Phones for Tots

File this one under ways to tick me off.

Rogers Wireless Inc. has become the first Canadian mobile phone provider to introduce a cellphone designed specifically for children as young as eight.

Fighting rage. Capitalism does its darnest to try to get me to reject it sometimes. I guess at least it's just Canada, which is incidently less capitalist than we are, for whatever that is worth.

"We do feel it's important to speak to (children) directly and treat them with respect," said McMeans, adding that the company would not comment on events south of the border. "We don't think it would be appropriate to comment on congressional discussions taking place in the U.S."

McMeans gets no respect from me because he is not purveying the intelligence he should possess. Respect is earned, and I know of no eight-year-old who has gained by respect. In ten years if they learn to use the mind God gave them, then we can talk. Until then, they are children, deserving love and care, but not respect.

We need to start treating children like children and not the adults we think they are. Has anyone really gotten a piece of new-found wisdom from the mouth of a child? I don't think so. Children can be sweet and innocent, but they are not paragons of wit and wisdom, and they don't need cell phones.

Cellphone use by children has grown 140 per cent since 2001, according to Milwaukee-based research firm SpectraCom, which found in a recent North American and European survey that the average young user spends two hours a day talking on the devices.

Who are these parents giving these kids phones? And what on earth are the kids talking to each other about for two hours a day. I guess it's better than sitting in front of the television--except for that questionable cancer bit--but come on. I know these aren't all eight-year-olds, but man, this is beyond trite.

Cell phone companies are not to be blamed here. They're interested in a buck and they're going to make it. The parents on the other hand should be mortified. Why does your child need a phone? It costs fifty cents to make a call to have you pick them up in emergencies, aside from that, there is no need for a phone for children.

The greater issue is society's reluctance to deal with people face to face and our fear of silence. Hypocrite alert: I am blogging, talking to people I'll probably never meet and not talking to my housemates--who happen to be busy, but that is not the point. Also, I am listening to music.

At least I don't have a cell phone.