A revolution is about to take place in UK schools as pupils are set to undergo lessons in how to cope with rogue deals, scams and undisclosed charges when downloading ringtones to their mobile phones.

Approximately 4,300 schools across England and Wales are being urged to take part in this new project endorsed by industry watchdog Phonepay Plus. It has created a special ringtone lesson that’s set to be part of the information and communication technology programme.

This is supported by the number of mobile-related complaints received by Phonepay Plus last year which exceeded the 8000. And up to March 2008 the independent watchdog received well over 4000 complaints. Worries that concerned people the most included promotional messages and misleading subscription charges.

According to a recent report in the Scotsman newspaper, the head teacher at Edinburgh’s posh Loretto School, Peter Hogan, also condemns mobile phone scams. He has called for personal finance management in schools to teach children about the dangers of owning a mobile phone.

That view is shared by Max Goodman, a Lancashire teacher, who says: “Young teenagers, particularly those entering secondary school, are relentless in downloading the latest mobile accessories. It’s a good job schools have acted responsibly in making pupils aware of the hidden costs and dangers of downloading the latest ringtones.”
 
All this is part of the new Phone Brain initiative which will teach children exactly how to avoid these risks. The new scheme is operated in conjunction with the Ministry of Sound record label and the government-sponsored young enterprise campaign Make Your Mark.

Organisers are hopeful that whilst it may not prevent young children and teenagers from purchasing commercial ringtones, it may make them more conscious of the hazards in the future. Phone Pay plus added that through raising awareness of phone-paid services it will encourage teenagers to create their own business plans for their own personal phone service. Some pupils will then go on to have the chance of pitching their own ideas to entrepreneur and TV star, Peter Jones, and become a part of the National Skills Academy for Enterprise.

Recent reports have shown that many of those who complained to watchdog Phonepay Plus had only intended to purchase just one commercial ringtone – but then found themselves tied into a more costly subscription that all too often was a struggle to wriggle out of.

Studies have shown that a small proportion of customers have already been charged thousands of pounds due to bad practices involving some companies. According to consumer site Legalbeagles, several teenagers have also had issues with their mobiles.

They have been overcharged for being tied into deals with no understanding of what the consequences might be – either by not reading the small print, or trying to opt out of text services but still incurring charges.

Another feature of the new Phone Brains scheme is to give pupils the opportunity to produce their own personalised ringtones thanks to the affiliation with the Ministry of Sound music label. And with the credit crunch in full swing schoolchildren in Scotland are now receiving education on the dangers of spiralling phone bills and extra hidden charges as part of their maths classes. Features introduced as part of the curriculum include how to use banks, keeping a budget and managing money.

Simon Lazarus for RT