often
experiences extreme lack of self-confidence during a period of time where that
child is developing into the person they will become. As recounted by a recent
article from the Brigham Young University
Education and Law Journal, one girl, who was a sophomore in high school,
sent a nude picture of herself to her senior boyfriend who then proceeded to
show it to his friends in class (Mayers and Desidiero). This goes to show that
the individual sending the sext won’t be exposed to just one person. In fact,
there is no limit. Addiction to
technology is a struggle that many individuals face. The natural tendency to
pull out a cell phone and check a social media site because everyone else is
preoccupied with his or her cell phone is a common occurrence. Dr. Lisabeth Saunders
Medlock, PhD, CLC from South University displayed the idea that people are so addicted
to their cell phones that they form a habit of checking their devices on a
consistent basis of five minutes in fear of missing out on a new update (Jerpi).
This preoccupation with the phone leads to the idea of depleting social skills
across the spectrum of phone users. It is easier for people to get caught up in
the act of constantly using their cell phones for entertainment rather than
interacting with the people around them. From personal experience as a
teenager, Maria Sorensen has hung out with a group of people where friends that
were a mere two feet away from each other were having a deep conversation
through texting rather than talking face to face. Cell phones can cause a major
disturbance to the learning environment of a class. According to Common-Sense
Media, a study done in 2010 reported that “one-third of high school students
admitted using cell phones to cheat.” (Thomas and McGee) How are kids supposed
to learn what they need to from class if they are finding information off their
phones instead of learning it?
Positive Aspects of Cellphones
On the other hand, cell phones provide
safety to individuals, a means for communication, and an advanced learning
tool. Parents in general find it reassuring to have immediate knowledge of
where their child is at through the push of a button. Having the ability to
know this can be beneficial to families who have parents that work and so
cannot be with their kids all day, or for kids who have a busy after school
schedule and need to be able to communicate with their family. USA Today
Magazine took a poll in 1993 that found that 91% of Americans felt safer having
a cell phone (USA Today Magazine). Like mentioned before each child is
different and so in some circumstances it may be necessary for an adolescent to
have a phone for safety reasons. Todd Starkweather, the director of the general
studies program at South University Richmond said, “it helped him to stay more
connected to family and friends than he was in the past. He remembers the days
before mobile phones when it wouldn’t seem like a long time to go eight hours
not hearing from close friends or family members.” This goes to show that
staying connected with the people in our lives has become easier than ever. Due
to the fact that talking often with the people we know over the phone has
become such an integral part of our society, it could even be detrimental to a
person to not have a cell phone. A majority of their friends will likely have
one and in order to stay up to speed on what their friends are doing a cell
phone may be necessary. A final perk of owning a cell phone is the learning
opportunity it provides. “ Students have reported that cell phones allow them
to multitask by giving them the ability to access course material, conduct
research via the Internet, and communicate with peers and teachers in what
would otherwise be dead time” (Thomas and McGee). Overall, a cell phone may
contribute to communication for safety purposes; help a child develop
friendships as well as aid an adolescent’s learning.
What we suggest fervently is that
parents ought to set specific guidelines for the terms on which their children
have cell phones, because while phones can influence a child for the better,
they can also harm a child’s development. Some people, however, may feel that
the strict monitoring of cell phone use inhibits children from learning to have
independence and exercising personal judgment. This is a valid point. We would
not want for children to blindly follow their parent’s judgment and not know of
the risks that they can run in to with improper use of their cell phones. It is
important for children to learn to use proper judgment. However, if parents
explained to their children why they had the rules they did about cell phone
use, children could then use their agency to either keep to those rules or not.
Learning to be independent not only means making decisions for one’s self, but
also learning to keep to certain rules of society, and kids could learn the
importance of having guidelines that they must follow when using their
cellphones.
Regarding decisions made about children
and cell phones, what exactly is at stake? Ultimately, it is the development of
that child. At first reading, this may seem extreme, but the cell phone has
evolved in to a prevalent member of society’s family, and like any family
member the cell phone may dramatically impact your child. We implore that you,
as parents, take an active role in your child’s development and sincerely
contemplate your adolescent’s individual circumstances when deciding the rules
surrounding the use of the cell phone.
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Laura. “Mobile Phones and Society- How Being Constantly Constantly Connected
Impacts Our Lives.” South Source A
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Maples, Gareth. "The History of Cell
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Mayers,
R. Stewart, and Desiderio, Mike F. “NOT LOL: LEGAL ISSUES ENCOUNTERED DURING
ONE HIGH SCHOOL”S RESPONSE TO SEXTING.” Brigham
Young University Education & Law Journal 1 (2013): 1-19. Print
Pokin,
Steve. “Megan Meier Foundation. Megan Meier Foundation, 13 Nov. 2007. Web. 22
Feb. 2014.
Rochman,
Bonnie. “Too Young to Text.” American
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Sax,
Leonard. “Blame Parents, Not Kids, for Sexting. “ Wall Street Journal 25 Oct. 2013 [New York, New York] , eastern ed.: A15. Print.
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Young,
Amanda. Personal interview. 18 Feb. 2014.
