With their lives literally revolving around mobile communication devices, majority of Japanese teenagers are addicted to their mobile phones, according to a survey conducted by education ministry released on Wednesday.
The report said that 25 percent of students aged 11 to 12, 46 percent of teenagers aged between 13 to 14, and 96 percent from the age group 16 to 17 carry their mobile handsets anywhere they go. With this trend, experts suggested that as the age increases, the more likely it is for teenagers to use mobile phones.
The survey also revealed that one out of five middle schools students would receive or send an average of 50 messages everyday, which is higher compared to other countries abroad. The students also use their phones to email friends, read books, listen to music and surf the Internet, as well as for chatting.
Meanwhile, 7 percent of students said they send an average of 100 email messages to their friends everyday.
In an interview, education ministry official Hiroyuki Mantani warned parents that the excessive emailing activities can distract young students from their studies as 18 percent of the respondents admitted to use mobile phones during class. Mantani also said that parents should guide their children from using Internet-enabled phones which are very popular in Japan.
Meanwhile, experts said that young students are vulnerable to sex offenders and pedophiles since personal information can be easily accessed using Internet-enabled phones.
The study also showed that more than half of cell phones used by middle school students do not have Internet filter tools that will cut off access to harmful websites. Experts said that this finding is alarming since majority of the respondents said they visit sites which have contents inappropriate for them.
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