Luckhurst, Tim, “Don’t Call Me, Sir William,”  The (London) Times, 12Jan05, p. 18.

OVERVIEW

In response to Sir William Stewart’s report, Mobile Phones and Health, Jan ’05, Tim Luckhurst has written a humorous op ed under Comment. He begins, “Do mobile telephones harm children? Sir William Stewart (NRPB) is not sure…. Sir William is out of touch. Mobiles are gravely injurious to health. Whether they cause tumours is not instantly relevant.” This writer goes on to describe the use of mobiles by his own children. Then he gets to his satirical point.

Adolescence was a bad time for communication before the advent of the mobile. Now there is no need for teenagers to talk at all. They need not abandon television to grunt at their parents but text instead. Calories burnt by climbing and descending stairs are not expended at all. Even the infinitesimal energy required to type a message has been reduced by the use of two thumbs and the elimination of vowels.

When calls were announced from the family telephone the risky business of adolescence was never private. Now calls to potential boyfriends, girlfriends, or drug dealers, which previous generations walked to telephone boxes to conduct, can be made from the bathroom…. Children need not even walk to (photo shops) to get pictures developed.

As for secondary harm… the impact on innocent adults is grim. Our mental health is imperiled by inane, polyphonic ring-tones. We face huge bills for fatuous communications that occur only because they can….

This editorial is worth reading in its entirety. The writer concludes, still facetiously, “It is plain that mobiles render our children fat, lazy, sullen, static and stupid and, contrary to his (Sir William’s) suspicions, the risk increases with age until about the thirtieth birthday.”

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1.   What’s funny, what true, and what’s false with the above article?

2.   Do you consider mobile or cell phones worthy of satire and discussion?

3.   If not, why not, and if so, what would you discuss?

IMPLICATIONS

1.   Mobile phones are a technological and sociological phenomenon. One must have some opinions as to why and how they are to be used.

2.   Mobile phones also bring up issues of etiquette and discipline. Many report their annoyance over conversations that invade their personal space. Mobile phones have caused serious automobile accidents on several continents. The South African Sowetan (18Jan04, p.4) reports a “Brother killing a brother over a cell phone.”

Dean Borgman  c. CYS