Camera Essay

Should Camera phones be allowed?

Camera phones should not be allowed because camera phones allow peeping toms an easy way to take photos, camera phones encourage inappropriate behavior, camera phones are used to take illegal videos of musical events and lives and camera phones provide a quick and easy way to take photos of family moments but the battery and limited space limit where you can go and what you can do with the phone.

Camera phones should not be allowed because camera phones allow peeping toms an easy way to take photos. Some camera phones are lightly coloured so they easily blend in with tiles and public bathroom doors. Camera phones are lightweight and quick to us, in a matter of seconds you could be taking a photo/recording. Camera phones are easy to conceal under clothing because of how small the phones are. The camera on camera phones is small, so it is easy to take photos/ videos through small gaps and spaces. An article written by smh.com.au states,
“The phone, with its discreet lens, tiny size and ability to immediately transmit images onto the internet or other cell phones, are a voyeur’s dream.” – These attributes of camera phones make it easy for the user to conceal the phone.
“Media reports out of Asia have called attention to incidents such as nude photographs of unsuspecting victims turning up on the internet.” – This is a concern to many people, to find out that you or one of your children has had a picture taken of them and stuck all over the internet.
“With locations including Beverly Hills and New York, The Sports Club/LA – one of the most luxurious fitness centres in the world – was among the first to ban all cell phones in July, limiting their usage only to the lobby.” – In order for the more luxurious fitness centres to keep their reputation, they have to ban everything that could harm their pristine reputations.

Another reason why camera phones should not be allowed is because camera phones encourage inappropriate behavior. Camera phones are light weight and small so they can be taken to any location or at any angle easily and some camera phones have a night mode function so the camera phone can take video footage at anytime of the day. On camera phones the format for the video files (3gp) takes up very little memory on the phone, which means it is very easily spread to other phones (Via Bluetooth or MMS) and it is quick and easy to put the video files onto the computer and load them to the internet or Youtube. Reiter wrote this report on camera phones stating,
“As evidence, Ms. Albenese-DePinto refers to more than 20 cell phone-related incidents that were the subject of education department disciplinary reports. “In several of the incidents, which occurred during the 2005-06 school year, cell phones were at the center of violent struggles between teachers and students.” – This is an example of misuse of the camera phone, taking footage of yard fights or even arguments between students and teachers.
“At a school in southwest Brooklyn in March, a male student used his camera phone to photograph an English exam.” – Another misuse of the camera phone is by taking a picture of the student’s exam, he can send it around the classroom via Bluetooth or MMS and this could create a class wide cheating spree.
“In January, a male student in Manhattan showed a picture of his genitalia to a female school aide, according to an incident report.”In a neighboring school district, a gym teacher reported hearing rumors that two male students were taking inappropriate photos of themselves while at school.” – Another misuse of camera phones, taking pictures of things that are inappropriate and showing them to other students.

Camera phones should not be allowed because the phones are used to take illegal videos of musical events and live shows. Camera phones are easily concealed to get past security guards and cameras at these music events or live shows. Some camera phones are darkly coloured which is not easily seen by security guards and cameras. The camera phone itself is small so you can hide it up your sleeve or in your pocket and remove it at any time. On the video blogging website YouTube there is countless footage of musical events and live shows being taken by camera phones, one example is a person recording Michael Richards (aka Kramer from Seinfeld) when he had a racist explosion at a comedy club. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=QgmCBKPHnSYz – Footage of Michael Richard’s racist explosion)

The positive things about camera phones are, the high quality and easy use of the camera phones which are perfect for family moments and parties but the low battery life and low memory of camera phones which limit what you can do with it and the low durability of the phones (if you drop the phone it is probably going to break) limit where you are and where you can go (Weather wise) with the camera phone. This chart was made by the people at cnet.com, listing the average battery life (lowest to highest) of the four leading phone manufactures and it stats,
LG: 2.75 hrs – 9.5 hrs
Motorola: 2.75 hrs – 11.5 hrs
Nokia: 2 hrs – 15 hrs
Sony Ericsson: 3.75 hrs – 11.5 hrs
This shows only the latest models last the longest where the earlier models have very little battery life so you will have to constantly keep buying the latest phones for longer battery life.

Some people use camera phones for negative acts such as taking photos/video footage of people in changing rooms, showers and gyms. They encourage inappropriate behavior such as taking photos of your genitalia and showing it to classmates. Another negative aspect of camera phones are some people use the phones to take illegal footage of musical events and live shows. A positive thing about camera phones is they have high quality of photos/videos and are great for family moments and parties but the low battery power and memory size limits what you can do with the phone. My final comment is that camera phones should be banned to stop inappropriate behavior from accruing.

Bibliography:
Paragraph 1: Peeping toms
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/19/1071337134944.html – Article about peeping toms

Paragraph 2: Behaviour
http://www.cameraphonereport.com/banning_camera_phones/index.html – *
*Blog entries explaining why camera phones should be banned.

Paragraph 3: Illegal videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QgmCBKPHnSYz – Example of misuse of camera phones (Footage of Michael Richard’s racist explosion)
Paragraph 4: Rebuttal
Battery life charts:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11288_7-6634891-4.html?tag=nav – LG mobile phones
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11288_7-6634891-5.html?tag=nav – Motorola mobile phones
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11288_7-6634891-6.html?tag=nav – Nokia mobile phones
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11288_7-6634891-11.html?tag=nav – Sony Ericsson mobile phones