How smart are smart phones

HOW SMART ARE SMART PHONES Ladies and gentlemen did you know nearly 20% of kids can operate a smart phone by the time they reach the age of 6, while only 9% can actually tie their shoelaces properly so says Nicholas Jackson of AVG. 58% of children polled can play basic computer games and not even yet ride a bicycle. Technology has stolen our child hood. Instead of having to protect us from the snakes in the grass and trees where we should be playing, our parents have to protect us from cyber bullying and all the evil that comes with modern technology. Last year my father was on the Governing Body of a local school where 2 children were expelled due to pornographic material which they were distributing to the other pupils in the school. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am 11 years old. I should not know what the word pornography means. I should not have to worry about it. My worries, should consist of, “ I hope that Mom has not made spaghetti bolognaise for the second time this week, why did she buy me that awful green dress and not the pretty pink one I asked for, or the difficult maths calculations for Monday’s test. Parents need to be aware of the following bad effects which Smartphone’s have on children. * Smartphone’s detach kids from the true essence of social interaction. * Smartphone’s can weaken children’s eye sight because their eye muscles are only used to focussing on nearby technological matter. * Smartphone’s can affect brain development. Children need to learn to concentrate for longer and longer periods of time. The use of Smartphone’s and other technology enables them to jump from one piece of information to another in a matter of seconds without having concentrated long enough to let the information sink into their subconscious mind. * Smartphone’s are having a detrimental effect on children’s body development because they are not playing physical games. Strengthening your thumb and forefingers does not count. Why do we have poor writing skills, why can’t we interact socially anymore, why can we not verbally communicate with our friends and family who are sitting a few meters away from us, and why do we suddenly have addictive personalities? Ladies and gentlemen what are we as children going to do when we as the adults of tomorrow have to walk into a boardroom and present a multi-billion-rand presentation to a prospective client. Are we going to send them a bbm with letters like w-y-d (what you doing)? I don’t think we will achieve any business skills if we carry on like we are. I think I have made my point loud and clear. We do not need Smartphone’s. We need a plain R99 cell phone which can send a sms and where our parents can let us know what time they will pick us up from sport. I realise that we as children can be quiet persuasive, but parents you are the disciplinarians in the house and if you say no to a smart phone, the answer means no. Don’t let us manipulate you so that you bow to our every request. We are not stupid we know which buttons to push in order for you to say yes, but if you are constant in your first decision, then we know, NO means NO. Thank you very much!