The mobile aimed at four-year-olds

CHILDREN as young as four are being targeted by a mobile phone company that has created a special child’s phone with simple child-friendly features.

The American-developed Firefly phone, which comes on the Irish market next week, is a voice-only handset with no text message or photo facilities and just five large buttons that will only ring or receive calls from numbers locked in by parents.

Aimed at four-to 10-year-olds, it comes in bright colours such as sky blue, pink and yellow and can also be bought with cartoon character illustrations and accessories such as carry pouches and clips for attaching it to schoolbags.

Irish husband and wife team Kevin and Frances Crean, who have the distribution rights for Ireland, said they discovered the product while searching for ways to keep in touch with their own three children after one of the youngsters became unwell at a summer camp.

They say the phone could help give peace of mind to worried parents concerned about keeping tabs on their own children in the wake of the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann in Portugal.

“Our research with parents told us that providing a mobile phone to their kids would be appealing and useful. However, there were no mobile phones on the market that met parents’ stringent requirements for safety, cost control and how the phone would be used,” said Mr Crean.

However, consumer affairs champion Dermott Jewell of the Consumers Association of Ireland said he doubted the need for the phone.

“I think it’s commercialism gone to another extreme. I don’t see how any four-year-old would need a mobile phone. This is marketing. It’s most certainly not being driven by consumer demand,” he said.

Concerns have been raised about possible damage to the health of children using mobile phones from a young age. However, according to the Department of the Environment there is no research to prove a health hazard.

The Firefly, which has a recommended retail price of €99.99, accepts SIM cards from the main mobile network operators here and will be available from 3G outlets, the Carphone Warehouse, Smyths Toys and Xtravision.