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• Wal-Mart Presents: Hannah Montana Wake-Up Calls!

  I take this personally—seeing as we share the same first name, and now every time I introduce myself to a girl under the age of 12, she starts calling me HaMo. I’ve been a silent victim of Miley Cyrus' rampant fame for far too long, and I’m fighting back! Today’s Washington Post had a story entitled “It’s Hannah Again. Should We Take This?” At first, I was terrified that the article would be about the popularity of the name Hannah for baby girls in the past five years. But what I found was even worse. Read More... Posted Aug 01 2008, 03:30 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: disney, shopping, teenagers, cell phones, Generation X, tweens, Wal-Mart, hannah montana, bad companies, back to school, miley cyrus, exploiting teens, shopping reminders, marketing to teens, phone calls, exploiting workers, wake-up calls

• The Biggest Driving Mistakes Moms Make

  As responsible parents, we'd never drive drunk, tailgate out of road rage, try to apply makeup or read while driving, right? But turns out some very common behaviors are just as dangerous. According to this story from MSNBC, a recent University of Utah study found that subjects using cell phones in a driving simulation had three accidents, while those who were drunk had none (although I take major issue with the story for this... Read More... Posted Jul 29 2008, 04:32 PM by AmyinMotown with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: driving, dangerous, cell phones, sexism, sippy cups, accidents, distracted driving, convenience

• What's Up With No Cell Phones in Kids Books?

  On about our 20th reading of Llama Llama Red Pajama, it struck me that Mama Llama was doing dishes while talking on a slimline, wall-mounted, spiral corded phone, and I wondered if my kid even knew what that was. I asked, she shrugged her shoulders, which could have meant "no" or could have meant "I'm not a trained monkey ... keep reading!" Later, I flipped back to see when it was published, 2005. Christ, even my in-laws had upgraded to a cordless by then. That's when I started seeing dated technology in everything we read.   Read More... Posted May 14 2008, 03:01 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: children's literature, cell phones, Slate, Goodnight Moon, kids literature, outdate technology, llama llama red pajama

• I Have Seen The Future, And It Is . . . Cell Phones On Planes

  I'm one of those super-neurotic passengers who checks to make sure my cell phone is off at least fifteen times before take-off, lest it "interfere with navigational equipment," as the flight attendants always say - a warning I always interpret as, "crash the plane." But I guess cell phones don't interfere too much, as Air France is already testing cell phone service on flights, and the European Union is expected to allow cell phones on flights through EU air space as early as this summer.   Read More... Posted May 12 2008, 09:25 AM by asflutz with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: cell phones, HANG UP Act, Federal Aviation Administration, cell phone service on airplanes

• Cell Phones More Dangerous Than Cigarettes

  Thank God for cell phones.  Now, I don't have to be afraid of breaking down along the most rural, deserted stretches of the Pennsylvania Turnpike with no one to turn to for help besides the red-eyed, wild-haired, six-fingered truck driver who pulled over to offer me a ride.  I don't have to worry that one of my daughters might break her nose on the playground and the hospital won't be able to reach me to give consent for the immediately necessary reconstructive surgery that would prevent her from looking like Karl Malden for the rest of her life. Most importantly, I no longer fear long, boring car rides with no one to gab to.    Now, a British cancer expert is trying to rain on my parade . . .   Read More... Posted Mar 31 2008, 08:29 AM by asflutz with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Cancer, cell phones, safety, radiation, Vini Khurana, brain tumors

• TLK2UL8R POS (Um, what?)

  In case you weren't sure, text messaging has caught on big with the teen/tween set. The New York Times says that this is a way for them to talk without their parents knowing what they're talking about. Gee, I had to actually go outside if I didn't want mom to know what I was up to. Between texting and not walking five miles to school, up hill, both ways, these kids today have it way too easy. Translation of the title of this post is after the jump. Read More... Posted Mar 10 2008, 11:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: teenagers, cell phones, tweens, texting, sms, text messages

• Does A Cell Phone Zap Sperm?

  Well's Tara Parker-Pope tackles a question that I hadn't even thought to ask: will carrying a cell phone in a pants' pocket have a negative impact on a man's fertility. Read More... Posted Feb 22 2008, 04:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: cell phones, sperm, fertility, Tara Parker-Pope, pants

• Cell Phones Disrupt Sleep

  I just read about a new study funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum that concludes cell phone use right before bed can disrupt sleep.  Naturally, my first thought wasn't, "Maybe I shouldn't use my cell phone before bed," but, "Wow, a study funded by an industry that concludes using that industry's products might be bad for you.  Who said there's no integrity in big business?"   Read More... Posted Jan 21 2008, 02:05 PM by asflutz with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: cell phones, sleep, radiation

• Seven Medical Myths Even You Might Believe

  I have always thought the ban on cell phones in hospitals was total BS. Why in the recovery room, where I was resting after giving birth – hooked up to zero machines and monitored only by a nurse wielding a blood pressure cuff, did I have to suffer the inconvenience and expense of a poorly positioned phone with a short cord that required me to push about about a billion buttons to get an outside line and charge the call to a credit card? Not to mention, all the numbers I wanted to call were stored not in my post-partum brain but in the cell phone I wasn't allowed to turn on! So I read this “Seven Medical Myths” with a great sense of satisfaction.  Read More... Posted Dec 23 2007, 03:47 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: turkey, cell phones, Mythbusters, water, common sense, passive-aggressive, medical myths, brains, shaving, vision

• What, Your Kid Doesn't Have a Cell Phone Yet?

  I live under a rock. I'm pretty sure I do, anyway. Otherwise, why would I feel chagrin at reading that cell phones are now being marketed to kids as young as five? Hello? Why does a kid that age need a cell phone anyway? We parents don't let kids out of our sight anymore so it's not like little Billy needs to call home to see if it's lunchtime while he's down playing at the creek all day. And even if Billy was playing down at the creek, unless he's also operating heavy machinery while plowing the back 40, a good walkie-talkie does the job just as well. Read More... Posted Aug 04 2007, 08:08 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: kids, disney, cell phones, tweens

• Cell Phones Are Dirty! Ew!

  OMG! Cell phones, you know, those things we give our kids to play with whenever they demand them (at least in my house...my three-year-old routinely dials up all sorts of people and then holds imaginary conversations with them)? They're...dirty! Ew! Yep, completely germ-ridden! Apparently wiping it off on the leg of my jeans isn't doing much to disinfect my phone. (What?? Doesn't everyone do that?) But yeah, apparently your phone may be rife with Candida albicans, or maybe the bacteria that causes...acne. So, ew. Wipe it down a bit before you give it to your baby to suck on. And maybe after, too. Whatever. [this breaking, earth-shattering news brought to you by Gizmodo]  Posted Jul 03 2007, 03:55 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: babies, cell phones, germs, bacteria, Candida, gross

• Solar Powered Purse

  This is the story of my life: I'm out somewhere and I absolutely have to make a phone call to let my sister know I'm running forty minutes late because she's waiting for me and I look down at my phone and realize I haven't charged it in weeks and it starts beeping angrily at me to let me know it feels really neglected in the power department and as I dial I can picture my sister's irate face and then the damn phone up and dies. My life on a slightly better day: I finally make it to the track for a run and I go to turn on my iPod and it coughs and splutters because I haven't charged it either, pretty much not since I got it. In other words, my electronic accessories get the shaft, and so they feel no guilt in letting me down at crucial moments. That's why this might just be the answer to my prayers. A tote bag that charges stuff using solar panels. Plus you could actually fit things in it, an essential feature for moms, who have to lug around spare band-aids and little bags of wipes and the teddy bear you said you weren't going to carry for them and a few cheese wands. My only request is that I want this thing in all black. And perhaps there ought to be a man-bag version for the, well, men.   Posted Jun 25 2007, 09:03 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: cell phones, busy families, diaper bags, iPods

• Attack of the Sanctimommy: Don't Talk on the Cell Phone, Loser

  We all have an inner sanctimommy.  Some of us are simply better at hiding it than others.  You recognize her by the tilted head, the squinty eyes, the slightly disappointed turn of the mouth. In this edition, someone is very very troubled by the naughty parents talking on cell phones and Ignoring! Their! Children! The horror!! The money quote: Kids get short-changed when Mommy is talking to a person on the phone instead of the child right there. Do you know? If we focused all of our attention every living second of each day on our kids it still wouldn't be enough? This doesn't mean that one should ignore the child.  But it does mean that sometimes parents need to multi-task.  How the hell else are those doctor's appointments going to get made?  Posted Jun 11 2007, 11:41 AM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: cell phones, Mom 101, ignoring kids, parental cell phone usage, perfect mothers, sancti-mommy

• New York City Parents Rally For Phones

  A judge threw out a lawsuit filed by 8 parents of New York City school students to dismiss the mayor's ban on cellphones in public school buildings. The parents say the phones are a necessity for safety reasons and their children should be allowed to carry them to school, but should not be allowed to use them during school. The judge said the phones are being carried by teens and even younger tweens who lack self control and therefore can't have the phones around. The Department of Education says students have been caught using the phones to cheat and to keep in touch with friends during class time. Shocking! I absolutely adore high school students and their broad sense of the world. Like this student who explains, "And I think it's going to be a giant loss if we lose our cell phones, not because so we can talk to our friends, but for basic responsibility purposes.”  Responsibility Purposes. Right. A mother who was part of the suit mentioned how her daughter was unable to contact her parents after 9/11 because she had no cell phone. I'm sorry to tell you this but I know several people in the city on 9/11 who did have cell phones and they didn't work. Read More... Posted May 13 2007, 05:04 PM by Melissa Summers with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: cell phones, high school, students

• Modern Etiquette: Remove the Bluetooth Handsfree While Giving Birth

  Although I don't own a Bluetooth handsfree headset, I want one. Who wouldn't want to look like a Borg with a third earlobe? Unfortunately, my call volume currently doesn't support such an extravagance, so I will have to be content with coveting an iPhone like everyone else. However, there are still plenty of Bluetooth Borgs out there despite them being reviled in GQ (have they not seen the Hello Kitty version?), so it's clearly time to address the appropriate etiquette that has developed surrounding these devices: 1. They're okay to wear to the gym, but not in a sauna. (Do they melt or what?) 2. Dentists? Yes. Doctors? No. (While they're treating you? A dentist? Really?) 3. While breastfeeding? Sure! While reading a bedtime story? No! (Unless you've already read it 52 times, in which case I give you permission.) 4. While sleeping? Okay, but not during sex. (!!) (Unless #3 applies, somehow.) 5. During divorce proceedings? Yes. During weddings?  "Probably not". (Unless it's yours.) 6. Absolute "no-no's": while giving birth. Or while fishing. (No comment.)  Posted May 06 2007, 07:24 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: cell phones, giving birth, bluetooth etiquette

• Things Fall Apart: Kid Cell Phones

  You know when you're in the sandbox making pretend cupcakes, and the kid next to you is having a really loud conversation on his toy cell phone and it's so annoying you just want to smack him? Now you can turn to him and whisper, "Don't choke." These toy cell phones have just been recalled because a little pin in the cell phone flip-top can fall out, presenting a choking hazard. Pshaw, who uses a flip-top nowadays? Why, any toy phone bigger than a matchbox is soooo last year, unless it's a toy Blackberry or iPhone. The phones played songs, had sound effects, and could record messages. You mean kids would listen to the same recorded message over and over and pretend it was one half of a conversation? Hmmm, sounds like when I'm talking to my mom. Chances are any toy with repetitive songs and sound effects makes many parents happy for a recall.   Posted May 04 2007, 12:03 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: toys, recall, cell phones, things fall apart

• Old Cell Phones Aren't Toys: Kids Using Them to Dial 9-1-1

  Here's something I hadn't considered as happening:  some kids are dialing 9-1-1 from the cast-off cell phones their parents are giving them to use as toys.  Hell, my three-year-old demands my very active and nowehere near cast-off cell phone from me all the time (he must be in league with MetroDad's daughter), and while he's changed my ring tones and other settings and dialed various people, he hasn't called 9-1-1.  At least, I don't think so.  Can I be sure? But this article makes a good point:  cell phones are still programmed to call 9-1-1 even if they're unable to make other calls because they've been deactivated, at least as long as there is still battery life left in the phone.  And if the phones are deactivated, emergency workers are unable to easily trace the calls and so haven't a clue as to whether there's actually an emergency or not.  Not only would this drive 9-1-1 workers nuts with annoyance or worry or both, but it's using up valuable resources just to answer the phone and hear "Is Grandma there?" from some button-happy toddler.  Solution?  Take the battery out of your old phone before giving it to your child to use as a toy.  Or, donate your old phone for cash, for battered women, for soldiers, for a charity you specify, for Special Olympics, or for any number of reasons.  Posted Apr 09 2007, 10:01 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, cell phones, unruly toddlers, 9-1-1

• Does Your Cell Phone's Brand Out You as a Parent?

  Does the cell phone you use say something about you as a person? According to a Neilsen survey, yes indeed it might. Family-minded people, among others, gravitate toward Nokia phones, while LG is the phone of choice for moms and stay-at-home parents. Motorola phones are for the young and fashion conscious (and also for me. Ha!). Look, let me tell you what Neilsen doesn't seem to know: moms and stay at home parents have the phone that you get for free when you re-up your contract. And the reason for that is that if you are a baby, the cell phone is nirvana. A baby will purposely cry at the top of its lungs in the back seat of the car until an exasperated parent reaches back with a cell phone, resulting in instant bliss. And if you're going to let your mobile phone double as a chew toy, you're hardly going to carry a Blackberry. You're getting the cheapest phone with a camera. My kids are somewhat past the age of destroying cell phones, but they can still be distracted with one in a pinch. And that's why my Razr was a handmedown from my husband--no way I'm putting a phone I paid for in the line of fire. So anyway, parents don't carry LG phones because they want to. They carry them because they got a good deal. LG may have another advantage that puts it above the competition within the parent market: it's one of the few manufacturers that makes phones (including the kid-friendly programmable Migo) which support Verizon's Chaperone service, an option that allows parents to keep track of their children's whereabouts via GPS technology. Posted Apr 03 2007, 07:34 AM by Patti with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, parents, cell phones, Verizon Chaperone, LG Migo, mobile phones

• "Bluetooth Parents" Need to Hang Up the Phone

  I can't tell you how many nannies and mommies I see at the park with cell phone earbuds and Bluetooth hookups attached to their ears. "Hang on, hang on, Lizzie's swinging and I've got to get her down ...." Of course, the conversation could go like this: "I'll call you back; Lizzie's swinging." Sadly, it never does. I'm not the only one who finds it annoying. Jenny Blackburn at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's "Adventures in Parenting" blog calls them "Bluetooth Parents" -- that elite cadre of men and women who feel "compelled" to look like crazy insane homeless people who chat with themselves. OK, I made that last part up -- but I do think they look silly. Still, Jenny wonders, why do people wear them even when not in use? Good question. It's almost spring (hope, dear god, hope), so hang up the phone and enjoy that childhood fresh spring day with the kids. Posted Feb 19 2007, 01:57 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: kids, mommy blogs, behavior, cell phones, tech, techology, mommies, bluetooth parents, seattle post-intelligencer, park

• AT & T Adds More Parental Controls to Cell Phones

  For those of you that are worried about how your kids are using their cell phones, AT & T is introducing Smart Limits. This is different from the LoJack that I am planning on using to track down my kids when they get old enough to pester me for cell phones (suckers), Smart Limits is focused on stopping kids from downloading a million little things (like ringtones or games) that will nickel and dime you to death or browsing adult content (a.k.a. dirty porn) websites. Smart Limits also has features that will manage your children's television viewing and stop unwanted incoming calls. You can also enable a feature that will allow you to see exactly what your kids are viewing on the internet and how long they spend on each site. My kids are only two, so their internet time is mostly spent looking at pictures of themselves on flickr, talking to my parents on the webcam, or forcing to me to find pictures of Elmo or Pablo from "The Backyardigans". Given that information, I'm not that sure I will want to know how they are spending their time online when they get old enough, but at least now the option is available.   Posted Feb 12 2007, 02:40 PM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: cell phones, Parental Controls, AT & T

• South African Pre-Teen Busted for Prank 911 Calls

  Tertia over at So Close found a real parenting nightmare. A 12 year old boy in South Africa got caught making prank calls to emergency centers.This kid got busted for calling in seven different false alarms to several different centers. Some of the calls resulted in very costly searches that dispatched ambulances and even rescue helicopters. The kid was making the calls from his cell phone.  My kids are only two, so I don't have any idea how I would handle it if my 12 year old asked for a cell phone. I guess I would get him one if he promised to use it in an appropriate fashion and not use a bazillion minutes every month. So, my question (and Tertia's question, actually) is how do you punish this offense? South Africa and the local authorities that are out all of that money cannot sue a 12 year old. How accountable is this pre-teen? How responsible are his parents? How would you deal with it if it were your son?  Posted Jan 10 2007, 05:39 PM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, So Close, cell phones, false alarms, 911, South Africa