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Japan to Launch Initiative to Limit Teen Cell Phone Use

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 00:25 CDT

The Japanese government has approved an initiative that warns parents to limit the use of cell phones by children, who officials fear are becoming addicted to the Internet-linked mobile devices.   

The program was established amid concerns that elementary and junior high school students are spending long hours exchanging mobile email, surfing the Web and even being lured into cyber crimes, said Masaharu Kuba, who leads the program.   
 
The Japanese education ministry says about one in three Japanese sixth graders have mobile phones, while 60 percent of ninth graders have them. Most mobile phones in Japan are sophisticated devices that provide high-speed Internet access called 3G, for "third-generation”.

"Japanese parents are giving cell phones to their children without giving it enough thought," he told the Associated Press .

"In Japan, cell phones have become an expensive toy."

The recommendations were established by an education reform panel, and then submitted to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration, which approved the measures this week.

The panel is also requesting Japanese cell phone makers to develop mobile devices with only the talking function and global positioning system (GPS), a satellite-navigation feature with safety applications.  The panel also said better Internet filtering is required to protect children.

Some children spend hours each day emailing their friends. Indeed, a current trend among children is the “30 minute rule”, in which children who don’t reply to e-mail within 30 minutes are targeted for ridicule by classmates.

And although Japan has a relatively low crime rate compared to other industrialized nations, Kuba said other children have become the victims of cyber crimes.   He recalled one case in which children had sent pictures of themselves to a Web site and later received threats for money.

Cell phones tend to be more personal tools than computers, Kuba said, and parents increasingly struggle to monitor how their children are using the devices. Typically, parents pay about 4,000 yen ($39) per child each month for mobile phone service. Some parents rely on cell phones to keep in constant communication with their children as they commute long distances to school by bus or train.

Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports

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