Guidelines to a responsible use of the mobile-phone for a better comprehension of children’s language
Realized by Vodafone (http://www.vodafone.it) in sponsorship with Save the Children (http://www.savethechildren.it)
The project is sponsored by the Ministry of Communication and in collaboration with Postal and Communication Police
Introduction
For most of parents giving their pre-adolescent or adolescent children a mobile-phone seems the best way to control them.
A child can always be reached or helped by a mobile-phone.
This only apparent confidence, however, can easily turn into the opposite situation when there is no trust between parents and children, or if parents have no authority over them, or if children cannot recognize between a major or minor danger.
The availability through the mobile-phone enables to be “somewhere else” without having to lie to parents, as it used to happen.
This can give parents an apparent sense of control, and children a sense of omnipotence.
Generally speaking, it is the use of the mobile-phone that requires parents awareness of the potential as well as risks of this tool, and also a technical knowledge in order to be able to interact with their children and discuss with them about the most appropriate use of the mobile.
Aware of the fact that the mobile is an important means of communication and relationship, as well as interconnection with other tools and languages (photos, videos, web), and aware of both its potential and risks, it is necessary that parents themselves are able to master it.
Chiara Saraceno
Professor of Sociology of the family, Faculty of Political Sciences, Turin University
1. What can the mobile-phone do?
TALKING
The mobile-phone has enabled to match a number to a person and not to a place.
For young people a private phone means autonomy and privacy.
In Italy there are billions of phone-calls every year. Only a ring – or the so-called “missed calls”, aborted calls.
They can have several, for instance: the typical missed call to parents to be called back, or a signal to a friend; or even just a messages like “I am thinking of you”. The latest generation mobiles enable to make video-calls to see the person called.
DRIVING
Talking on the phone while driving is forbidden by the law.
The conversation is only permitted by hands-free devices, like ear-plugs or speaker-phone. A simple distraction of two seconds at 100 Km/h makes the car run 56 metres before perceiving an obstacle, then, between reaction time and stop in optimal conditions the car runs 71 metres more; in total the car runs 127 metres before a complete stop.
(Sourse: Asaps)
WRITING
Text messages have totally changed the way of communicating. 160-character text messages enable to keep in touch quickly and cheaply.
There is a specific sms language (see Box).
Kids use the mobile also to store their messages, sent and received, in order to re-read them any time.
The latest generation mobiles also enable to send e-mails: in this case the messages are forwarded via Internet or other services of the phone operators to the mail box of the recipient.
THE LANGUAGE OF TEXT MESSAGES
The abbreviation, short forms of frequent expressions or single syllables, and the emoticons, the smiles, are two main elements of the language of text messages. Some examples: :-) J= I am happy, :-( L= I am sad, ;) = a blink. The most common abbreviations refer to some groups of letters: x replaces “per”, therefore there are words like “x us”, “xchè”, “xò” (why/because, but); 3 replaces “tre”, and makes swords like “3no” (train); k replaces “che” in words like “ke fai? Ke cosa?” (what are you doing? What?); 6 replaces “are”: for example “c6” or “dv6” (are you here? Where are you?). there are even abbreviation that refer to full phrases, fro example “Ba” (bacio= kiss), “Ba&Ab” (baci e abbracci= kisses and hugs), “bn” (bene= well), “cpt” (capito= understood), “cmq” (comunque= however), “NP” (no problem); “Bla” (parlare= talk); “Ris” (rispondimi subito= reply soon).
On the Internet and in bookshops there are phrasebooks that collect all the symbols and emoticons.
www.gratislandia.net/abbreviazioni_sms.htm
("Ho scritto t'amo sul telefonino" (I wrote I love you on the mobile), by Franco Barbolini)
PICTURES AND VIDEOS
The mobile phones with an integrated camera enable to make videos and short films eventually saved in the mobile or in memory cards.
Pictures and videos can be forwarded via mms (multimedia messaging service), or via e-mails or blue-tooth: the latter enable to publish the images on the web, too.
It is important to remember that having a camera does not imply that it is permitted to photograph anyone and publish their images and videos (see Privacy Law).
It is always necessary to ask the person the permission to take a picture and publish their images.
Once the images are uploaded on the web or sent to others, it is likely to lose the control of the images, everybody can see them, download them and edit them in order to publish them again. For this reason, it is important not to publish personal images carelessly or to send them to unknown people, contacted in chats or social networks.
CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET
Through new generation mobile phones, it is possible to enter the Net.
Children ask for a new generation mobile (called UMTS) to be able to navigate at the same connection speed (that can run up to 7.2 Mbps in downlink and 384 Kbps in uplink in case of HSDPA) as that of a computer – in which case the mobile works as a laptop.
Its private and personal nature though makes it harder for adults to supervise the navigation than a home desktop.
YOUTUBE, MYSPACE & CO.
YouTube is a worldwide site, also accessible via mobile, that contains videos made by any user.
Anyone can sign up and upload their own video clips, tag and entitle them. The videos are accessible by anyone and can be commented and voted.
YouTube enables the users also to share videos with only some selected friends.
Since the registered people are numerous, nearly 50 million in the world (50% of which under the age of 20), the quantity of material is huge and ordered in categories (music, entertainment, sport, etc). the most recent statistics have revealed 2 million videos every month.
Yahoo offers a similar service, called Yahoo! Video.
Social networks, like MySpace, Facebook or the Italian Dada, are sites that host personal pages of users, through which networks of friends are created to chat and share material. Recently they have also enabled video uploading.
it.youtube.com
it.video.yahoo.com
www.myspace.com
www.dada.net
CHATTING
Chat rooms are services that enable the users to communicate being connected with other people.
It is a live communication: you type in a sentence and get in instant reply.
Chats are on-line services offered by popular providers, like Yahoo! or Virgilio, also accessible via mobile.
It is possible to chat with more people at the same time, or to have a one-to-one conversation.
These chat rooms usually have a topic for discussion – friendship, books, sex, football – and users are recognizable only by a nickname.
Chats are services offered by mobile network operators through a specific software, they manage the registrations and control and supervise any abuse or incorrect behaviour. It is possible to check if the chats are moderately frequented and, in that case, if the control is done by a person or a machine.
A widespread chat service is the instant messaging (IM), that enables to chat with a list of authorized people and also to know if they are logged in.
The best known programmes of this type, called messenger, are offered by MSN and Yahoo!.
This service, once only available on the Internet, is now available on the mobile.
Moreover, there are chat services via sms that enable to send and receive messages within a community.
BEWARE OF UNKNOWN PEOPLE
Generally speaking, sharing chats, forums, IM or social networks creates a sense of closeness; these spaces are used by young people to communicate without being necessarily recognized.
It is often possible to make new friends, and in such case it is important to remember that you never know the other user.
When chatting with strangers, it is necessary to be prudent and reserved, and therefore to avoid giving personal information.
It is always recommended to use a nickname, either not to give personal information (name and surname, address, school, mobile number, e-mail, etc), or to send photos, or to reply to personal questions; always inform adult people about unpleasant contacts.
To enter a chat or a forum, it is necessary to have a personal profile with more or less detailed information.
In that case it is recommended not to give too much information that might identify the user.
The careless diffusion of personal details might identify the young users by potential adult abusers or bullies.
Very good advice about all communication technologies is available on the web.
Easy4 - handbook for privacy: www.easy4.it/dmdocuments/Privacy.pdf
Easy4 - Social Networks: www.easy4.it/content/section/30/246/
Tiseiconnesso - Grooming and luring: www.tiseiconnesso.it/pillola.php?page=16
Stop-IT - Prevention - tips for parents and teachers: www.stop-it.org
State Police: www.poliziadistato.it
LISTENING TO MUSIC AND RECORDING
A lot of mobile phones enable to listen to the radio, to record, to download and listen to music files.
The mobile can become a real music archive. Music files can be purchased directly via mobile through on-line shops or services.
Another mode is the recorder.
All the recordings, like the voices of classmates and music files, are often used as ringtones: they extract a bit from a track and then they edit it with sound effects or other music files.
Ring tones can be also purchased and they can reproduce sound effects, music files and real songs. It is not possible to record people’s voice, like conversation, live performances, lessons, without their authorization (see the Privacy Law).
WATCH OUT SPECIAL DEALS
One of the mistakes young people make is subscribing pay service from which they do not know how to unbind. TV and the Internet invite them to download music and ringtones for free: generally it means you do not pay for the single file, but for a subscription. Terms and conditions, to be read carefully before the purchase, must be available. In case of doubt, contact the supplier for further information and how to pull out of the contract.
PLAYING
Compared with traditional videogames, like those for the Play station, mobile games are based on the player’s involvement in the action.
The advantage is to be able to play everywhere: at the bus stop, at friends’ house, etc.
Games can be downloaded and saved on the mobile; if connected on the web, it is possible to play online.
In this way it is also possible to interact with other players: it is called online multi-players.
Not all games are suitable for all ages.
In order to know if a game is suitable for a child, it is recommended to refer to the code with which it has been marketed.
In Italy there is a system called PEGI (Pan European Game Information) that since 2003 has classified games, also mobile games, on the basis of the age.
The ages are: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+; other symbols indicate if there are elements of violence, fear, sex, unfair language, references to drugs, racial discrimination and gambling.
Since summer 2007 there has been a specific code for online games. Fro further information about the symbols:
www.pegi.info
www.pegionline.eu
WATCHING TV
It is also possible to watch TV through the mobile: it is possible to enter a variety of TV channels and programmes, including those for only over 18. it is necessary to have a UMTS mobile or one with the protocol Dvb-h and that the network company provides this service. There are also on demand videos or podcast: differently from TV, it is possible to select and watch the programmes at the moment desired.
DOWNLOADING AND SHARING
Young people can download music files and videos from the web.
The files are downloaded from special online shops, like iTunes, or from several sites, or from peer-to-peer network, that is from other people’s computer connected through special programmes.
This mode is often illegal: it is in fact illegal to download music protected by copyright.
It is also possible to do the inverse operation: uploading music files, video, texts or photos from their own computer.
It is possible to upload and download via mobile phones thanks to the Internet connection.
It is possible to exchange data from PC to mobile either through a USB cable, or through a wireless connection, or Bluetooth.
The latter is also used to exchange data from a mobile to another mobile.
Switching the Bluetooth on it is possible to send data for free.
Bluetooth can be set to find other active devices in around 10 metres.
BLUETOOTH: BEWARE OF UNPROTECTED GATES
Bluetooth mode is a wireless connection for technologic devices (computer, mobiles, printers, etc.) very used by young people. The gates, in IT language, are open points of a system – a computer, a mobile or another device.
If they are not properly protected, anyone might enter a private space.
A mobile with the Bluetooth switched on is potentially open to be intruded by strangers or hackers that steal personal data or diffuse malwares, like viruses that can damage in several ways: impairing the applications, sending sms/mms using up all the balance of the mobile.
Viruses are not the only risk, if the Bluetooth is switched on, anyone with the same device can send non-requested messages or images.
To avoid this, it can be useful: not to open sms/mms received by strangers, not to open programmes from an unsafe source, to set the Bluetooth as hidden and to remember to switch it off after using it, to protect the mobile with a password, and to switch the Bluetooth on only when needed.
2. Responsible use
RESPECT OF PRIVACY
Violating privacy is a crime which, in the most severe cases – when the violation is for a profit or offends the victim – can be punished with a two-year prison sentence. It is forbidden to record a phone-call or video without the person’s authorization.
It is permitted to take pictures or make films for personal use and to diffuse them among friends provided the person’s authorization.
The systematic diffusion is intended as an online publication, or a forwarding to a large number or recipients, or a chain forwarding.
Moreover, although the images are diffused among a limited group of people, they are supposed to be stored safely and to respect the person that has been pictured.
If the images diffused refer to delicate data, like health, religious or political beliefs, sexual orientation, then a formal authorization must be given.
The same care and respect must be given to the protection of one’s own privacy.
Personal information should never be given either via web or mobile.
In Italy the privacy of personal data is guaranteed by the law decree 196/2003.
The Authority for the protection of personal data can be referred to in case of claims or clarifications.
www.garanteprivacy.it
HALT TO UNWANTED PHONE-CALLS
Today the law enables a customer of a phone company to defend themselves form those that, under anonymous identity, make mute or unwanted phone calls. The article 127 of the Code, regarding the protection of personal data, states that, in case of disturbing phone calls, the user can ask the network company to suspend the suppression of the anonymity of the number of the calling user.
Through the activation of a particular service, the customer can display all the anonymous calls in and require a detailed summary for the period of the calls.
The service is available only for the times when the disturbing calls occur and for only 15 days. The service is available at a cost.
www.garanteprivacy.it
www.carabinieri.it/Internet/Cittadino/Servizi/ADR/Ausilio+Informativo/Telefonia/AusInfTelefonia_002.htm
ACCESS TO THE CONTENTS
It is possible to access any content through the mobile: those that are available on the network companies’ servers (e.g. Vodafone offers the service Family Filter.
For further information dial the number 190 or go to the site www.vodafone.it), those from the web and those from other parts.
The contents via last generation mobiles can be shocking and incomprehensible: pornography, pedo-pornography, violence, racism, superstition, extravagant theories, and even frauds.
It is possible to access contents either with a subscription or dialling pay numbers, or via sms/mms (for example numbers beginning with 899, 892, 166, 144, 4). It is possible to block these numbers by calling the Customer Care Service of their own network company.
It is important that at the time of the purchase, parents are informed about all the services of a mobile, and the contents to access and how to block it if unsuitable for children (see the Family Filter Box). It is recommended to choose the most appropriate mobile according to the age of the child: the more sophisticated the mobile is, the more technical knowledge and maturity will be needed.
CONTROL OF THE EXPENDINTURE
When subscribing a contract with the network company, it is possible to be informed about the exact costs of the calls, sms/mms and the Internet navigation. Through the mobile, it is also possible to purchase extra pay contents (like the horoscope or sport) from the operators.
It is important to inform about the modes and costs.
Moreover, it is also possible to know how to block the services or deactivate subscribed services.
CYBERBULLYING
Bullying has different forms: physical (beats, destruction of personal belonging), verbal (threats, offences, mocking) and indirect (gossip, exclusion).
This form of bullying has been amplified by the new technologies that can be a way of humiliation: bullies film and publish personal or private images of the victims or publish violent actions.
This is called cyber-bullying. At the beginning it can appear as an innocent joke, but the nit can have severe consequences on the people.
Anyone can be a victim and the cyber-bully can act under anonymity.
The lack of control on what can be done online or via mobile generates anger and frustration, since the effects are severe.
The cyber-victim should not react to provocations, therefore it is recommended to talk with an adult and take action.
Bullying is strictly punished according to the school discipline (also expulsion from school) and also by law.
For an immediate action it is possible to contact a number created by the Ministry of Education “Smontailbullo” 800 66 96 96
www.smontailbullo.it
SPAM
The term spam refers to unrequested advertising messages.
It is rather frequent concerning e-mails: most of the e-mail providers offer anti-spam filters, that detect the messages and bin them automatically.
The same illegal marketing method is now on the mobile phones.
There is a bad spam that does not advertise a product, but diffuses frauds.
It typically sends an sms about calling a certain number to get a prize or to top up the mobile.
In other cases they pretend to be sms by the network company asking to listen to voice messages; or even more, they pretend to be messages by friends.
It is fundamental not to underestimate the spammers’ ability to disguise themselves.
There are also chains: an sms is sent asking to forward it to somebody else, promising good luck or some bad event if the chain is broken.
The first way of prevention is to limit the diffusion of the mobile number; the less it is given, the less it will be stricken by spams.
There are also options to avoid receiving spams: check with the network company.
EXAMPLES OF FRAUD VIA SMS
Here some examples of bad spams that asked the recipient to dial international or pay numbers:
- You have got a voice mail dial…
- You won a prize, for further details call…
- Can you take our son from school? If there is any problem, call me in office on…
- I have found a free-of-charge web site full of pornographic material, the password is given if you call…
- Someone wants to meet you, call them on…
3. Mobile-phones and health
Mobile phones, as well as cordless telephones, work through radio-waves, or radio-frequencies, that is electromagnetic waves with a frequency between few kHz and some GHz. The electromagnetic waves used in the telecommunications (900 and 1800 MHz for GSM, 2100 MHz for UMTS) belong to the category of “non-ionizing radiations”, because at these frequencies waves cannot “ionize” the matter.
The only proved effect of these waves is to heat the biological tissues when they are very intense: the micro-wave (2.45 GHz), for instance, uses this capacity to cook food, but using a higher power than the one used by the mobile phone.
When talking on the mobile, the electromagnetic waves come into contact with the ears and the head, and they can provoke an increase of the local temperature by some tenth of degree Celsius.
This effect can sometimes worry about the fear that mobiles can heat the head: actually the feeling of heat can be caused by other factors, like for example a heated battery, or by the fact that keeping the ear close to the phone impedes the correct skin transpiration.
The power absorbed by the head in the form of heat is measured in terms of SAR (Specific Absorption Rate), index that represents the power absorbed per kilo of mass (W/kg); a safe threshold of SAR is defined by ICNIRP (International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) and is 2W/kg. Mobile phones have their SAR value stated on the handbook, and it must not overcome this threshold.
Moreover, the electromagnetic field decreases its intensity quickly with the increase of the distance from the source: the use of earplugs or speakers therefore can reduce the ex position to these emissions.
The effects of the electromagnetism on health have been studied for lots of years, also at an epidemiologic level, and researches have been extended since the mobile became a mass phenomenon.
The analysis, however, have not revealed any danger so far, so that the WHO confirmed that there is no evidence of any damages caused by mobile phones on heath: “The present scientific information does not indicate particular precaution on the use of the mobile.
It the person is worried , they can reduce the exposition by limiting the duration of phone calls or by using hands-free devices in order to keep the body and the head far from the mobile”.
(Memorandum n. 193 by the World Health Organization, revision from 2002)
ICNIRP: www.icnirp.de
www.who.int/peh-emf/en (solo inglese)
www.epicentro.iss.it/problemi/campi/campi.asp
www.elettra2000.it
www.icemb.org
www.gsmworld.com/index.shtml
Blog – online personal diary where the author periodically sends their interventions that the readers can comment.
Bluetooth – wireless connection mode for technologic devices (computer, mobiles, printers, earphones, etc.)
Chains – E-mails or sms that ask to forward a message to a number of recipients, threatening if this is not done.
Chat room – web area where people can have an online conversation.
Community – group of people sharing the same interests, navigating the same sites or using the same service.
Console – technologic device for videogames that can be connected to the TV.
Copyright – It is the author’s right to control their works, their employment and their commercial use.
Download – the action of bringing files from the Internet to the PC or the mobile.
Dvb-h – Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld, it is a standard of the digital TV broadcasting on portable devices, like mobiles and net-books.
E-mail – it refers to the mail service via Internet or the single letter.
Emoticon – symbols that represent drawings and smiles, used to express feelings without using words.
Online multiplayer videogames – videogames joined by a number of people at the same time via web.
GPRS – General Packet radio Service. Data transfer standard for wireless connections. The transfer speed can run up to 115,000 bit/second.
GSM – Global System for Mobile Communication is the most worldwide standard for mobile communication.
Hacker – very expert IT programmer. The term is often used to refer to an illegal activity (the real term is cracker), to access reserved data or to damage people’s computers.
Instant messaging – programme that enables the exchange of live messages among friends, similar to chats.
Malware – bad software that indicates all the programmes created to damage a device.
Memory card – card that is inserted into devices to enhance the storing capacity.
MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service, service used to send videos, music or photos; it also refers to the single message.
Mp3 – audio file compression code; it also indicates a digital music track. It is now available in the Mp4 version.
Nickname – fantasy name for chats or forums.
Peer-to-peer – technology that enables the Exchange of files among computers connected to the Internet through a software installed on each computer.
PEGI – Pan European Game Information, it is a code of control that classifies products according to contents and ages.
PIN – Personal Identification Number, a sequence of numbers used to access a service (cash-points, phone, etc.)
Podcast – term derived from IPod and Broadcasting that indicates an exchange of audio and video files between portable multimedia readers. Then it also indicates the download of radio broadcasts via web.
Provider – also called access provider or service provider, it offers the access to the Internet, either free or pay, through a connection.
Smartphone – a mobile working as a computer, with Windows Mobile or Symbian.
SMS – Short Message Service, the service to send or receive short message via mobile.
Social Network – group of people that meet and share friends and interests through the net.
Spam – junk mail, advertising messages via e-mail or sms.
Missed calls – aborted phone calls used to communicate a certain message.
Ringtones – short music pieces also used as caller identity.
Tag – term associated to an online published object.
UMTS – Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, it is the third generation mobile phones (3G) that enables fast web connections, video-calls and TV services. The further version is HSDPA.
Upload – loading of data from a PC or a mobile phone to the Internet.
Video on demand – it is an interactive TV service that enables the users to have a TV programme, either free-of-charge or pay, at the moment they wish.
WAP – Wireless Application Protocol, it is a format for the programming of web contents for mobile phones.
The guidelines have been realized in collaboration with Save the Children, the international largest organization for child protection. Save the Children is also involved in educational, prevention and online illegal practice contrast programmes. For this reason it has created a site for the Ministry of Communication (www.ti6connesso.it). with the sponsorship of the European Commission within the programme Safer Internet Plus, it has been working on EASY projects (www.easy4.it), to sensitize young people, adults and teachers about an aware use of the Internet and mobile phones; and within the programme STOP-IT (www.stop-it.org) for combating online pedo-pornography.