Mobile phones a 'must-have' among teenagers: Assocham

Over 85 per cent of teenagers own cell phones due to an increase in pocket money and absence of parental monitoring, the study claimed.

"Despite restrictions on using mobile phones in school, the ground reality is that more than two-thirds of teenagers use cell phones in the school premises," Assocham Secretary D S Rawat said in a statement.

The chamber has surveyed about 2,500 school students and their parents in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune and Goa.The survey said that teenagers in metropolitan cities have showed increased dependence on possessing mobile phones, which have become a must-have item in tandem, the survey said.

The mobile penetration is increasing at a rapid rate in the country.According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), telecom operators in the country added 17.10 million subscribers in September this year, taking the total number of mobile users in India to 687.71 million.

The study revealed that many children use their phones not only for talking purposes, but also availing other value-added applications like MMS and online chatting.The regular usage of mobile phones among teenagers could cause addiction and expose teenagers to health hazards like smoking and drinking, it said.

Youngsters who excessively use cell phones are more prone to abnormalities like disrupted sleep, stress and fatigue as they spent most of their time in phone calls, SMS, MMS and online chatting, the survey said.

Further, it said, over 90 per cent of parents said that they bought mobile phones for their children so that their children remain busy with it and do not to disturb them.

However, over 50 per cent parents said that cell phones play a vital role in communicating with their children, especially during emergency, it said.About 60 per cent parents said that students should not be allowed to use mobiles in the schools, while 23 per cent said that youngsters should have an access to mobiles, the study said.