October 18, 2003
Distance within families due to cell phones
Taro Matsumura on Keitai Log comments on a special report which was published in NHK, on how Japanese parents struggle with wild children.
"According to the report, with the development and penetration of cell phones and the Internet, it is becoming impossible for parents to grasp the scope of children's friendships and relationships. Therefore, it is becoming more difficult for parents to understand what their children think and worry about".
From old times when the landline phone was in the family living room, conversations shared by everyone, to cordless phones, allowing callers to speak in privacy, now cell phones take intimate calls to a new level. Parents can't trace to whom their children talk and what kinds of conversations they have on their cell phones.
Matsumura's point of view is that the issue is not that simple. Judging from the situation of his acquaintances and their families, he finds the opposite effect is emerging, which he will discuss in a second log entry. [To be continued]
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