What would you do if your children asked “Will you buy me a mobile phone?”

What would you do if your children asked “Will you buy me a mobile phone?”

If you say yes, will you have peace of mind when your children have a phone with them at all times?

There are currently about 4.3 million students between the ages of 13 and 18 in Viet Nam. Mobile phone service providers have put a lot of effort into expanding their services to demographic.

Recent offerings from the country’s popular service providers include Q-Teen by MobiFone, Teen-Talk by Vinaphone and Hi School by Viettel. All of these services are marketed towards students.

All of the companies advertise low charges for calls, extremely cheap messages and reduced fees after school hours.

MobiFone advertises they want to “travel along with young people”.

Vinaphone representatives declare that “Everyone, indiscriminate of income, will have easy access to this Vinaphone service”.

Viettel, the Viet Nam military provider, emphasises that they will help children “talk and exchange homework with family and friends”.

Most students have to depend on their parents for financial support, including money to buy a mobile phone and the extra subscription cards each month.

“Young people are potential mobile phone network clients,” says psychologist Dinh Doan. “Adults usually accept and make calls, but young people also send messages and use the other extra services in addition to traditional calls.”

According to a telecommunications expert who wishes to remain anonymous, service suppliers are looking to develop mobile phone habits among young people in order to expand their market share.

“By doing this, they will earn money from students when they use value-added services such as ring tones and sending text messages.

“Many students will even skip breakfast to buy extra-cards in order to send messages to their friends or download ring tones,” he says.

A recent survey by Viettel shows that pupils primarily use their mobile phones to send messages to classmates and download MP3 music and images.

Vietnamese law does not currently impose an age limit on mobile phone users, so parents decide whether or not to let their children use them.

Le Anh Dung from Hai Ba Trung District says he has allowed his son to use a mobile phone since he was three years old.

“He remembers dozens of phone numbers. I bought him a phone and he has his own number so he can easily contact us or we can call him anytime,” Dung says.

Ha Huy Long, a fifth-grade student in Cau Giay District, says his father cannot pick him up right on time after school.

“That’s why he bought me this mobile phone, so he can call me when he’s coming. I think the phone is very useful, and not only to contact my family. I can use it as a calculator, or to play games while waiting for my father. I only turn it on when school is out, so teachers don’t know I have a mobile phone.”

Many parents say they buy mobile phones for their children to make it easier to manage them.

But if the kids want to lie, their parents would never know.

If the kids don’t want their parents to know they’re going out, they can always turn off the phone and say the batteries had run out.

Today, mobile phones are not only used for messages and talking. For a small fee, students can watch films and get access to the internet. Many download pornographic movies and images to exchange with others. They often do this even during school hours.

In addition to psychological and social issues that could come from using a mobile phone too early, which is a concern among parents, the connection between mobile phones and cancer has been touted by many scientific organisations.

A recent announcement by the National Cancer Hospital reported that Russia’s Ministry of Health asked its government to ban mobile phone use among children under 18 years old. France is planning to ban mobile phone advertisements directed at children under 14 years old, and since 2000, the UK’s Ministry of Health has encouraged limited mobile phone use by children.

Headmaster Pham Thi Hanh, of Nghia Tan Junior Secondary School, says it is impossible to ban children from using phones.

“During meetings with parents, both the school and the parents agreed that we should limit mobile phone use at the school. But many students live far away and they need to contact their parents, so we cannot ban them.

“Moreover, there’s no law that bans students from using mobile phones. However, during class hours phone use is strictly prohibited.”

As for the parents who still want to give mobiles to their children, one good option is to stick to simple phones with minimum functions. This is more economical for parents and will also limit the children from using their phones for nefarious purposes.

VNN/VNS