New mobile phone targeted at four-year-olds

Do little kids really need a mobile phone? A company called OwnFone thinks so - and is launching the 1stFone so parents can always contact their children.

"But experts warned the '1stFone', which costs £55 and is available on a contract or pay as you go basis, risks playing on parents' fears of abduction and represents a worrying commercialisation of children. Concerns have also been raised about the health implications for very young children using mobile phones," says The Daily Telegraph.

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Reply 1

Martyn*

Every human being is fast becoming a commodity in today's society. There is nothing to be done to reverse this trend I don't think.

Reply 2

Hanvyj

Parents give kids their phones to shut them up/keep them occupied.

It's no different to giving them a dummy or a rattle or any other toy other than the 'health implications', the only thing of which I could think of is eyesight.

Parents don't really want to hand their £500 iphone to a toddler though. It would be idiotic for a company not to see this market for some kind of 'phone' for a kid to use. In the past kids had plastic toy phones, now the will have plastic toy phones with a screen... Technology advances - it hardly represents a deep shift in society towards materialism...

Two thousand years ago someone would probably have carved their 4 year old a little wooden horse to shut the damn thing up. Does this mean little children were being perverted into a material world of horse-riding prematurely?

£55 isn't even that expensive for a toy nowadays.

Reply 3

Caity13

Do phones work for us, or are we slaves to technology?

I would never give a child that young a phone. Children already grow up too fast (just listen to some of the things 11-12 year olds shout on school buses nowadays about sex, drugs etc) with enough make-up and short skirts to make a Vegas wannabe feel inadequate. By giving them phones even younger, you make them feel 'grown up' when they should be still playing with toys and using crayons. It's a dangerous slope.

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Reply 4

balloon_parade

Original post by shooks

Do little kids really need a mobile phone? A company called OwnFone thinks so - and is launching the 1stFone so parents can always contact their children.

It's not like they are ever going to be on their own or out of sight is it? They will always be with someone else who you could contact. By the time they ARE on their own they will not want this phone!

I think people might buy it for the novelty value but ultimately it will just be another gadget that gathers dust in the junk draw.

Reply 5

Darth Stewie

I don't see the problem with it, if the child is over at a friends house or at school parents can get in contact with them or vice versa. The phone basically only has the ability to call so there are no worries about kids accessing things on the internet they shouldn't or being distracted with any of the other features found on "grown up" mobiles.

Reply 6

Bluffroom

Seems a bit excessive - I personally wouldn't give them it, they'd probably lose it too

Reply 7

Caity13

Original post by Darth Stewie

Not being funny, but most of us grew up without this, and we're fine. Our parents knew where we were and how to contact our friends parents if we were at a sleepover. It's just another way for parents to restrict their children's freedom and independence.

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Reply 8

Snagprophet

It's a dumb idea. What happens if they phone the police constantly? There's no need for this, Give them a ****ing toy phone and grow the **** up instead of being dumb parents like Jerry and Kate McCann were, who didn't give a **** about their kids.

Reply 9

hslakaal

I'm grateful my parents didn't get me laptop till I was in college, and not a phone till I was doing GCSEs.

Clearly, I'm not dead, nor developed an extra arm, and hence I don't think kids need them.

Though, if they live in an isolated area, say in some farmland or something, then maybe it could be worth one.

Reply 10

Caity13

Original post by hslakaal

Even in isolated areas, we have landlines, and if your child is staying at a friend's house it's your responsibility to be able to contact the friend's parents. Also, a child that age (4-5) shouldn't need a mobile because they shouldn't be anywhere without their parent or another responsible older figure.

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Reply 11

hslakaal

Original post by Caity13

Nah. I mean something more along the lines of open plains/forest. To be honest, I think the GPS trackers bracelets are better than the phones if a parent is really worried. Would be much more beneficial in finding a kid than a kid telling their parents they're near X.

Kids do sometimes go missing, even if a parent is near them, and I can see the point in having some sort of device, but not necessarily for 55 whole pounds.

Reply 12

cakefish

Too young! I can barely remember being 4 years old. I mean, really? I didn't get my 1st phone 'till I was 12!

Reply 13

g_star_raw_1989

Why not just glue a baby monitor to their gobs.

Reply 14

username1135580

Original post by shooks

Do little kids really need a mobile phone? A company called OwnFone thinks so - and is launching the 1stFone so parents can always contact their children.

Who lets the 4 year old out of their sites?
I got my first phone at 8. And that was because I was going to Australia

Reply 15

Jina

Original post by MattFletcher

Who lets the 4 year old out of their sites?
I got my first phone at 8. And that was because I was going to Australia

Really?! I got my first phone a few months before my 16th! :redface:

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Reply 16

username1135580

Original post by Jina

Really?! I got my first phone a few months before my 16th! :redface:

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haha, I had like the most basic thing ever though! Not even bluetooth! Just calls people, so If something happened (given the size of Sydney) then I'd be okay! :tongue:

Reply 17

`Jts

When I was 4, I used to run around the playground pretending that I was a car. I had no interest in texting, OR EVEN KNOWING WHAT TEXTING ACTUALLY WAS! Also, how will a 4 year old use a phone?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 18

username91207

Ridiculous idea. Children that young should not be anywhere without an adult so why is this needed?

I work with 4-year-olds, I know what they're like. They'll think it's funny to call mummy every 5 minutes while she's at work just to say hello. They won't understand "you mustn't use this unless it's important" - they aren't old enough to judge what's important and what's not! "Important" at this age is "Jack took my toy away" or "Abigail isn't sharing with me". Can you imagine as a parent, getting a call from your child every ten minutes to tell you their friends aren't sharing the crayons?

All in all, just no.

Reply 19

Science97

It's bad enough teenagers being addicted to their phones ; its as if their hand is the negative end of a magnet and their phone is the positive end.....It really worries me that this new phone could result in a breed of 4 year phone addicts who don't know how to communicate with each other outside of a text or email !