By Yun Suh-young
Children start using cell phones at the age of 10.4, a survey showed Friday.
About 90 percent of elementary, middle and high school students had a cell phone, according to the survey of 6,052 students by Dankook University Medical College.
By age groups, 82.7 percent of elementary school students had cell phones, while 96.4 of middle schoolers and 96.6 percent of those in high school had them. Monthly phone bills averaged 27,290 won ($23).
Rep. Kim Choon-jin of main opposition Democratic Party released the survey during an audit of the education ministry by the National Assembly.
The average age of the first purchase of a cell phone was eight for elementary school students whereas in middle and high school the ages were 10 and 12, respectively.
“The majority of teenagers use cell phones, increasing exposure to the dangers of electromagnetic waves. But the government remains idle on the issue,” said Rep. Kim. “The government must provide guidelines for proper cell phone use and appropriate use time for students,” he said.
More than 30 percent of students said they used their phones for over an hour each day.
For elementary school, 54.4 percent of students answered that they used their cell phones for less than half an hour. About 30 percent of middle schoolers answered they spent 30 minutes to an hour everyday on their mobile devices. The majority of high schoolers answered that they spent between one to three hours on the phone.
The number of calls they made were between two to five calls every day and the majority of minutes spent on each call was one to five minutes with 51.3 percent.
Less than 50 percent of the respondents said they used headsets and the most popular place to keep the device at 61.2 percent was in their pants pockets. Those who complained they had trouble focusing in class due to handsets were 9.9 percent for elementary, 19.9 for middle and 28.7 for high school students.
The percentage of students agreeing to the ban on cell phone use at school came in at 47.8 for elementary, 25.9 percent for middle and 21 percent for high school.
When asked whether they knew that the electromagnetic waves from cell phones could cause cancer, 51.4 percent of elementary, 59.2 of middle, and 51.7 of high school students answered yes.
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