December 15, 2004
Young and mobile - should we be worried?
How young is too young? That's the question being asked in the wake of claims from child advocates that the trend of promoting technology to tots has gone too far, reports The New Zealand Herald.
"The criticism follows a new Telecom advertising campaign featuring pre-schoolers boasting they have mobile technology faster and flasher than everyone else. And in the build-up to Christmas, there's the Barbie doll who texts.
The latest campaigns have raised concerns among children's advocates, who say they fear the psychological damage new technology can have on children.
MP Sue Kedgely, who is pushing for a code of conduct to prevent companies like Telecom and Vodafone from targeting children, said using pre-schoolers to sell cellphones and glamourising mobiles through toys was "appalling".
"It's exploiting children to make money. It's normalising and glamourising five-year-olds having cellphones," she said.
Related articles:
-- We won't sell to under-10s Virgin Mobile has broken ranks with the $11 billion mobile phone industry by vowing not to target children younger than 10 in its marketing, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
-- How Young Is Too Young For A Mobile Phone? - Mike Masnick for Techdirt comments on a NY Times article on young mobile subscribers and how phone companies have been targeting their marketing dollars down into the pre-teen age range.
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