Genachowski Focuses FCC Attention on Problems Caused by Cellphone Use

"As with every revolutionary new technology, broadband Internet brings not only massive opportunities but some concerns,” Genachowski said. “We all understand ’the lure of distraction,'” he said. “We also know how some texts or online messages can be hurtful. This all can have real consequences.” A recent study found that the average teenager uses 11 hours of media content a day and sends a text a message on the average of once every 14 minutes, Genachowski noted. “Since I started speaking, how many of you checked your phone for texts or e-mails?” he asked. “How may of you were tempted to check your phone?"

The FCC can’t impose regulation but should “jump start” discussions, Genachowski said. “I'm here today to learn from students, parents, educators and experts on what we can do to seize the opportunities of wired and wireless broadband while avoiding the pitfalls,” he said. “It’s not about government regulation, it’s about responsibility. It’s about information and education."

Genachowski also told students they should care about net neutrality rules slated for a vote at the Dec. 21 open meeting. “It’s very important that we do this,” he said. “Mark Zuckerberg was only a few years older than you when he invented Facebook in his dorm room,” Genachowski said. “Sergey Brin, who went to school right up in the road in Maryland, was in his early 20s when he invented Google. Neither of them had to ask permission to launch their websites, and if you want to follow your dreams online, you shouldn’t have to either.” He said the rules have broad support “from across the spectrum, including the tech community, leading venture and other investors, carriers, labor and civil rights organizations."

A panel of students, teachers, principals and parents, which Genachowski helped lead, discussed the general ubiquity of cellphones in the lives of teenagers. Genachowski asked if students believe the frequency of texting detracts from education.

Frank Preston, a junior at Howard High School in Ellicott City, Md., said he’s “a firm believer that in the classroom we really shouldn’t have our cellphones.” But “any other time during day, if we're at lunch, on the bus, if we're walking in the hallways, as long as we're following the rules, doing what we're told, there’s no reason that we shouldn’t have our cellphones,” he said. “Just telling a kid don’t do it, because you shouldn’t do it, we're not going to listen,” said Tori Dugger, a senior at McKinley.

Cabin John Middle School and Montgomery County have policies letting students carry cellphones, but requiring them to be put away when class is in session, said Stacey Kopnitsky, assistant principal at the Maryland school. “We do have policies, but does that stop 100 percent of the use? No,” she said. “We're still putting out fires.” Students are quick to say “how important” cellphones are in their lives “to text their friends, their peers, about homework assignments, information they might have missed if they're absent,” Kopnitsky said.

Panelists disagreed on the size of the problem posed by sexting, the sending of sexually explicit messages or photographs between mobile phones. “I haven’t really observed that much of a problem in my school,” said Erin Maines, a sophomore at Falls Church High School in Virginia.

Kopnitsky said her school has uncovered one case of sexting in five years. “It was one case of a young lady who sent pictures and videos that got forwarded to three sister middle schools and two feeder high schools and it was devastating,” she said.

Schools don’t know what to do when they uncover images that may be child pornography, said Parry Aftab, executive director of WiredSafety.org. “People go to jail for moving those around,” she said. “Kids are now afraid when they get them that they may be charged with child pornography. … We're seeing a lot of problems when it hits and it hits a lot more often than what I'm hearing here.”

During a second panel featuring industry experts, Josh Gottheimer, advisor to Genachowski, asked for advice on when children should get their first cellphones. “We at the FCC aren’t in the business of telling parents what to do, we just want to provide information,” he said.

"It’s a really good question,” replied Alan Simpson, vice president for policy at Common Sense Media. “There are a lot of factors that go into it.” Cellphones can lead to problems, he said. “But one of the first reasons every parent thinks about getting a mobile phone for their kids is safety."

Everyone shouldn’t have a cellphone, said Dane Snowden, vice president at CTIA. Snowden said he has three godchildren. “I am a cool godfather for the 10 year old, not for the eight and five year old because I said, ‘no, I don’t think they're ready'” for a phone, he said. “Some of it is maturity. Some of it is responsibility."

Gottheimer asked if carriers are doing enough to educate consumers on cellphone use and children. “Do you think there’s enough in the marketplace?” he asked. “Do parents know where to find this information, what to do? … Should we be satisfied with where we are right now?"

"It’s changing so fast that, first of all, parents have an incredible job of just keeping up with the new technologies, on the one hand, but also the apps and all the wacky places that kids go to out on the Internet,” said Stephen Balkam, CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute. “Parents often are at a disadvantage and we need a great more parental education.”