Cell phones have literally replaced the landline telephones of yesteryear. No more are the avocado green push button square box phones or the high cradle pretty pink rotary dial princess phones that was every teenage girl’s dream. Today many homes do not even have a home phone or home phone number, instead opting to use mom or dad’s cell phone number as the family’s main telephone number. So what does this mean for children?

Have you considered that cell phones have a different learning curve for children and even the elderly? Does your child have access to a cell phone at home in the event of an emergency? Many people have an access code that locks their cell phone if it is unused or turned off for a short period of time. Do your children know how to unlock the family cell phone?

Turning many cell phones on requires one to hold the green/send button. Children need to be taught how to use an individual cell phone that is similar to most cellular or mobile phones. Even a locked or no longer activated cell phone must still allow 911 to be called. This is important for a child to know in the even he or she is taken somewhere and finds a phone that can be turned on. Teach a child to always try and call 911 regardless if the cell phone says it has service or not.

If they can plug the cell phone it will keep the cell phone from dying as the 911 operator searches for location of the cell phone. The signal from the cell phone repeats in intervals, this is called pinging. Pinging is when the cell phone sends its GPS location from the cell phone to the cell phone carrier’s tower and the information can be traced by 911 operators allowing them to narrow down the caller’s location.

This is a question for law enforcement but if a cell phone has a low battery I wonder if one should not turn off the cell phone for approximately 15 minutes at a time and then turn it back on and redial 911 [if unable to speak or give location] to allow the pinging of the signal to continue over a longer period of time, especially in a rural, heavily wooded, or desolate area? I will ask a police officer friend of mine this question and update the article with the answer in the near future.

Cell phones are evolving in technology everyday and it will be important to keep children up to date on how to use the latest technology of cell phones in order for children to know how to call for help when needed. Finally if you have a landline and a cell phone number, teach children your cell phone number as you will likely have your cell phone number with you if you are out and your child becomes separated from you. Teaching them the home number is obsolete and outdated, especially now that people can keep their cell phone numbers when they change carriers. Cell phone numbers are becoming lifetime phone numbers for our younger generation.