Kids' 'teddy bear phone' sparks health row
/v3-uk/news/1973221/kids-teddy-bear-phone-sparks-health-row
29 Nov 2005, Ken Young , V3
A mobile phone, shaped like a small teddy bear and designed to make it easy for parents to stay in touch with young children, was launched today amid a health row.
The phone, aimed at 4 to 10 year-olds, has no screen and only four buttons that can be pre-programmed by parents. These include an emergency ‘SOS’ button that the child can press when in distress which automatically phones one parent’s mobile.
But critics claim that the phone is a health hazard for young children, citing Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, who advised parents earlier this year to discourage the use of mobile phones by children under eight as a precaution against potential health risks.
The Mobile Operators Association has also supported this position.
Paul Liesching, MD of maker Teddyfone, rejects such criticism, saying that the rate at which the body absorbs energy from the handset is too low to do any harm. The Teddyfone has a specific absorption rate, is 0.16w/kg - close to the lowest available. Most mobiles have SAR values of 0.4 to 0.7w/kg.
He also says that research indicates that 25 per cent of seven to 10-year-olds already own mobiles. He believes that it would be preferable if parents gave their children the Teddyfone because it stops them from being able to receive malicious text messages as it has no screen.
John Carr, technology advisor to children’s charity NCH, said: “I feel like King Canute. It’s inevitable really. Parents will want to buy this whether it really serves its purpose or not. I think kids in the older bracket will think it's naff, but maybe it's useful for the younger ones – the problem is they shouldn’t really be out of the sight of their parents anyway.”
“On the health front the industry is against mobiles being sold to children and this comes very close to selling to children, but it is not a normal phone so they won’t be using it much so the health risks may be minimal. The scientific community is divided.”
The makers point out that it also includes the innovation of a child monitor option that allows concerned parents to listen in to what is happening around their child, and the option of a child locator service that sends parents a map of where their son or daughter is, on request, for 50p.
The handset and two years' line rental are free. Calls are charged at
standard rates.
But launching such a phone appears to be something of a high risk venture. Last
year British firm Communi8 lost about £500,000 after launching Mymo, a mobile
for under-eights. It withdrew the product in light of health warnings.
Do you agree?
Another Step Too Far
I am absolutely gobsmacked by the callous disregard for the health of children by TeddyFones who are obviously eager to make a quick profit.
There is ample independent research evidence in existance to prove to any sane adult that Mobile Phone technology can and does cause harm to people in the form of cancer, sleep disorders, depression and other potentially life-threatening conditions.
Below, I add quotes from Sir William Stewart (from the Stewart Reports), the Department of Health and even from the Mobile Operators' Association. They all agree with me that marketing a phone specifically aimed at children is totally irreponsible.
Sir William Stewart, Chairman of the UK's Health Protection Agency:-
"Sir William, the Government?s leading adviser on radiation, said in January that children under nine should not use mobiles and that those aged nine to 14 should make only short, essential calls.
He said: ?When it comes to suggesting that mobile phones should be available to three- to eight-year-olds, I can?t believe for a moment that can be justified.
?My advice is that they should not have them because children?s skulls are not fully thickened, their nervous systems are not fully developed and the radiation penetrates further into their brains.?
Published research suggests that a child?s brain absorbs 50-70 per cent more of the emissions from a mobile phone than an adult?s."
Department of Health Advice (from
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPAmpGBrowsableDocument/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4096763&MULTIPAGE_ID=4904067&chk=nqU0CU ):-
"Children and young people under 16
Mobile phones are very popular with young people and have obvious attractions for personal security and keeping in touch with others. Parents and young people should make their own informed choices about the use of mobile phones. The current balance of evidence does not show health problems caused by using mobile phones. However the research does show that using mobile phones affects brain activity. There are also significant gaps in our scientific knowledge.
Because the head and nervous system are still developing into the teenage years, the expert group considered that if there are any unrecognised health risks from mobile phone use, then children and young people might be more vulnerable than adults.
The expert group has therefore recommended that in line with a precautionary approach, the widespread use of mobile phones by children (under the age of 16) should be discouraged for non-essential calls. In the light of this recommendation the UK Chief Medical Officers strongly advise that where children and young people do use mobile phones, they should be encouraged to:
* use mobile phones for essential purposes only
* keep all calls short - talking for long periods prolongs exposure and should be discouraged
The UK CMOs recommend that if parents want to avoid their children being subject to any possible risk that might be identified in the future, the way to do so is to exercise their choice not to let their children use mobile phones."
even the Mobile Operators' Association said:-
"The companies we represent don't market their products to under-16s, as recommended by Sir William Stewart. We believe that is a responsible policy and is in line with the advice on health."
For a downloadable summary of Independent Research (in PDF format) available on a website I help to update go to nomasts dot org .
Posted by Martin Sharp, 30 Nov 2005
Better this than conventional phones
No-one is disputing that radiation penetrates more deeply into children?s brains, but the medical community has yet to prove it unequivocally harmful. The government?s and mobile phone industry?s recommendations are based on the precautionary principle, not concrete evidence. Until the medical community can provide empirical evidence that there is a high risk posed by even short duration use, many parents are going to judge that the benefits of phone ownership outweigh the risks - a decision that they are perfectly entitled to make. That being the case, there is nothing wrong with designing and marketing a phone that will minimise the risk. There are over a million children in the age bracket in question whose parents allow them to own phones, and it is unquestionably better for them to have a low-radiation model which cannot be used casually, than a conventional model. History has proven quite conclusively that cynical but realistic strategies of risk minimisation inevitably are much more effective than idealistic but completely unrealistic attempts to eliminate the risk completely.
Posted by Simon Ball, 24 Aug 2006
bear and phone together
in japan, they've combined a teddy bear and mobile phone into one..
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/japans-kuma-teddy-bear-mobile-phone/
Posted by angus, 03 Dec 2008