Through the app, users including parents can receive not just smartphone usage control but counseling service from experts. (image: SK Telecom)
SEOUL, July 16 (Korea Bizwire) – A smartphone application designed exclusively for teenagers and their parents has been rolled out to offer special features to protect the teens’ smartphone addiction and provide online counseling services.
On July 15, SK Telecom, largest mobile carrier in Korea, introduced the teenage protection app “T Teenager Safe Pack 2” with features controlling smartphone usage and blocking harmful websites.
Through the app, users including parents can receive not just smartphone usage control but counseling service from experts. SK Telecom, together with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, will offer anonymous online counseling service for teenagers named “117 Chat” through the app.
Mobile Phone Addiction (Overuse)
There is an enormous impact of the mobile phone on contemporary society from a social scientific perspective. In the book Perpetual contact: mobile communication, private talk, public performance[1] the author James E. Katz, PhD, writes: “They have transformed social practices and changed the way we do business, yet surprisingly we have little perception on their effect in our li[ves].” Some people are replacing face-to-face conversations with cybernetic ones. Clinical psychologist Lisa Merlo says, “Some patients pretend to talk on the phone or fiddle with apps to avoid eye contact or other interactions at a party.” In a survey made by Gazelle, “More than 25% of respondents reported that they “almost always” use their iPhone while in a social setting such as during a meal or during a party. In addition, 58% said they use it ‘usually’ or ‘occasionally’ during these settings.” (Wikipedia)
The “117 Chat” service run by the city’s police agency offers free chatting counseling service from psychology experts recommended by the police agency, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Parents and children can get counseling on school violence through the service and police investigation and medical treatment are offered when it is needed.
Meanwhile, the service users can set up to lock certain apps at a certain time by themselves. The parents can also remotely control all the features of the service in the smartphones of their children.
Moreover, the smartphone app sends alerts to the parents when their children press the power button of the smartphone for five times in a row when they are in dangerous situation. When text messages or SNS postings of their smartphones contain certain words suggesting school bullying, the app also sends a notice to their parents automatically.
T Teenager Safe Pack 2 is available at SK Telecom’s app market T Store for free only for SK Telecom teenager subscribers. Currently, it is available only on Android phones.
Written by John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)
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