Study: UK Kids Carrying iPods Are 'Hot' Targets for Muggers

A study conducted by Design Council has revealed that as many as one in eight children between 11 and 16 years of age has had his/her "hot product" stolen from them. As you would imagine, iPods are among the most preferred media players that thieves are keeping an eye out for.

"Research conducted by the Design Council showed that electronic gadgets such as MP3 players and mobile phones were common targets for thieves and muggers," the Telegraph reports. "Nearly a third of 11-year-olds said they carried fashionable technological products worth over �200, with half putting the value of their gadgets at between �100 and �500."

Design Council shockingly revealed that one in three of the victims was, in fact, using their portable device at the time it was stolen. You can only imagine what that does to an 11-year-old who knows his/her parents might just not buy the whole guy-came-up-to-me story.

The same survey also pinpointed exactly how many kids between the specified ages carried their phone with them at the time of the mugging, and how many actually use a mobile phone in the UK. Not so surprisingly this time, 85 per cent of the one thousand surveyed children declared they were carrying their phone with them when they got mugged, while just 8 per cent don't own a cell phone at all.

The Telegraph report mentions a certain Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, who is expected to announce, no later than today, Government plans to extend the British Crime Survey (BCS) to include victims under 16. "I want to ensure that young people are offered as much protection from crime as possible and receive support if they do become victims, whilst also tackling offending vigorously." she said.

David Kester, chief executive of the Design Council, said: "Our objective is to look at the thorny problem of hot product theft through the design lens and come up with some new ideas."

New ideas, as in using tech to stop thieves from nabbing the gadgets from kids under 16 years of age? Sure, that'll work... for a few months. Just like video game consoles, iPods and cell phones are easily hackable. It's always just a matter of time really, but hey, if it can stop criminals in their tracks even for a week, sure, why not?