Says phones distract them and affect their health
New Delhi: If women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhary has her way, parents will no longer be able to reach their school-going kids when they are away.
But her reasons for seeking a ban on use of cellphones by children are not just health related. Chowdhary feels children have no business to use mobile phones as it makes them vulnerable to the bad effects of the outside world. “The HRD Ministry should write to schools about banning the use of mobile phones. I am an orthodox in such matters,” she said.
Chowdhary was speaking to media persons here on Wednesday at the inauguration of the facilitation centre of the women and child development ministry.
Chowdhary said it was high time the society took to traditional ways of parenting and stop the kids from using modern day gadgets like mobile phones.
The minister laughed away a suggestion that mobile phones helped in ensuring the safety of the school kids. “What safety does a mobile phone ensures of a child? We can think of other measures to ensure safety of the kids. I appeal to all parents to stop giving mobile phones because it would help them only not us.”
Chowdhary’s comments come close on the heels of Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss saying use of mobiles by kids was affecting their health as the radiation emitting out of the instruments affected the kids mentally.
Mobiles are being used by very young children over long periods causing problems like headaches and short term memory loss, he said. “There is still no data available worldwide on long term use. Cellphones emit low levels of radio frequency (RF) energy while being used and even lower RF in stand-by mode. But since long use can cause RF to heat tissue and cause biological effects, we need to know its impact,” said the minister.
Concerned by the health fallouts of cellphone radiation, the government has drafted guidelines asking manufacturers and service providers to avoid advertisements showing children and pregnant women using cellphones.
Replying to another query, Chowdhary said the use of mobile phones by pregnant women has also been discouraged because a recent study points out that it is harmful.
