So my son asks for a cell phone...

lol, god i wish i was 18 again.

 

Yeah, 9 does seem a tad young for a cell phone. Don't tell him this part, but they make very effective electronic leashes. You can call him anytime to find out where he is and what he's up to. He just thinks it's for his convenience.

 

I know how you feel. There are lots of good reasons not to give a child a cell phone.

But there are also legitimate, parental reasons why you might want your son to have one. Here in NYC, 9/11 spurred a lot of us to get cell phones for our kids. We wanted to be able to reach them (and vice versa) in emergencies. Also, it can provide other safety features, such as being able to to locate and monitor your child through the cell phone's gps tracking.

Good luck. My guess is that your son is going to keep on asking for a cell phone until he gets one.

 

a cell phone is a miniature microwave oven.

Just five minutes of exposure to mobile phone emissions can trigger changes that occur during cancer development, according to new research.


Scientists found mobile signals can activate cell division – central to the growth of tumours - even at very low power levels.


f you do not believe me -- Google it.
if you need a proof -- buy a trimeter and check your own cell phone's radiation. (I own one and I verified this -- you need to see it to believe it!)









now, why would anyone give a cell phone to a 9 year old whose skull is not even formed, and who will be therefore exposed numbers of times more than an adult is?


































To give you an example of some safety limits around the world, for one particular type of microwave transmitter, these read as follows:

[SIZE=+1]Toronto Health Board: 6 units

Italy: 10 units

Russia: 10 units

Poland: 100 units

US Research Base: 100 units

International Commission: 450 units

[/SIZE]

From this research paper some illnesses caused by long-term low level electromagnetic radiation are: ​

Heart problems;
Blood problems;
Interference with bone marrow;
Tumours;
Calcium interference;
46% reduction in night-time melatonin; ​

It is believed that during the daytime light going through our eyes passes a message to the pineal glands in the brain which slows down the production of melatonin. At night when no light goes through our eyes the production of melatonin is speeded up. Melatonin is believed to scavenge cancer cells and impurities in our bodies and boost the immune system. If an officer is sleeping in quarters within range of the TETRA transmitter, the microwave radiation is believed to act on the pineal gland and suppress the night-time melatonin to daytime levels; hence the good work of the melatonin at night will be restricted leading to suppression of the immune system. ​

Increased arthritis
Skin problems
Ear problems
Risk to leukaemia
Childhood cancer
Sleep problems
Depression
Memory loss
Difficulty in concentrating
Mental conditions ​

A very recent discovery shows that microwave radiation changes the permeability of the blood brain barrier. Our brain has its own immune system as does our body. The blood brain barrier keeps everything that is designed to be kept within the brain inside it and protects the brain from any unwanted diseases or chemicals which could harm it. Similarly it allows out of the brain anything dangerous to the brain. The blood brain barrier is rather like a sieve where only particles of a certain size may go through. Professor Salford at Lund University in Sweden has shown that such pulsing as from mobile phones can alter the permeability of the blood brain barrier (Appendix 4, Reference 3). I will argue as TETRA pulses, which is arguably more powerful than the average mobile phone, this situation could be worse with TETRA.

Also, it is shown that the electromagnetic radiation going into the body can change the size of the particles moving around the body (Reference 4). This is rather like an ice skater spinning on her skates. With her arms out she spins slowly, but if she pulls her arms in she spins faster. Microwaves can affect the particles in our body by changing their spin; hence their size. They can be made smaller or larger. With the changing of the permeability of the blood brain barrier and the changing in size of particles unwanted particles may enter the brain or necessary particles may leave the brain. The connection here with mental conditions is that Dr Hyland of Warwick University has written that the uptake of drugs; in particular neurological drugs is inhibited because of changes in the blood brain barrier. ​

Neurological illnesses
Headaches
Dizzyness
Fatigue
Miscarriage, and
Infertility ​

I have listed all of the references on this particular research paper because all of these researches correspond to the above list.

The second paper I would like to comment on (Appendix 5, Reference 5) has 80 references and as well as a lot of the illnesses written in Dr Cherry's paper goes on to mention that with regard to mobile phone handsets you should avoid keeping the handset when switched on adjacent to the body, in particular in the vicinity of the waist or heart. There have been deaths due to colon cancer from the Royal Ulster Constabulary who wore radio or microwave transmitters in the small of their backs for extended periods of time. Dr Hyland recommends keeping the duration of calls to an absolute minimum and on his back page relating to pulse mobile phone radiation on alive humans and animals, the following may occur: ​

Epileptic activity
Effects on human EEG
Effects on blood pressure
Depression of immune systems
Increased permeability of the blood brain barrier
Effects on brain electro-chemistry
DNA damage in rodent brain
Cancers in mice, and
Synergistic effects with certain drugs ​

Dr Hyland, in my opinion, is one of the world's leading authorities in this area and his advice is not to be dismissed lightly. Similarly, another very highly respected scientist is Dr Coghill. I would add that both Dr Hyland and Dr Coghill are members of the Stewart Committee.

Dr Coghill's paper which has 218 references (Appendix 6, Reference 6) agrees largely with the work by Dr Hyland and Dr Cherry. In this paper, Section 1.16, Dr Coghill writes "the ultimate question must be whether chronic exposure to say
1 V/m electric fields at the envisaged frequencies is likely to produce adverse health effects in the long term. At present the NRPB guidelines recommend an investigation level of 192 V/m while ICNIRP now offers much lower levels. However these are based on thermal effects: if non thermal evidence is accepted than 1 V/m is demonstrably able to induce biological effects, some of which may be adverse".
I will show in a later paper that TETRA delivers a lot more than the 1 V/m recommended as a maximum by Dr Coghill.

Dr Coghill also, in his summary in the back, lists symptoms caused by mobile phone use. Again, I will argue that as TETRA is pulsed and pulsed radiation is arguably more aggressive than the continuous analogue wave and TETRA uses more power than the ordinary mobile the symptoms will be enhanced rather than be reduced for TETRA. The symptoms listed by Dr Coghill are: ​

Fatigue
Headache
Warmth behind the ear
Warmth on the ear, and
Burning skin ​

Confidential Report On TETRA & Cell Phone Dangers in Britain (Nov. 24, 2004)

 

I wonder if a Bluetooth headset would help by keeping the phone away from the brain?

 

I gave my son a phone at 9.
It was pre-paid and an old phone so it didn't matter so much if he lost it.
He was under instructions he wasn't to tell anyone he had it.
He had it so his mother or I could contact him before and after school from work or if we were late picking him up.
He also had it in case of emergency.
He was told the phone had limited credit and would not be topped up.
It had $50 credit which would last a full year.

Cheap safety I think, my son was sometimes but not often walking home from school on his own, most times he was picked up either on foot or in the car if the weather was bad..

Before anyone says letting a 9 year old walk alone is irresponsible I walked twice as far when I was in primary school and I walked home alone or with friends from age 5. Quite a few kids here walk to school alone and with their parents.

 

My sister got cell phones for two of her three kids. One was probably about 14 when he got it, the other was more like 12. They use them to check in with their parents when they are out and about with their friends -- the rule is they are not allowed to leave wherever they are to go someplace else until they have gotten permission from one of their parents. I think 9/11 was also a factor in getting them the phones, since my brother-in-law is a firefighter on Long Island and he did get called into the city in the aftermath. So they want the ability to get in touch just in case.

Of course by now the older kid is 16, so apparently he uses his phone more for texting and chatting up his friends than anything else. Still, he knows the primary reason for having it is staying in touch with his family.

My other sister has gotten phones for both her kids -- one is 13 and the other is 8. They are only allowed to use them to call their parents or for emergencies.

So far it's working well -- none of the kids has lost a phone.

 

I agree - after 9/11 things changed here. We got our 4th kid a cell phone when he was 11 and he started to have more play dates outside the house. Our school system now uses cell phones to alert the parents if there are issues arising - and email.

Also, within the next few weeks you will be able to get an accurate location of people (ie, your kids) through their cell phones without calling them.

 

Let's see... I think I was 55 when I got my first cell phone.

 

I'll second the one about limited use cellphones for kids.

I'm trying to remember the name of one of them, but it had a very short call list the parent programs in. They can basically call 911, and 3 or 4 other people (one would assume "home", "grandma", "mom at work", "Big sister"), and have GPS tracking so the parent can log online and SEE where the tyke is.

I'm also concerned about radiation/heat/radio waves (Bluetooth in your ear is just as bad, btw), but I personally think allowing kids to drink ANYTHING that contains High fructose corn syrup, and/or soda pop, is worse. I'd rather know that my kids are safe, and can get help.

 

I still don't have one. :blink:

 

You can have mine.... I've been trying to get rid of it ever since I got it. :frusty:

 

My DH refuses to have a cell phone.

I have one, but it's rarely used. I have the cheapest plan I can, and I rarely use a third of my minutes each month. I just like having it with me when off on a trip.

 

second that! :frusty:
the damn thing won't stop ringing some days and it's never people i *want* to hear from...

 

I keep my cell phone in the car for emergencies. It sometimes goes a month or more without being turned on. You cannot reach me on it and it does not ring, because it's off. But for those very rare occasions when you want help, or cannot find the store you thought would be easy to find, it's nice to have.

As for phones that parents can "program" so the kid can only call 911 or grandma, I wonder how many kids cannot unlock it.

 

It took me a long time to learn this. Too long, in fact, but once I did it was very empowering.

One of my favorite places for hiding from the world is Beaver Island. I like to sit at anchor up there, either at Beaver or at one of the outlying islands. One day at Beaver my cell phone started working. My first thought was "Great! Now I don't have to use the pay phone to call home." My second thought was "Oh crap, now they can call me here." Eventually I realized I could turn off the phone.

Tom