Some British parents, warned cell phone could cause possible harm to brains of children, are angry that programs may be broadcast via the cell phone.
The BBC, MTV and Walt Disney may produce program that can be downloaded to the latest generation of cell phones, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The programs would include cartoons that last about two to three minutes and are targeted to the 1.5 million British pre-school children.
William Stewart, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency, has called on parents to ban cell phones for children under the age of 8 and advised teens should be restricted to text messages because of concerns over microwave radiation.
Sian Meredith, a spokesman for the group Mast Sanity, which campaigns against cell phone use for children, described telephone programming for children as "terrible and outrageous."
J. Paul Marcum of Sesame (Street) Workshop's interactive division, told a conference in Cannes, France, the new programs would be indispensable to parents, as well as children.
"A parent can pass back a telephone to the kids who are in the back of the car," he said. "And it's a device that families are going to carry with them everywhere."
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
