Communication key to mobile phone safety

Children of "Generation X" parents could perhaps be called "Generation Text" - with mobile phone usage and text messaging at an all-time high.

The problem is that many parents know less about the technology than their children, so are unaware of the risks their children face.

"When you hear about so many young children now getting access [to mobile phones], we've all got to be more aggressive in protecting the little ones," Internet Safety Group director Liz Butterfield said.

There are risks and benefits with mobile phones. On the positive side they are an effective safety device, offering children a way to contact parents quickly, she said.

"But ... many parents are not aware of what else the phones can link kids to; for instance, text chatrooms - which you do not need internet access on a phone to be able to get to," she said.

Other safety issues are raised by the features on some phones, such as digital cameras.

"A lot of children are unaware of having their photo taken, and then [the photo] can be easily misused," Ms Butterfield said.

It could be posted on a bullying website or distributed to classmates in a harassing way - bearing a message such as "isn't she ugly?".

Once pictures were "out there" they could fall into the wrong hands, which could be very unsafe for children, she said.

Some phones have a global positioning (GPS) feature, which can potentially be used inappropriately to track the bearer.

Bullying and harassment were big concerns and could take a number of forms, including inappropriate distribution of phone numbers, Ms Butterfield said.

"We dealt with a case where somebody in a class had posted a message on a message board saying, 'Here's so and so's phone number', and the kind of sexual acts they were interested in performing - which puts the child whose name and number were passed around in quite an unsafe situation."

Bombarding somebody with text messages was another form of bullying, Ms Butterfield said.

"Even if the messages themselves are what you might think on the surface are fairly mild like 'you're really ugly' - if you get that 100 times a day it can be as devastating as if somebody threatened your life."

Most bullying was done by peers, with the anonymity afforded by mobile phones prompting children to engage in bullying behaviour when they would not do it face to face, she said.

British research from 2002 revealed one in four kids experienced bullying and almost a thirdtold no one.

The last New Zealand survey was also done "eons ago" in 2002, Ms Butterfield said.

"We asked the 11- to 19-year-olds in that survey about mobile phone use and 46 per cent had their own mobiles at that point - so you can imagine what it is now.

"In addition, 25 per cent were using those mobiles to interact with people they didn't know - which is an important thing for parents to understand. It is not all close friends and family."

Traditional "stranger danger" messages fell on deaf ears because through these technologies children quickly saw strangers as "trusted friends".

With so many risks, what can be done to protect technology-mad youngsters?

The Telecommunications Carriers' Forum (TCF) - of which Telecom and Vodafone are members - last month announced it will develop a code of practice on the inappropriate use of mobile technologies.

The move was prompted by October's closure of Vodafone's mobile chatroom, Teenzone, after it was infiltrated by men as old as 38 trying to meet girls as young as 13 for sex.

TCF chairman Malcolm Alexander said the inappropriate use of mobile phones was an important public issue.

Telecom would submit a project proposal to the forum board and once this was approved, a working party would be set up to develop the code, he said.

"Such a code would cover issues such as access to adult content over mobile phones and the predatory use of mobile phones to contact teenagers or children."

Telecom spokesman John Goulter said the forum would look overseas to see what other countries were doing.

Ms Butterfield said Britain was a step ahead of New Zealand in that it already had a voluntary code of practice for mobile phone providers.

"For text chat over in Britain you need to register for the service in a store, where there can be a kind of visual identification and then further ID can be provided," she says.

"In New Zealand you are simply asked online 'are you over 18?' and gosh, guess what they say!"

Ms Butterfield hopes the code will also cover the handling of adult or sexual content - likely to become more prevalent on mobile phones with new 3G (third-generation) technology.

"3G is an advanced network that is being put in that is capable of much faster and clearer transmission of images - and because the image quality is so good, it's going to bring the adult industry with it," she said.

Mr Goulter said development of the code would take about six months, and was just one part of the solution.

"It will be introduced in conjunction with a lot of education and public information so that parents and kids know exactly what they're dealing with."

While the code would put as many safeguards as possible in place, the technology could still be abused, he said.

"I think parents need to take some responsibility for how children use their phones - like they take responsibility for their kids in any other aspect of life."

Ms Butterfield said it was hard for parents to monitor the situation, with mobile phones giving kids "24-7" access.

Communication was the key.

"Parents who have said, 'My children are not allowed access to internet and mobile phones', might actually be kidding themselves.

"There are so many points of access, and we are seeing that there are actually a number of kids who own these technologies without their parents' knowledge."

Ms Butterfield said it was safer to assume children had access, then work with them on what was reasonable and appropriate, setting agreed limits.

"That way you're not denying access to the technologies, which then forces youth underground. But you're working with the kids to keep them safe, and most kids respond very positively to that," she said.

Bullying could be effectively addressed with education, helping kids understand the potential impact of their messages on others, and the consequences for them when they were caught.

"Many kids think that anonymity means you can't trace a call, which couldn't be further from the truth."

Advice for parents

Talk to your children so they understand the safety risks of mobile phones.

Switch children from the popular pre-paid option to post-paid plans, which provide a record of calls.

For more information see www.netsafe.org.nz, contact your mobile phone provider or talk to your child's school.

Source: Internet Safety Group

- NZPA