T-Mobile has launched a dedicated section on its website covering the issue of mobile safety for children, with input and advice from the NSPCC.

Aimed at those buying a mobile for use by a child, the site provides information on the safeguards T-Mobile has put in place to protect children and offers tips and advice on how to keep them safe when using mobiles. Areas covered range from protecting children from inappropriate content to dealing with SMS bullying.

Zoe Hilton, Policy Advisor, NSPCC says: “Mobile phones are immensely popular with children and offer them new ways of communicating and having fun. However they also expose children to a range of new risks and the private nature of mobile phones makes around the clock parental supervision almost impossible. We support this work to raise awareness among parents and carers about the risks and help them to educate and empower their children to stay safe.”

In January 2005, T-Mobile launched Content Lock, one of the industry’s most advanced filtering systems, which prevents children from viewing 18-rated material on their mobiles. It also ensures that chatrooms available to all customers are fully moderated, which means a trained person checks every message or image.

Jim Hyde, MD, T-Mobile UK, says, “We treat the issue of mobile safety as a top priority and do everything we can to protect children who access services on our phones with a range of features, such as Content Lock. The new advice on our website, that we have developed in conjunction with the NSPCC, extends this further and will help parents and carers to educate children on the potential risks associated with mobile phone use and how to behave responsibly.”

Jim Knight, MP, Minister for Schools, says: "As Schools Minister I am incredibly pleased to see young people in this country grasping technology so well and using it in all areas of their lives. I am constantly looking at new ways we can harness technology as a positive force in education. However, I am concerned about the possible risks of new technology and I am pleased that

T-Mobile is taking these risks as seriously as I am. Safety steps such as these can go a long way to preventing young people from being the victims of cyber bullying or other abuses of technology.”

He continues: “We here at the Department for Education are working closely with phone companies and Internet Service Providers to keep on top of the issue and to ensure that young people can continue to use their phones and computers safely."

T-Mobile has been working with the rest of the mobile industry to ensure that children are protected in their use of mobile phones for a number of years. It is a member of a number of cross-industry bodies including the Internet Watch Foundation, Home Office Task Force for Child Protection on the Internet and the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum. It signed the UK Code of Practice for New Forms of Content on Mobiles in January 2004 and the European Commission Framework on Child Safety in February this year.