Phoning home
Jake King, 13, of Columbia Falls talks on his cell phone after school at Columbia Falls Junior High. King said his parents bought him the phone so the family could stay in touch. "I use it to talk to them and my friends," King said, adding that the only restriction his parents placed on phone use is that he not go over on his minutes. Chris Jordan/Daily Inter Lake
Professionals offer guidelines for cell-phone use with adolescents
Cell phones can provide a measure of security for both parents and adolescents, but with the convenience of instant communication comes a warning from counselors and social workers - put guidelines in place and stick to them.
"Pay attention to the maturity level of your child," cautioned Duffy Peet, a Kalispell social worker. "There's no cookbook answer to cell-phone use, but you have to know your child and attend to what's going on culturally. There are certainly lots of dangers."
Cell-phone technology may actually provide a false sense of security, noted Gary Direnfeld, a social worker with Interaction Consultants, who wrote an article called "Tethered by the Electronic Umbilicus."
"While a young child may be able to communicate more easily, no amount of technology can compensate for judgment," Direnfeld said in the article. "Kids may still place themselves at risk and communication devices provide a means for assistance only after the child may have fallen prey to harm."
Mary Lyons, a child development and training coordinator for The Nurturing Center in Kalispell, said cell phones that allow adolescents to go online come with the risk of children falling prey to predators, just as they would with unregulated Internet use.
These days, cell phones are much more than just phones - they're Web browsers, instant messengers and e-mail terminals.
"We need to have parents realize that cell phones are wonderful things to have, especially in our go-go-go society, but we need to be aware that they open up children to predators," Lyons said.
Cell phones can also create unintended consequences for young people, Peet noted. Say a teen sneaks a cell phone into a locker room and takes a picture of someone who's naked, then e-mails the photo to all of his friends via his camera phone.
"For adolescents, they think it's humorous and can't think long-term into the future about the consequences," Peet said. "Children live in the moment, not in the consequences of the future."
Mobile phones in Japan and Europe have been linked to harassment and sexual exploitation of both children and adults, according to Larry Magid, founder of an online safety project called SafeKids.Com. A study by the Japanese government showed that 30 percent of females and 37 percent of males under 20 who use cell phones had tapped into dating sites that in some cases led both girls and women into sexual encounters with men.
Lyons said that after she visited Japan she realized that America is a "close runner-up" to Japan when it comes to cell-phone use by children.
The Yankee Group, a Boston-based research group, estimates that roughly two-thirds of U.S. children between the ages of 10 and 19 already have cell phones. By the same token, more than 80 percent of Japanese high-school students have cell phones.
"This generation is just the beginning for cell-phone use," said Steve Bryson, a Whitefish counselor. "In Europe the usage is much higher.
"With children younger than teens, I don't know that they're old enough to understand" the intricacies and responsibilities that come with using a cell phone, he said.
Bryson, who has two teenage daughters, said he's been adamant about not having a cell phone, but recently made the investment in two cell phones.
"I always felt like they were capable of being abused," he said.
Bryson and his wife established some mandatory requirements for their daughters.
"They absolutely cannot drive and talk on the cell phone at the same time," he emphasized.
Bryson feels so strongly about the distraction cell phones create for drivers that he lobbied during two sessions of the Legislature for stricter laws governing the use of cell phones in vehicles.
"I think cell phones are a good thing," he said. "Here in Montana, with the weather and in the woods, it's a good safety device."
But young cell-phone users should be aware that they're not anonymous. Most cell phones have caller ID, Bryson said.
Magid addressed the caller ID issue, too, saying that "when you call or send a text message to someone, you are giving that person your phone number, which he or she can use to make harassing calls as well as to send unwanted instant messages and e-mail."
It's not uncommon for bullies to use cell phones to harass other kids, Magid noted.
Cost can be an issue, too, Bryson said. Teens who use more phone minutes than they're allowed should be prepared to pay the extra costs, which can mount up quickly. Parents should talk to their children about using the phone responsibly.
As with most issues that involve parents and their children, the bottom line for cell-phone use with teens is communication, Bryson stressed.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com