Texting Can Be Dangerous to Your Life!

August 14, 2008 on 12:00 am | In Cell Phones, Texting  Email This Post

It was a minor news item when a Barack Obama aide fell off a Chicago curb while texting on her BlackBerry.  Evidently, she is one of way too many people getting hurt as they text while doing something else at the same time.  The ability to multi-task can be a great thing, unless it’s taking attention away from where you are walking, bicycling, rollerblading, driving, cooking, and even riding a horse!

The American College of Emergency Physicians has even put out an alert, because of the rising reports from doctors around the country who are seeing injuries as a result of text-messaging “on the go.”  Two people in California have died while texting as they crossed the street, because they weren’t looking around at their surroundings before stepping off the curb.

I’ve been amazed to see bicycle riders pumping quickly around my neighborhood while either holding a cell phone to their ear or texting with one hand, while supposedly steering their bike with the other.  It’s amazing to see, but quite dangerous to do.

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Kids and Their Cell Phones

June 10, 2008 on 12:00 am | In Cell Phones, Children, Teens  Email This Post

According to the Associated Press (5/27/08) Japanese youngsters are getting so addicted to Internet-linking cell phones that the government is starting a program warning parents and schools to limit their use among children.  The government is worried about how elementary and junior high school students are getting drawn into cyberspace crimes, spending long hours exchanging mobile email, and suffering other negative effects of cell phone overuse.  The government is also asking Japanese manufacturers to develop cell phones with only the “talk” function and GPS.

Some youngsters are spending hours at night on email with their friends.  One fad is the “30 minute rule,” in which a child who doesn’t respond to email within 30 minutes gets targeted for bullying the next day.  Other children have sent in their own snapshots to a website and then ended up getting threatened for money.

The cell phone craze in America is tightly connected to the growing “disconnect” between children and their busy, busy parents who feel some false sense of security while not supervising their children simply because the phone has a GPS locator.  Parents should not, as a matter of course, be giving cell phones with Internet access to children - it is just too tempting to abuse, and it puts them at risk. 

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