Now, a mobile for four-year-olds

Firefly has 5 buttons, two with with a male and female figure for calls to mum and dad, who can control unrecognised calls

Firefly has 5 buttons, two with with a male and female figure for calls to mum and dad, who can control unrecognised calls

A mobile phone called the Firefly which has been designed for children as young as four has caused alarm among parents.
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More than 7,000 handsets have already been sold in Ireland and the phone is set to be launched in Britain before the end of the year.

Funky: The Firefly has been designed for children as young as four and costs Rs 6,700

The brightly coloured Firefly handset, which costs u00a385 (Rs 6,700), has simplified controls and a restricted set of functions.

The five button handset has an "on" switch, an "off" switch and two buttons with a male and female figure on one calls 'mum', the other calls 'dad' and another button accesses a phone book that contains up to 20 numbers.
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Blocking calls

Despite safeguards the phone book is PIN protected and parents can control to block calls from unreco-gnised numbers parental groups are concerned that mobile phones are being aimed at such small children.
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Parents angry

Aine Lynch, the chief executive of the National Parents Council, said, "Targeting a phone at a four-year-old causes us concern.
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"It gives rise to questions as to where parental responsibility is going. Why would kids need to be contacted by mobile phone? Why are they not in the care of their parents, teachers or supervisors?"

Government guidelines already warn that children may be vulnerable to radiation from using a mobile phone.