Mobile phone misuse: 'The authorities must come down hard on abusers'

THE advent of the mobile phone revolution has brought many benefits – not least of all to parents who found added peace of mind from being able to arm their children with a means of keeping in regular touch. But it must be alarming to find that the devices they hoped would make their children safer can be used against them.

The misuse of mobile phones and computers by children has long been a growing concern. But while it is relatively simple to install safeguards on home computers and laptops to prevent youngsters accessing unsuitable sites and chatrooms, regulating their use of mobile phones is far more difficult. And as the technology and access to new services improves it becomes impossible for many parents to keep track of how phones are being used or misused.

First there was "happy slapping" where innocent victims were attacked at random and footage shot on mobile phone cameras and circulated for the degradation of some and amusement of others. At the more extreme end of the scale, footage of a 15-year-old boy punching the rector of a Borders high school was circulated to other pupils at the school, prompting a police investigation as to whether the attack and the filming were premeditated. The attack came a month after the Educational Institute of Scotland distributed guidance packs to staff following a rise in assaults filmed on phones in playgrounds.

Today a headteacher at a major secondary school in Edinburgh claims that 99 per cent of bullying at his school is now carried out through mobile phones and internet chatrooms.

Such behaviour is sadly an unwelcome by-product of advances in technology misused by inadequate youngsters who noiw have an easier way of taking out their frustrations on others. Respectme, the Scottish Executive's new anti-bullying arm, fears in some cases that those tormented could develop problems such as eating disorders and consider self-harm as a result of being targeted.

As with acts of vandalism, perpetrators can be difficult to catch. And although the Government is considering taking action against offensive material being placed on sites like YouTube, legislating against such behaviour is hard. City headmasters have now been asked to draw up a code of conduct detailing inappropriate use of mobile phones but it is doubtful as to whether this will have any effect on those determined to misuse them. Imposing a total ban would be unfair on the majority who use them properly so the education authorities must come down hard on the abusers. This is not a craze that will just peter out.