2002 - 2506.9 million sms sent out (398 per subscription)Wow! Did I send out so many smses? I guess not. On any average week, the number of smses I send out seldom exceeds 10. Of course there will be weeks when it does but those are far and few.
2003 - 6163.9 million (554 per subscription)
2004 - 9532.1 million (652 per subscription)
2005 - 21999 million (1126 per subscription)
2006 - 33350.6 million (1713 per subscription)
2007 - 56888.5 million (2590 per subscription)
2008 - 73000 million
My Other Half sends out even less than me. But, my Son seems to text a lot... but he keeps insisting it's not wasteful as each sms costs 1 sen. Small brains they have at this age, cos they don't earn the money. 1 sen X100 smses a day = RM1 but then again, not all smses costs 1 sen. In these small brains, anything less than 10 sen is not much. Somehow the exponential and compounding effects don't quite register.
I truly regret ever giving him a mobile. It has caused us more problems than anything. I think parents should delay giving their children mobiles... better still wait till they can afford their own.
Many have more than one phone. Some have more than one numbers. All the cheap packages and rates have locked in these people. Talk to any of them and there're surely reasons why they should keep more than one number. The availability of choices have made kids more complicated today. As a result it has given the adults more reasons to work hard to support their children's spending habits. Crazy, isn't it?
I think it's bad that so much money is wasted on something like smses. I used to think that technology helps us save time... but these days, it seems like it wastes more than save. Take all those young people hanging on FB, taking this questionaire, farming non-edible stuff, rearing digital farm animals... And you've got to wonder about all those apps they participate in.. e.g. What kind of fruit you are? So what if you a strawberry? Doesn't make any difference cos you are not going to turn red and wait to be eaten. Or how long you will live? And if the aps you take says you are sexy chick... will you go out and be a sexy chick then? Time spent on those might as well be spent on a book... a dying past time now. Lack of reading - shallow minds.
SMSes - this is only the tip of the iceberg the problems that technology has wrought on our young. Add that to MMS - well you know how a crazily infactuated person can behave... lewd and compromising pics find their ways to the digital realm, with the blessings of their owners. But sometimes twist of events find such pics ending up where it shouldn't. And when the sober age descends, they'd regret... a little exercise of self-control, discipline would have gone a long way. While there are lotsa good, it seems these good don't do much good in the hands of the young.... too much choices. The likelihood of getting sesat in such a scenario has become greater.
I guess where profit is concerned, social responsibility takes a back seat. I am sure, armed with market studies and psychological profiling, these companies are well aware of how teenagers can be enticed. It doesn't need rocket science to know that today, with better standards of living it is easy to manipulate this great urge in young people to connect. Package them just within reach of the young people and they will bite without much thought. And like ciggies, once you are addicted, then they can continue to be milked for a long time.
5 comments:
aiya, if you can afford, why not let him do what he wants... especially since it is so cheap. i believe in moderation, discipline, blah blah blah... but i also think we should pamper. after all, it's not their fault to grow up in this present day and age.
btw, my eldest is 8 and i am already thinking of getting him one of the canggih sets... kakaka... but the usual suspects are preventing me from doing that...
daboss, err.. amelia has 9 years more experience as parent... :)
advice noted, I heard this from 2 other parents too, one parent gave in but 17 year old child has lost phone a few times.... What if u need to connect with them when they are outside like pickup time/place, emergencies etc? Nowadays with me and other half without cell phone like no-can-do....
ah.. daboss.. i used to think like you. Now I don't. Cos in pampering... it brought up other problems. We thought it was cute, he was responsible. For a while it was okay.. then the can of worms got opened, and it was hard trying to contain it. Anyway, hp is not good for kids below 17 as the skulls not 'hard' enough to withstand the whatever waves that they emit.. not proven but there are some studies, and it leads to brain tumor.
Memang it's not their fault... but will be our fault if we spoil them sampai they become a nuisance to themselves. In my dealings with my problem students, usually the hp also has a role to play. So berhati-hati.. my word of caution.
monay.. have one extra phone at home lor. That's wat some of my friends do. Kid goes out... use it.. but no ownership. Ownership is bad. When they are ready.. usually that will be around 18, then they are ready.
daboss.. I forgot. Do you want your teenager to be up into the wee hours of the morning busy texting, talking on the phone and then go to school the next day half functional. Or do you want your daughter next time to plan rendezvous with some boy at night.. then lari out and come back before the break of dawn... you know, the mobile makes the planning much easier.
And monay.. yes.. 9 years is eternity at this stage of my life too.
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