Cheap SIM cards = a potential rise in text bullying?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Cheap SIM cards = a potential rise in text bullying?

UnrealWarCheek

86 posts

Master Geek

#39498 15-Aug-2009 10:08

Hey Guys,

I bought my 2 degrees sim card the other day for $2 with $2 credit (as you all know, or have bought).

But as this is a significant decrease in cost from the $35 that Vodafone are charging from their Sim cards, it's now affordable for a kids or teenagers to buy these cards (say) 3 at a time.

If you want to make crank/threatening calls or bullying text messages, all you have to do is pop one of these cards in, use up the credit, then place in the next sim card.

People making these types of communications wont be able to be traced (I'm assuming).

If I'm correct in my assumptions, your going to see this on the 6 o'clock news in a few months (or weeks) time.

I'm not condoning this practice, but I can't help get the feeling some mischief will come of the cheap sim cards

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249 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#246876 15-Aug-2009 10:13

Most teenagers that I know (I'm a high scool teacher) are on text plans anyway and don't plan to switch to 2D. A huge amount of cyber-bullying occurs via the free mediums of Bebo / Facebook etc

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#246889 15-Aug-2009 10:54

Yeh like manta said, every one of my friends is on txt2000 or boost-txt, so 2D isnt a good option for txting, but calling to bully is viable, but then its not really annonymous becuase they can hear you, so kind of defeats the point

PaulBags

809 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#246894 15-Aug-2009 11:05

Don't handsets have unique ID's? are they logged in call logs, if not why not? I thought handsets can be blocked by those unique numbers if they're lost or stolen...

bender

220 posts

Master Geek

#246898 15-Aug-2009 11:13

I think half these kids need to learn social skills rather than exercising their thumbs. Sending 2000 txt's a month is very very sad.

UnrealWarCheek

86 posts

Master Geek

#246899 15-Aug-2009 11:17

You both make valid points, but the point I'm trying to make is that you can swap in the 2D sim, send messages (or make calls which don't involve voice e.g. laughing, breathing, animal noises, screams), dispose of the sim, and then put your plan based sim card back in. It's cheap and untraceable.

540trickzter

160 posts

Master Geek

#246902 15-Aug-2009 11:29

If you don't want to be txt bullied then don't give out your number at random? How do the bullies get there victims numbers anyway???

BartManGeek

187 posts

Master Geek

#246908 15-Aug-2009 11:40

540trickzter: If you don't want to be txt bullied then don't give out your number at random? How do the bullies get their victims numbers anyway???

by bashing them??

Sharesies

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tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#246909 15-Aug-2009 11:43

BartManGeek:
540trickzter: If you don't want to be txt bullied then don't give out your number at random? How do the bullies get their victims numbers anyway???

by bashing them??

No, usually they have given there number to their friends, and then they have had a fight or something, then they still have the number and do it that way,

PaulBags

809 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#246916 15-Aug-2009 11:50

Heres a thought: cheap sim cards could make it easier for txt bully victims to change their number. Give out the new number to the people you still trust, no longer receive txts from the bullies. Simple, and now it only costs couch change.

sbiddle

30853 posts

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Biddle Corp

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#246917 15-Aug-2009 11:54

It really does surprise me NZ hasn't moved towards compulsary registration of prepaid SIM's.

In most countries you need to provide photo ID.

Niel

3267 posts

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Trusted

#246920 15-Aug-2009 12:21

South Africa (and the rest of the Southern African countries) has an amazingly high penetration of pre-pay cell phones. You buy a SIM for 50c which includes a free music demo CD. There is no registration of your details at all. What you do it teach your kids that a few letters on a tuny little screen can do absolutely nothing to you and just ignore it. I can not understand how we let our kids become so sensitive that a stupid TXT will upset them to the point they do not want to go to school. Or perhaps it is just that in Africa people have better things to worry about like will I have a job tomorrow to feed my family.

There is a lot more damage that can be done with $2 - you can start a fire with less. So I'm not worried about a cowardly person anonymously pressing a couple of buttons.

Can't you lock you phone to accept calls from only your phone book, so also only accept TXT from your phone book? Perhaps that's a feature the cell phone manufacturers can add if they believe there are enough people that would be interested in such a feature.

You can never have enough Volvos!

Niel

3267 posts

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Trusted

#246921 15-Aug-2009 12:22

111 calls are a greater concern, but there they track you mobile to the cite you are connected to so should be able to find you.

You can never have enough Volvos!

freitasm

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#246925 15-Aug-2009 12:27

Every call and SMS you send has the IMEI recorded against it. If things really get bad it's easy to track a handset.

I am with Niel. Disregard SMS and teach your kids that likfe can be mean sometimes. And to stand for themselves. And always talk to parents. They are supposed to be their best friends.

manta

249 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#246961 15-Aug-2009 15:11

I sailed to NZ from the UK, passing thro' 20+ countries on the way; many in europe, the carbbean and the pacific. In every country that I bought a SIMcard ID was NOT required. Nor was it needed in the UK.

TXT bullying is but one facet of the many ways in which kids are mean to one another, all of the other ways are free, ranging from social network sites to a good old set-to in the playground. Cheap SIMs are not an issue.

bender: I think half these kids need to learn social skills rather than exercising their thumbs. Sending 2000 txt's a month is very very sad.

That's rich given the medium you're using! :-)

The mobile phone is here to stay. Kids can't afford the extortionate mobile phone call charges and TXTing, together with MSNing etc is the new way of communicating, like it or not.

FWIW most kids think email is already a thing of the past, something their parents and grand-parents do! Everyone else keeps in touch via Bebo, facebook etc.

freitasm: I am with Niel. Disregard SMS and teach your kids that likfe can be mean sometimes. And to stand for themselves. And always talk to parents. They are supposed to be their best friends.

You can't disregard SMS any more than you can disregard the weather. Sadly, the kids who are bullied already know that life can be mean and they don't know how to stand up for themselves because they are usually different to the 'norm'. This is often because the parents are not doing their job of rearing their kids and socialising them - the parents are often the cause (directly or indirectly) of their kids being bullied.

old3eyes

9120 posts

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#246987 15-Aug-2009 17:02

sbiddle: It really does surprise me NZ hasn't moved towards compulsary registration of prepaid SIM's.

In most countries you need to provide photo ID.

Yeah. Just what we need. More nanny state regulations..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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