Group Project

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.

Executive Summary

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.

Project Proposal

 “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.

Works Cited

"5 Major Moments in Cellphone History." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 03 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

 “Cell Phones Aid Road Safety.” USA Today Magazine Jan 1994: pg 9+. Print.

"Frequent Cell Phone Use Linked to Higher Anxiety and Lower GPA, Says New Study." PROS AND CONS. Procon.org, 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.

Jerpi, Laura. “Mobile Phones and Society- How Being Constantly Constantly Connected Impacts Our Lives.” South Source A Publication of South University June 2013, 29 ed.: Al+. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

Maples, Gareth. "The History of Cell Phones – A Vision Realized." TheHistoryOf.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

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 Academy of Pediatrics 180.9 (2012): 48-49. Print.

Sax, Leonard. “Blame Parents, Not Kids, for Sexting. “ Wall Street Journal 25 Oct. 2013 [New York, New York] , eastern ed.: A15. Print.

Thomas, Kevin, and McGee, Christy. “The Only Thing We Have to Fear is.120 Characters.” TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning 56.1 (2012): 19-33. Print.

Young, Amanda. Personal interview. 18 Feb. 2014.