By Louise Flanagan
Handing a smartphone to a child is bound to be a daunting experience for any parent.
Yes, the child will be ecstatic; there’ll be hugs and shrieks of “best parents ever!”
There will also be stern warnings about responsible use of the phone. Ground rules will be laid and the child will nod and say, “Yes, I know. I promise.”
And after that? Well, I guess, mostly, we just hope for the best.
My oldest child is ten years old and we are holding out for as long as possible on the phone front. She’s a great kid and I do trust her – but handing her a phone seems like handing her something dangerous.
The older she is when she gets one, the more sense she might have with it.
That’s the rationale at least.
But by the time kids reach secondary school, the overwhelming majority of them have a phone.
They’re still very young, they’re at a vulnerable developmental stage of their lives and the phone can amplify drama and cause plenty of chaos – even when they’re technically deemed ‘old enough’ to have one.
I work in a secondary school, and recently a member of An Garda Síochána came in to talk at a school assembly about acceptable phone use.
It was seriously eye-opening.
In recent years, new laws have been introduced which give the Gardaí a lot more power to tackle bullying and harassment that happens via mobile devices.
It is referred to as Coco’s law. Children who use their phones to humiliate or intimidate other children can be prosecuted with the full force of the law.
The Gardaí can land at their house with a search warrant and confiscate their phone and they will be charged with very serious criminal offenses.
Generally speaking, I think a lot of us were under the impression that ‘they’re minors, so all they’ll get is a slap on the wrist.’
No. The Gardaí take it very seriously and the laws are in place to give them the power to act.
If your child is subjected to any form of social media or smartphone bullying, bring the evidence to the Gardaí and they will take action.
There was a time when their hands were tied and they couldn’t do much because there were no laws in place, but now there are – and they really mean business.
Humiliation and intimidation have always been morally wrong; now, it is also a criminal offense, no matter what age the perpetrator is.
The Garda also told us about new laws that relate to child pornography.
That phrase sends shivers down my spine and I can’t believe this issue is as prevalent as it is.
According to the law, if a minor (we’ll say aged 13-17) takes a nude photo of themselves and sends it to someone, they can be arrested and convicted for creating and distributing child pornography.
The teenager who receives that image can also be charged with being in possession of child pornography.
In both instances, it will go on their record and have obvious implications for future employment, travel etc.
We live in scary times when such laws need to exist, but thank God they do to protect us all.
This information is shared in good faith but I’m not a legal expert.
There is a lot more to learn and understand about criminal offenses relating to phone misuse.
The website www.webwise.ie has great resources on this topic and is worth a look.
Moreover, if your local school or community hosts an information session about phone and internet safety, please attend to help keep all our young people from harm.
Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra and Dream Beasts. www.dragonterra.ie
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