Changes To Mobile Phone Use and Ownership in Aussie Kids
Recent Roy Morgan research finds that girls own their first mobile phones earlier than boys.
Children between the ages of 6-13 were surveyed, along with children 14 years and over. They found that from the age of 8-9 years old, 12% more girls than boys own mobile phones.
The survey is discussed here, and this graph is taken from this page.
Concerns About Young People Using This Technology
Apart from:
- the lack of real face-to-face social skills
- the risk of 24/7 bullying
- the fact that WHO and IARC classified radiofrequency EMF (used for wireless technology) as a possible human carcinogen
… there are numerous concerns about the use of mobile phones, particularly for the young developing/growing bodies.
Recently at the 2016 Environmental Sensitivities Symposium, Dr Mary Redmayne shared research that she did in 2009 into New Zealand ‘tweens usage of mobile phones, comparing it to nowadays. She found that many children used their phones “covertly” – inside their pockets and so forth, which can be particularly problematic in terms of the proximity to reproductive organs.
I am not going to delve into that here… merely point out ways to stay safe.
Staying Safe from Mobile Phones
I am going to add to this list:
1) Divert/forward mobile phones to your corded landline, and then turn your mobile phone off.
2) Don't hold onto your mobile phone when it is on or in use.
3) Carry your phone in a Radiation-Reducing Phone Case to reduce what you are exposed to – and ideally keep it in flight-mode while you do this.
4) Air-Tube Earphones are a better alternatives to the standard ones – but speakerphone is better still.
5) Put your mobile phone in flight mode and turn it off when it is not in use.
6) Charge it overnight – well away from bedrooms.
7) A side note – if you use a tablet – follow these steps to hardwire it, so that you don't have to use wi-fi.
Some extra tips for mobile phone safety from Environmental Health Trust:
Avoid using your cell phone when the signal is weak or when moving at high speed… as automatically power increases to emit a maximum amount of radiation because the phone repeatedly attempts to connect to each nearest network antenna.
Children should only use cell phones for emergencies. Children’s skulls are thinner than adults’ and their brains are still developing. Hence, radiation from cell phones penetrates more deeply into their brains and is likely to cause more damage.
Avoid using your cell phone in metal contained spaces like a car, elevator, bus, train or airplane.
Protect your fertility. This radiation has been shown to damage sperm and the ovaries. Many people move the phone away from their head to reduce exposure but down to their torso forgetting that a cell phone or laptop to the abdomen results in higher radiation absorption to the reproductive organs.
Read your cell phone manual to find the minimum distance the federal government recommends that your cell phone must be kept away from your body. Keeping it closer than the designated distance can result in a violation of the FCC Exposure Limit. Exceeding FCC levels is proven to result in burns, sterility, and brain damage. Learn more about fine print instructions at ShowTheFinePrint.Org.
Remember that these “minimum distances” in the cell phone manuals do not protect you from nonthermal effects such as sperm damage, damaged brain cells and increased brain cancer risk. Federal guidelines are set thousands of times too high to protect from these “nonthermal” effects from long term low level cumulative exposures.
Special Note if You're Pregnant It is especially important for those who are pregnant to reduce cell phone exposures because research has shown cell phone radiation can damage to the brain and reproductive system in developing pregnancies. To learn more, please go to the Baby Safe Project.
