Baby-proof iPhone apps trigger health warning
- Sunday Herald Sun
- December 04, 2011
Sebastian Wallace, 2, with an iPhone. Picture: Norm Oorloff Sunday Herald Sun
A NEW gadget that baby-proofs iPhones has sparked controversy over the growing number of parents who use the devices as toddler playthings.
The latest research shows 39 per cent of mothers let their children use their mobile phones to play apps, despite warnings there are no guarantees the phones are safe.
Cancer experts and child advocates urged parents to minimise exposing children with developing brain tissue to mobile phones while there was any uncertainty about the risks.
Toymaker Fisher-Price has, after "much public demand", launched the "apptivity case" a plastic case with handles, rattles on the side and a mirror on the back, which safeguards the iPhone.
"Parents can open their baby-friendly app and slot their (device) behind a safe screen to stop their baby accessing files and the home button," a spokeswoman said.
It was a "safe way" for babies to play and learn from baby apps without breaking the phone or making "surprise" calls, she said.
Southbank mother Carly Wallace said her son Sebastian, 2, loved iPhones and iPads and could open up children's games and learning activities on his own.
"They are great learning tools," she said, and did not believe they posed any risk.
Cancer Council Australia's occupation and environment cancer committee chairman, Terry Slevin, said recent research could not rule out the phones were a risk.
He said because there were doubts about whether the phones increased the risk of cancer, people should minimise the use and reduce the exposure to children.
He said cancer was slow-growing and the lag between exposure to a trigger and developing the disease was decades.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/baby-proof-apps-trigger-warning/story-fn7x8me2-1226213098714
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