Pediatrician Shocked to See 3-Year-Old on Cell Phone

In a new blog post, Sonoma State University college professor and ecotherapist Shepherd Bliss reports on a pediatrician who was shocked to see a three-year-old using a cell phone.

"The three-year-old just walked right past me, talking into a cell phone," the Santa Rosa, CA, pediatrician said. "I was amused at first. Then I felt sad."

The "kids on cell phones" issue isn't unique to the U.S. On June 23, 2009, the UK's The Times reported that "half of British children aged 5 to 9 own a mobile phone."

So what's the problem?

Well, for starters there are are serious concerns that growing kids' health may be harmed by electromagnetic frequency emissions from cell phones.

And even if science proves these fears to be groundless (which it certainly hasn't done yet), Bliss is also worried about "the long-term consequences of young children already taking their gaze away from living people and constantly-changing nature to look down into and be captured by static machines."

He wonders "Who benefits and what is lost? What is appropriate technology use? What induces obsessive/compulsive/addictive behavior?"

Richard Louv, best-selling author of Last Child in the Woods: Healing Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder is also worried about the long-term consequences of separating our children from the rest of "live" nature. Both he and Bliss have essays in Sierra Club Books' anthology Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind, along with other experts who are equally concerned about what the separation from nature and natural living is doing to both kids and adults.

Bliss, who uses cell phones himself in moderation, believes that "The immediacy of cell phones and their push-button control can increase impatience with slower things, like the development of deep human relationships, lasting love, growing plants, and caring for animals. Cybertime creates unnatural time pressures, heightening stress and anxiety. The tools and technologies that we use are not neutral; they help shape who we become."

So what do you think? Are cell phones harmful to kids? And how old should kids be before they are allowed to use them?

You can read more of Shepherd Bliss's article here.

You can find out more about ecotherapy at www.ecotherapyheals.org and http://thoughtoffering.blogs.com/ecotherapy

Comments

[briandale]

I think giving a three-year old a cell phone to talk on is a bit extreme. The article doesn't really say, but you get the idea that the kid is quite comfortable using the device and is probably using it regularly. I do not agree with that.
In fact, it was only this summer, when my two teens went to camp, that I got them each a cell phone of their own. Another thing I do not believe in is giving kids unlimited plans on cell phones. It's not so much the cost as the fact that they might end up with addictive behavior.
We got them each a Motorola W376 on prepaid plans from Tracfone at just under $30 each (DMFL included!). The best is the fact that these have built-in cameras so we got to share in some of their camp experiences as they sent us messages on a regular basis.

[Jojoy]

I think three years old is a bit young to be using a cell phone, though it almost seems babies today are born with phones in their little hands. But kids of school age should have cell phones for safety's sake. Phone time can be limited easily by getting a prepaid plan with as many minutes as a parent thinks their kid needs. Plans like TracFone have phones that actually display how many minutes and how much time is available. It's a great way to teach kids to be conscious of how much time they spend on the phone and budget their minutes accordingly. We don't have to go phone crazy to keep our kids safe.

[OldBean]

It's just wonderful that this little tot can already communicate so well. Isn't one of the greatest problems of our society the lack of communication? She can also take pictures of trees and birds and frogs in their natural habitat and send them to her little friends so they can learn about the natural world around them.

When walking through the park she can send the lovely sounds of the birds tweeting to her friends, too.

[Dave Schock]

~Sir William Stewart of the English National Radiological Protection Board, has warned that children should only use cell phones in emergencies.

~The French government is currently acting to reduce cell phone use by children, and eliminate ads to minors.

~The Toronto Public Health's chief medical officer has advised children limit their time on cell phones.

~Germany, Belgium, Israel, Russia and India have all advised children limit their use of cell phones.

~ In Japan, an ordinance has just passed obliging parents to not to give children cell phones.

In addition:

~Multiple studies show increases in infertility (reduced sperm counts) for male cell phone users.

~Pregnant women who used cell phones, according to a UCLA study, gave birth to children with greater hyperactivity.

~A Swedish study claims a five times increase for a malignant brain tumor for people who begin using mobile phones before age 20.

~ A huge study called "Interphone" has not been released because the researchers can't agree that they are safe.

~A Wayne State study showed has shown sleep disturbances for people exposed to only three hours of cell phone radiation.

~Due to health risks, children should not use cell phones exceptin emergencies, one of the top cancer researchers in the field, Dr Robert Herberman, warned recently.

~One of the world's top brain surgeons, Mayo Clinic trained Dr Vini Gautam Khurana, has recently said that he feels cell phones will kill more humans than cigarettes.

Thank you for covering this-

[RMankovitz]

Great post, Linda. I hope readers with children pay attention.

As a co-inventor on several patent applications disclosing ways of reducing exposure of users to RF energy produced by cell phones, I have conducted a fair amount of research on the subject.

From that research, it appears that the risk of accumulated damage to brain and eye tissue may be a reality. Few people are aware that in a poor reception area, cell phones are automatically programmed to increase their RF power output by several orders of magnitude, increasing the risk of dose-dependent cell damage. See for example "Method And Apparatus For Reducing Exposure To RF Energy Produced By Portable Transmitters", US Patent Application Publication # 20080273165.

Young children would appear to be even more vulnerable to cellular damage, due to a still-developing nervous system, and less bone structure available to possibly block some of the radiation. Their smaller head size would also place the phone closer to their eyes.

Bottom line: I suggest keeping small kids away from cell phones for their physical health. For everyone else, I suggest using the speakerphone option or air powered earphones to keep the phone away from the head.

Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com

[thebigbike]

so, now what?

[thebigbike]

Too late, the horses are already out of the barn and long gone down the road, the genie is out of the bottle, the milk is spilt. ( none of which would make much sense to generation i)