Apple Thoughts: Kids More Connected Than Ever. Obviously.

"THERE was a time when children's telecommunications meant two cans connected with string or, for luckier kids, a set of walkie-talkies. But today the mobile phone has become ubiquitous in school playgrounds, with children as young as five having their own. A company in England is even targeting toddlers with a phone designed in the shape of a teddy bear. Three-quarters of Australian children aged 12 to 14 own a mobile phone but by the time they are 15 that number surges to 90 per cent, according to figures from the Australian Communications and Media Authority. "Because it's parents who come in and sign up for the phones it's difficult to say exactly how much this area has grown but the age at which kids get phones is getting younger," says Carmen Gould, head of customer service at retail chain Crazy John's. "Whereas before it was often teenagers getting mobiles, it's not unusual now for parents to buy phones for children as young as eight.""

I spent Saturday afternoon at an outdoor event in Westchester, and I can tell you that there were plenty of kids there a hell of a lot younger than 8 even with phones of their own. On one hand, I always wonder what an eight year old could have to say that would require the phone being glued to their head all day long, but on the other hand I understand that parents may want a phone in their kids' hands as a safety precaution.

Anyway, the numbers don't lie and lots of kids have phones. Time have changed. Kids are more connected than we ever were at their age. For us, "connected" had nothing to do with wireless phones.

*sigh*