By Xinhua,
Beijing : Japanese government is starting a program warning parents and schools to limit youngsters’ use of internet-linking cell phones because they are getting so addicted to it, media reported on Tuesday.
The government is worried about how elementary and junior high school students are getting sucked into cyberspace crimes, spending long hours exchanging mobile e-mail and suffering other negative effects of cell phone overuse, Masaharu Kuba, a government official overseeing the initiative, said.
“Japanese parents are giving cell phones to their children without giving it enough thought,” he said. “In Japan, cell phones have become an expensive toy.”
The government is also to ask Japanese makers to develop cell phones with only the talking function, and GPS, or global positioning system, a satellite-navigation feature that can help ensure a child’s safety.
About a third of Japanese sixth graders have cell phones, while 60 percent of ninth graders have them, according to the education ministry.
Most mobile phones in Japan are sophisticated gadgets offering high-speed Internet access called 3G, for “third-generation.”