PUPILS CELL-MESSAGING CRAZE WORRYING

Oh for goodness sake! If parents cannot control their children and the behaviour of their children, don't blame the internet, cell phones, schools, the government, the ozone layer and anything else that you would like to put in here.

If your children don't do what they are supposed to because they are chatting on phones then take the phones away, until they can behave more appropriately. Having a cell phone should also mean having a responsibility!

Who are the parents (and therefore supposed to be in charge) and who are the children? Parents should do the parenting and not allow children to dictate the rules!

Pupil cell-messaging craze worrying
August 24 2006 at 10:00AM
By Se-Anne Rall

An instant messaging system on smart cellphones that allows you to maintain contact with family and friends around the world has taken South African teenagers by storm. MXit is a communication programme that links via the Internet and can be downloaded on to GPRS/3G cellphones.

One message, which can be up to 2 000 characters in length, costs the user 2c and is billed by the service provider and added to the data cost. Once downloaded, the user is able to communicate with other users and enter virtual chatrooms - and this is where the problem starts.

Exposure to pornography

Parents complain that their children become absorbed with their cellphones, often neglecting their studies. The Film and Publication Board is probing the use of MXit at schools, and early findings suggest that in the Western Cape exposure to pornography on cellphones is worse than on the Internet.

Principals have reported pupils being addicted to MXit and no longer paying attention in class. In KwaZulu-Natal, parents have also expressed alarm at the trend. Mother of two Adele Hayes said her 19-year-old son constantly sat with his phone, even at the dinner table. She had also taken her 15-year-old daughter's phone away once because she had caught her chatting to boys on MXit.

Another parent, Nokwazi Mlambo, said her 14-year-old son "doesn't do his chores and neglects his homework when he is on MXit". Dorothy Koopman, a teacher at Assegai Primary School in Wentworth, said pupils were not allowed to bring their cellphones to school. "But once they leave the school gates, you see them busy on their cellphones."

Designed by South African Herman Heunis, MXit has 1,35 million users. He could not be reached for comment.se-anne.rall@inl.co.za

This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on August 24, 2006