‘In the mid-1990s, if a teen owned a mobile telephone it was likely an indicator of an over-pampered rich kid rather than today’s sense that it is a more or less essential part of a teen’s everyday identity kit.’[1]
I got my first mobile phone after passing my A-Levels in 1999, aged 18. It was a device that performed only the basic functions: calls and text messages (SMS). Then, it was a mid-range user-friendly phone. By the time I finished my undergraduate degree my phone had a camera, synchronised with my PC, and had internet capabilities. The speed at which the development in mobile telephony has progressed is astounding. The adaptation of society to uptake this progression has increased at a similarly astonishing rate. ‘For children growing up today the issue is not whether they will get a mobile phone, it's a question of when.’[2]
This uptake is all-encompassing of all walks of society, regardless in many cases, of income. Mobile phone service providers enable nearly everyone to be able to afford a mobile phone. In fact, there are 3.3bn[3] mobile handsets (enough for half the world’s population) in the world, from basic cellular telephones, to complex on-the-move devices (like Blackberries), or handheld computers (PDAs).
This essay focuses on the impact that mobile technology has had on young people, particularly on the use of mobile phones in western society. As with everything, there are pros and cons to the impacts that mobile technology has on people’s lives. The following sections highlights and discuss some of these with specific reference use of mobile phones by young people, their families, and peers as tools for a variety of different activities. Selwyn suggests, ‘The most immediate social effect of mobile telecommunications technologies is their ability to increase the intensity and widen the scope of interaction.’[4]
Benefits
The ever-increasing functionality of mobile phones gives users many benefits from being able to locate their friends, chatting on mobile instant-messaging clients, text-messaging, to using their phone to browse the internet, and uploading, downloading and listening to music. Camera and video functionalities enable users show or even broadcast their activities.
The safety aspects of mobile phones are increasingly becoming reasons why parents are purchasing mobiles for their children. The constant connection between parent and child gives the parent peace of mind of their child’s whereabouts and movements. Relating to personal safety, some mobile phones today have built in GPS, so people can find out locate themselves if lost.
The increased usage of mobile phones has given many young people the skills and enthusiasm needed to understand technology in a wider aspect. Inquisitive children being exposed to a device like a mobile phone can lead to their learning of technical skills, e.g. programming, at a very early age, and taking up qualifications in ICT. A study at Coventry University found that text messaging on mobiles to be ‘linked positively with literacy achievements.’[5]
Mobile technology is also useful as a pedagogical tool where it is making a big impact on the way that educators are approaching the future of learning in schools and extending into further education. Talking of the use of PDAs in education, a headteacher at a school in Dudley, mentions how the teaching staff can ‘inform children of how they are doing, provide the suitable tools which they can select for their own personal learning style, and we can monitor, support, and assess as we go along.’[6]
Risks
Looking at the negative effects of mobile technology brings us to, once again, the functionality. Camera and video functionality has lead to the despicable craze for ‘happy slapping’, (e.g.[7],[8]). There have been many cases where youths have recorded the terrorising, bullying or assault of a victim on their mobile phone cameras. These videos are then shown to peers, either by sending them to each other or uploading to the web, through such social video sites as YouTube.com.
It has been claimed that there are potential health risks associated with the use of mobile phones. According to Cox, in his study[9]reporting on health hazards of mobile phones, he states that there have been incidents of cancer occurring in people, reportedly because they live near a base station that provides mobile phones with signal. There have also been claims that severe headaches are caused by the use of mobile phones, as well as an excess of lymphoma, leading to cancer and brain tumours. He does state, however, that, ‘...because mobile phones of the present form have not been in use for very long, direct epidemiological evidence of adverse effects with an appropriate latency period cannot be available.’[10]
Exploiting young people financially, can be very harmful, especially when they do not have regular income. Gimmicks that are advertised and sold to enhance mobile phones, such as ringtones or games, are often directed at younger mobile phone users through TV adverts on channels widely watched by youngsters. Young people are generally more susceptible to the novelty products, e.g. a new ringtone. Websites such as Jamster[11] offer ringtones and graphics that seem to be one-off purchases, but require subscription to their site, at potentially unaffordable rates. Unsubscribing is made difficult too.
‘It took Radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, TV 17 years, Cable 14 years, the Web 4 years, and Mobile phones 6 months.’[12] The way that society has developed and adapted over the years to the use of technology as a part of everyday life, has meant that the adoption rates of the newer technologies have been faster than those of older technologies. These increases may be down to earlier communication technologies not being as encompassing of society as recent technologies, incorporating all economic classes and ages. Young peoples’ expectations mean that they will be the driving force behind future developments and innovations in technology. They have grown up with technology and are truly the Technological Generation.
[1] Seyler Ling, R., Ling, R., & Pedersen, P.E., Mobile Communications: Re-Negotiation of the Social Sphere, Birkhauser, 2005.
[2] Global cellphone penetration reaches 50 %, Thu Nov 29, 2007, http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=media&storyID=nL29172095
[3] Global cellphone penetration reaches 50 %, Thu Nov 29, 2007, http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=media&storyID=nL29172095
[4] Selwyn, N., (2003) Schooling the Mobile Generation: The Future for Schools in the Mobile Networked Society, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 24, No. 2. (April 2003), pp. 131-144.
[6] Heaviside, B. in Secondary ICT - Personalised Learning with ICT 3, (video) March 2005, http://www.teachers.tv/video/169
[9] Cox, D.R., Communication of Risk: Health Hazards from Mobile Phones, Journal of Royal Statistics Study, Royal Statistic Society, 2003
[10] Cox, D.R., Communication of Risk: Health Hazards from Mobile Phones, Journal of Royal Statistics Study, Royal Statistic Society, 2003
[12] Ibid
