Console and PC games have ratings on the outside of the package, so parents at least know
what they are getting into when they make a purchase. Since cell phone downloads offer no
method for displaying ratings before purchase, "there's no way to enforce a rating system.
There could be parents who decide they don't want their kids playing a game at home, but it
ends up on their cell phone."
But Sprint can't control games other companies make, or the websites kids may visit. Ford
agreed that parents need to make an effort to remain well-versed in what their kids are doing
with their phones. Web-enabled phones can go to all the unsavoury places a Web-enabled
computer can, so parents need to keep a watchful eye. Erin McGee, manager of Public Affairs
for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, said the best way to enforce strict
limits is to keep hold of the mobile purse strings.
Since consumers must be 18 in order to purchase a cell phone contract in the United States,
most parents are buying the phones their children carry in the first place.
let that be the