South Korea aims to curtail teenage cellphone use

It looks like parents in South Korea will soon have a few new tools at their disposal in their attempts to cut down their kids' excessive cellphone use, with the county's telecommunications ministry set to introduce new regulations aimed at keeping teenage cellphone use (and their parent's bills) under control. The centerpiece of the effort is apparently a separate contract system that cellphone carriers will have to provide for teens, which will set a strict limit on how much they can use their phone and require parental permission in order for them to exceed that preset level. Parents will also get a complete rundown on what cellphone services their kids are using, although actual cellphone tracking will apparently still just be an optionally invasive measure that protective parents can take advantage of.

[Via Yahoo! News/AFP]

[Rusty @ Dec 16th 2006 9:22AM]

There ya go......get em addicted to "unlimited" talk time, then take away their fix LOL

[Jamar @ Dec 16th 2006 10:17AM]

odd... that phone in the background has already been released on Verizon a long time ago, hasn't it? To be on-topic, most of my friends are on pre-paid plans- no record of services used, extremely cheap (I've got a plan for $4 that gives me 50MB of data, 20 local minutes, and 60 text messages per month- you can see where my priorities lie because for $2 less per month it's possible to get a free-incoming plan with outgoing minutes for $.02/min, same as the overage on my plan, and for $2 more it's possible to get a plan that gives 400 minutes per month- I'm primarily a data user) so they top up on credit as needed and get relative privacy. "Relative" because 9 times out of 10 a classmate will hand me their phone when asked. I hand them back in a minute and they don't even know that I've got their account PIN, which I can use to perform online account "management" (one girl who really annoyed me got their Caller ID turned off and forced onto the most expensive price plan I could sign her up for without requiring ID- about $10, I think- she ditched that account and had to buy another number, and another got call forwarding turned on, set to forward to her "secret" love interest- sparked some conversation there). I don't do this to people that don't deserve it, but sometimes a simple "these things about you are really grating on my nerves, please don't be like that around me" only encourages them.

[Ben @ Dec 16th 2006 12:25PM]

How are you getting a cell phone plan for 4 dollars a month? I'm on one of Cingular's cheapest plans and it's still 40 bucks.

[robindurden @ Dec 16th 2006 2:16PM]

this guy boarders onto socially awkward realm...

[j005u @ Dec 16th 2006 10:53AM]

As far as I recall, this kind of service has been (optionally) available here in Estonia for years, at no extra cost even.

[kenwahfu @ Dec 16th 2006 10:57AM]

Hi,
I think this technology is good for parents to monitor their children activities so as to controll them for any missused.
kenwahfu

[js @ Dec 16th 2006 11:05AM]

We have this for ages.... it's called "prepaid service".

[Zach @ Dec 16th 2006 11:27AM]

Jamar, you do realize that not only have you made yourself look like a retard - the actions you just described are considered a felony.

[Jamar @ Dec 17th 2006 12:59AM]

and you do realize that I'm not bound by the same laws you are? Where I live if you get friendly with the right people you get all sorts of perks.

[everrette powell @ Dec 16th 2006 11:57AM]

thats not a bad idea they need to have that here, i think the closes we have to that is a spending limit but most people don't even know they could set a spending for their service

[Jamar @ Dec 17th 2006 1:01AM]

Simple, I'm not in the US. I'm in China, land of cheap *most things* (game consoles and electronics are the exception- for irony, iPods and most Apple products are MORE expensive here than in the US).

[ethana2 @ Dec 16th 2006 12:29PM]

Addiction to communication? That's horrible! We all know, of course, that it causes severe reliance on the middle east and contributes to pollution. People die everyday by talking on their cells while intoxicated, and all those people too old to talk safely...

Seriously. Internet addiction? Cell addiction? Your generation is paranoid. If we're addicted to anything, it's everyone going through a pathetic, inflexible school system and owning a vehicle, paying exuberant licensing and copyright fees on a daily basis, and calling our republic a "democracy".

The more people communicate, the better life is for all. IT, IT, IT. Quit slowing us down, baby boomers. And quit killing trees just 'cause you don't want to learn to use computers. All that kind of thing is pathetic- landline phone systems, broadcast radio, TV... Give everyone encrypted WiFi. Man. Everything gets blamed on the teenagers. [e-mail]

[Coluch @ Dec 16th 2006 12:41PM]

Wow. Poor parents. Am I the only one that doesn't have any sympathy for those that spoil their children?

"Help us help us, we gave our daughter a phone and now she uses it too much!"

If you're going to give someone a gift,, expect it to be used. Period. If you want them to have it primarily for your own piece of mind (ie. emergencies) then make it a prepaid account.

Making someone else responsible for your parenting duties (like the government regulators) is deplorable.

[bajfl @ Dec 16th 2006 11:25PM]

she doesnt look like a teenager to me

[KenZ @ Dec 17th 2006 1:37AM]

Gud lord.... if its a kid.. fine, if its a teenager? well, not much have a sympathy over this kid. lets turn this logic around... well, how do you feel if your teenager kid have the advantage over you 'adult'? where they can know where you're everyday? this might not relevant since and only because "adult" is the one who's making the money?
this Technology is awesome.... but isnt it better to cap the useage of credit? while after that they are limited to only be able to call several "important" contacts?
Tis tech is smart,.. yes.. wonderful, its just not wise enough

[tchiseen @ Dec 20th 2006 9:37AM]

Kids talk on phones way too much. It's good someone's doing somthing, but I think that this is another job for *tada* Natural Selection! If cell fones emit some radiation and prolonged exposure fried ur brain, then pretty soon these kids will be weeded out of the gene pool.

BTW if i lived in korea and had to listen to their annoying voices on fones, i would do whatever to get em all shut up.

[Alfred Chew @ Jan 28th 2007 3:07AM]

Will this restriction work in this high tech country?

[alfredchew @ Jan 28th 2007 1:29PM]

This is something which we as adults need monitor their progress. Technology is good if it is put to the correct use..

http:alfredchew.wordpress.com