Oh the French, why oh why do they have such distain for technology. The French not only banned television for kids under the age of three but now they have the audacity to take away their cell phones! I jest, have you heard a three year old on the phone? It’s a mash up of gibberish and pregnant pauses. Now that’s just a waste of your minutes. But really, on a more serious note, the concern on cell phone use and kids is not unfounded.
Researchers in Sweden discovered that children and teens are five times as likely to develop brain cancer due to mobile phone usage. Their findings lead them to believe that there may be an epidemic with young cell phone users later in life. Now regardless of my previous kidding, these findings are indeed serious.
The French, they want to keep their kid’s brains intact. They are banning all advertising of cell phones to children under the age of twelve. They will also ban all sales of cell phones designed for the under six-year-old market (which honestly, I didn’t know existed). And they will have establish new limits for phone radiation and will insist that all cell phones sold must come with earphones.
The Independent stated that the French ban is ‘unique’ :
The clampdown represents the most comprehensive action yet taken by any government worldwide. It contrasts sharply with the stance of British ministers, who have largely ignored the recommendations of an official report nine years ago that people aged under 16 should be discouraged from using mobiles, and that the industry should be stopped from promoting them to children. Since then their use by the young has almost doubled, so that nine out of 10 of the country’s 16-year-olds own a handset.
But really, what is a young kid doing with a cell phone in the first place. It’s hard to argue with that unless you lend them yours for an ‘in case of emergency’ scenario.
What do you think the youngest age a kid should get their own phone?
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