I don't think that's the problem here

Mr Rob Menendez is shocked, shocked, that his 10-year-old racked up a massive mobile phone bill for using "premium rate" SMS services. Quite frankly, so am I. But not quite for the same reasons.

TWO months ago, I was shocked to see a charge of $140 on my 10-year-old daughter's SingTel mobile phone bill. Upon further investigation, I found out that it was for a premium-rate SMS trivia quiz from a company called Glomobi, where each SMS was charged at $3.

My daughter said she had received an SMS inviting her to participate in a trivia quiz and she responded to it. Every time she answered a question, she would get another SMS, and she continued replying to each one. She, however, did not realise she was being charged all the time.

Mr Menendez believes children's phones should be protected against unsolicited SMS messages, especially ones that can make his heart hurt via shrinking the contents of his wallet.

I'm just shocked that a 10-year-old is given a phone and not educated to use it responsibly. Don't parents tell kids "don't talk to strangers when we're not around" any more? If they still do, why would it be any different when it comes to mobile phones?

I'm shocked. Shocked.