Youth, Cellphones and "Freedom"

We've all heard the musings about how technology is changing our culture - for better or for worse.

The Standard Talking Points

The Cons:

• Distracted drivers (legislation is already in place, or on the way, in many jurisdictions in N. America)
• The rudeness of people talking loudly on their phones in public places (no, I don't want to hear about your sister's divorce issues while on public transit)
• The health impacts of extended cell phone use (our brains as super-antennas?)
• Environmental impact (phones become passe faster than any other technology out there - meaning more waste in e-recycling facilities or in regular old landfills)

The Pros:

• I can check my email anywhere!
• I can be reached in case of emergency
• I can reach you in the event of a castastrophe
• I can play cool games on my phone when I am waiting (commuting, car broken down, doctor is running 40 minutes late again...)

And the other cons - often specific to teens:

• Parents who don't understand how their kid manages to send 5,000 texts a month - yet they have the bills to prove it
• Frustration with teenagers who send instant messages - to the person sitting beside them
• Obnoxious ringtones with the most recent Top 40 (pop, alt, hip-hop or other)

The mobile phone has come to be seen, by some, as little more than an "entertainment box" for youth. But some are challenging this assessment. A comment from a telecom union states that "cellular telephony has brought great and new freedoms for youngsters – and increased security and peace of mind for their parents. It is now possible for young people equipped with cellphones to stay in touch with their parents and for parents to stay in touch with their children. This can help reduce or eliminate the need for meaningless restrictions on young people that were only in place because of parents’ anxiety as to their childrens’ activities or whereabouts." (http://bit.ly/aZ7cmO).

The 'stay in touch' part of the above argument isn't new or particularly engaging but, prior to reading that article, I had never thought of restrictions on youth as "meaningless." Overboard, maybe. Ridiculous, perhaps. This is the new twist. 

The suggestion that restrictions are meaningless today could actually give a little weight to the arguments that tweens and teens use when protesting things like curfews, being denied permission to go to new areas, and the suspicion around the introduction of new friends. (Come on, who hasn't cried, "but mommmmmm, that's so unfair!" ?)

And the Implications...
If freedom, then, is the argument how do parents ensure that their kids are well-equipped to handle the risky situations that come with this new-found freedom?

Well, a couple of tips:

1. A cell phone is only helpful if it is turned on
2. If you only have it on you sometimes, it may not be so handy.
3. It actually becomes a tool to use in case of emergency when it's properly programmed (eg. have 1-touch emergency programming in place)

SOS LINK can help with item #3. In fact, we can do more than that. In a compromising situation, users simply push the “START” button on their smartphone. Then, automatically:

1. An optional audio alert starts warning the aggressor that their photo is being taken and sent;
2.  Images are then captured and instantly emailed through our secure server to individuals that have been pre-registered as ‘helpers’; and
3. The designated helper(s) receive the images, plus the time, date and GPS location of the individual on a Google Map. The software takes approximately 60 images in 60 seconds, helpers usually receive these alert emails within 15 seconds, and they can respond.

Check out www.soslink.com to learn more. The smartphone isn't just about cool ringtones, games and incessant messaging. It can actually be one-touch lifeline.

Who knew that that this is where we would end up when the 8 pound cell phone was first introduced?

Our "Spidey Senses" & The Seattle Tunnel Beating

We were all shocked and disgusted by the “tunnel beating” that happened in Seattle on January 28, 2010. Video released showed a 15 year old girl being beaten in a subway station while others stood by and watched.  

The girl reported that there had been a confrontation earlier, and that she felt that she was in danger prior to the beating. The victim stated that she had approached police officers and transit officers prior to the attack, but that her reports of feeling threatened were not taken seriously. What might have happened to the 15 year old, if she had been able to alert her family that she was in trouble? How might the outcome have changed? We can't say with any certainty that the violence would have stopped, but she would have been able to immediately alert her family and summon support. In her case, this might have made quite a difference. This is the kind of information that parents want to have - they want to know when their kids are in trouble... 


Preventable?

Unfortunately, the situation described above is not an isolated incident. A few recent stats:

• In 2005, 7.4% of youths ages 12-17 reported that, in at least one instance, they had attacked others with intent to seriously hurt them. (2005 SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health)
• Nationwide, 18.5% of high school students had carried a weapon (gun, knife, or club) one or more days in the last 30 days. The prevalence of having carried a weapon was higher among male (29.8%) than female (7.1%) students. (2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)

Implications
So, youth violence is a real issue and, as we've seen above, not all youth are able to effectively advocate for themselves and they are not always taken seriously. Technology won't change social stigmas, nor will it prevent all violence. But it is clearly another tool to have in the toolbox - for both youth and their parents - to help keep kids safe.