Kiddie Cell Phones Get a Negative Reaction

Kiddie Cell Phones Get a Negative Reaction

July 28, 2005

After the release of the new kiddie cell phones, a group of children advocates accused cell phone makers of declaring "open season" on U.S. children and asked Congress to investigate the hot marketing trend. Advocated include child entertainer Raffi and political activist Phyllis Schlafly joined Commercial Alert, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, by starting a letter writing campaign.

The letters state, "The targeting of young children as the next growth market for the telecom industry is one of the worst ideas to appear in the American economy in a long time. Despite the industry's rhetoric, Disney and the telecommunications companies really want to use children as conduits to their parents' wallets, and marketers want another way to bypass parents and speak directly to the nation's children" through telemarketing, text message marketing and adver-games.

The letters continue by stating, "Does anyone really believe that kids today lack sufficient distractions from their school work, that there are insufficient disruptions in the home, and that child predators and advertisers lack sufficient means of access to kids?"

Many consumers feel that the new cell phones are a safety device but the group would like congress to investigate whether adults besides the parents could call the phone or if other adults could track the physical location of the child's phone. Other concerns include classroom distractions and health concerns for the child.

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