By Laura Clark – Mail
24th June 2009
A mobile phone designed for children as young as four is to be sold in Britain. The brightly coloured Firefly handset has just five buttons – including two which call Mum and Dad directly. Details of the phone, which looks like a toy, came as it emerged that more than half of under-tens now own a mobile. Play-mobile: The young girl pretending to use an adult phone (above) could soon have her own child-friendly handset that has simplified buttons and speed dials. There were warnings yesterday that the trend for such gadgets was ‘eroding childhood’ and concerns have been raised over the effect of phone radiation on children’s health. More than 7,000 of the £85 Firefly handsets have already been sold in Ireland. The Dublin-based firm behind the invention is now planning a UK launch towards the end of the year. But Margaret Morrissey, of the lobby group Parents Outloud, said: ‘We are continually eroding childhood and making children miniature adults.