Are Cell Phones a Danger to Kids?

Posted December 18, 2008

Find more about risk , Kids , cell phones , cancer

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How safe are cells for kids? (Photo Courtesy of Getty Images)

Posted December 18, 2008 by Emily Miles Terry

When my 10-year-old pleaded for a cell phone this year, I have to admit I was caught off guard. I hadn’t expected her to want one. Yet.

"Everyone has one!" That was her claim. And when I challenged her by naming all her girlfriends, I was shocked to learn that she was right. In her world, everyone who was anyone did have one.

But since I still hold the view that a cell phone is a practical device -- not a toy, and I sometimes get confused just turning off my ringer, I felt too over my head with it all to jump on the cell phone band wagon. As my husband and I were still mulling it over, a news report linking cell phone useage in kids to brain cancer clinched our decision.

My husband and I gave her a firm, "No (for now)." "But why?" She asked plaintively. I was tempted to tell her about the study, but how could I? Would that suggest I cared more about her than the parents of her friends? It just didn’t seem appropriate -- or truthful. In reality, I needed time to wrap my head around the veracity of these studies and educate myself.

Admittedly, the timing was convenient for us as it provided just the right information to make our decision. The only credentials I bring to interpreting a study about kids and cell phones is that I’m a very (OK, overly) concerned mom, and my simplistic thinking was that since the study linked long-term cell phone use to higher rates of certain types of cancer and suggested that younger children were more vulnerable, the longer we put off our child’s regular use of a cell phone, the less chance she would be affected.

Originally, we had decided we would get her a phone when she was 12, but then it was a story about kids as young as 13 sending nude photos of themselves to their boyfriends on their cell phones that made me realize we had even more information to impart to our daughter.

Despite having a 10-year-old with a slight chip on her shoulder, how do we feel about being part of a very small group of fifth grade parents "holding-out" on cell phones? The truth is that we have merely buttressed our position of "postponement," because unless much more conclusive evidence comes out about cell phone dangers, we will get her one in just a few years. It's a lot easier to say "no" to your kids when you’ve got what you consider a legitimate health or safety issue to back you up.

Regardless, righteousness in and of itself doesn’t always sit well when it comes to parenting. I’d always seen myself as more the understanding "cool" mom than the one who all the kids know always strikes the hard line. So this cell phone hurdle was a milestone for me -- as I took the first step in learning how to accept the role of the "bad guy" and stepped into the unwanted shoes of the "strict" parent. Yet although I’m getting used to wearing these shoes, I have to admit I'd swap them for a cooler pair if I could.

What's your family rule about kids and cell phones?

Emily Miles Terry is the author of the upcoming book, Postcards From the Bump. Emily lives with her husband, three children, and hand-me-down dog in MA.