Strollerderby : cell phones

Kids on Cell Phones: Big Brother is Watching

KeriF — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:01:00 GMT

Do you spy on your kids?

For those of us still in the diapers and preschool stage, that question isn't up for much debate--who doesn't quietly peek into their kids' rooms to watch them play or sleep or fight with their siblings? But for those of us deep in the throes of teenage parenting, it can literally be a question of life and death.

Or can it?

Companies such as My Mobile Watchdog and Mobile Spy are marketing to parents of teens with visions of sexual predators dancing in their heads. Are your kids texting known sex offenders? Are they planning on meeting up with a stranger they met on MySpace? Are they "sexting" their friends? By installing the companies' software on your teen's cell phone, you'll be able to see who's texting your child. You can set up a list of approved texters, and any time your child receives an "unathorized" text, you'll get a real-time text message alert. The service costs about $10 per month.

Parents aren't the only ones using the services; Mike Harris, a member of the Child Sex Internet Investigations Unit in Jefferson County, Colorado, installed it on his own cell phone, then posed as an underage child on social networking sites. Since then, Harris arrested 83 alleged sexual predators, more than half with the help of the monitoring service.

But does that mean we should be infringing on our childrens' privacy? Some child privacy advocates don't think so. But most parents disagree.

"I wasn't going to get my 15-year-old a cell phone and not know how she was using it," says James Green of Sulphur, Louisiana. "I think it's a caring father that wants to know what's going on in her life."

What do you think? Is this sneaky wiretapping or responsible parenting?

Toddler Calls 911 Sixty Times in a Week

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT

The emergency responders in a small Ohio town are at their wit’s end with a toddler who has called 911 repeatedly this week, giggling into the phone and then hanging up.

The calls are coming from a deactivated cell phone, implying that parents gave the child an old phone as a plaything. So far, officials in Middletown, Ohio have been loath to donate the time and resources to seeking out the miscreant caller (or, more accurately, the caller’s miscreant parents), but if the calls continue, they will have no choice but to track the calls and perhaps charge the parents with telecommunication harassment.

As long as there is any battery power left at all in an old cell phone, the phone can still call 911. While this is certainly of no use to a two-year-old, old phones are in great demand at domestic violence shelters, senior centers, and amongst soldiers. A quick Google search can tell you where to donate phones in your area.

It's rather disconcerting that the parents of this phone-happy tot not only did not think to remove the battery from the phone, but also have failed to notice that their child has been tying up the town's emergency resources for an entire week.

Photo: Tech Buzz

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UPDATE - Video Interview Of Woman Caught Driving And Breastfeeding

Brett Singer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT

UPDATE:

"If my child's hungry, I'm going to feed it."

Genine Compton, the Dayton, OH mother who was charged with child endangerment for breastfeeding her child while she was driving. Oh, she was also on the phone, but that's been pushed to the side for now.

See, Compton's kid is breastfed at this exact time each morning. The police don't really care what the reason is, it's dangerous, and also illegal. First, there's that whole carseat thing, but also "the danger [of] an accident [and] possible deployment of the airbag," according to police. Compton says it's the same thing if she gets hit with an airbag. She also says she'll do it again if she feels the need to do so.

The potential penalty of 180 days in jail would put a pretty big damper on the baby's eating schedule, although I suppose Compton could pump and then pass her milk through the bars for someone else to give to her child. Still, one would think that simply not breastfeeding while driving from now on would be a simpler solution.

Visit whiotv.com for the video.

Original post follows:

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A woman in Ohio was driving while breastfeeding. Oh, and she was also talking on her cellphone.

To paraphrase my fellow Strollerderbian Jeanne Sager -- Now this is what I call multi-tasking.

I have a confession to make -- I've never breastfed, obviously, but I have given my infant son a bottle while talking on the phone. I wasn't driving, however. My way seems a little safer.

Driving While Breastfeeding would be DWB. I guess this could be DWBTC? Driving While Breastfeeding and Talking on a Cellphone?

The woman in question was allegedly caught in the act by a fellow motorist, who called the cops. The police then used the license plate number to track down the chatty momma. Her response? "39-year-old Genine Compton...told them she was breast-feeding and wouldn’t let her child go hungry."

Oh. OH. I see. Could you, perhaps, pull over to the side of the road? Just asking.

The charge is a misdemeanor, and the potential consequences are $1,800 fine and 180 days in jail. That seems like a lot of jail time for a misdemeanor, but what do I know.

Dayton police office Michael Burke pointed out that "the legal concern is that Compton had a child in her lap, not that she was breast-feeding in public." Well. Glad we cleared that up.

Source: MSNBC

Image: sxc.hu

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Kids Talk on Cell Phones, Walk Into Traffic

KeriF — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:58:00 GMT

Kids on cell phones are more likely to step into traffic, according to a new study. The results of the study, by the University of Alabama, were published in the journal Pediatrics.

According to the study, one third of Americans between the ages of 8 and 12 have a cell phone. By the end of next year, it's expected that one half of "tweens" will carry one.

When I was 8 I could barely use a rotary telephone, never mind a cell phone.

The study tracked 77 kids as they navigated a virtual street crossing. The kids walked through the simulation 12 times, six with the phone and six without. Kids talking on the phone were 43 percent more likely to step into oncoming traffic.

According to David Schwebel, co-author of the study, the results in the simulator are validated by real-world tests.

So should you take away your tween's phone? Not according to Schwebel. Instead, just teach them to hang up the phone before crossing the street.

Perhaps the parents can take a lesson from that as well…

The French Say: Hey Baby, Get Off the Phone

SunnyChanel — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:32:00 GMT

Oh the French, why oh why do they have such distain for technology. The French not only banned television for kids under the age of three but now they have the audacity to take away their cell phones! I jest, have you heard a three year old on the phone? It’s a mash up of gibberish and pregnant pauses. Now that’s just a waste of your minutes. But really, on a more serious note, the concern on cell phone use and kids is not unfounded.

Researchers in Sweden discovered that children and teens are five times as likely to develop brain cancer due to mobile phone usage. Their findings lead them to believe that there may be an epidemic with young cell phone users later in life. Now regardless of my previous kidding, these findings are indeed serious.

The French, they want to keep their kid’s brains intact. They are banning all advertising of cell phones to children under the age of twelve. They will also ban all sales of cell phones designed for the under six-year-old market (which honestly, I didn’t know existed). And they will have establish new limits for phone radiation and will insist that all cell phones sold must come with earphones.

The Independent stated that the French ban is ‘unique’ :

The clampdown represents the most comprehensive action yet taken by any government worldwide. It contrasts sharply with the stance of British ministers, who have largely ignored the recommendations of an official report nine years ago that people aged under 16 should be discouraged from using mobiles, and that the industry should be stopped from promoting them to children. Since then their use by the young has almost doubled, so that nine out of 10 of the country’s 16-year-olds own a handset.

But really, what is a young kid doing with a cell phone in the first place. It’s hard to argue with that unless you lend them yours for an ‘in case of emergency’ scenario.

What do you think the youngest age a kid should get their own phone?

Source: Eco Child's Play

They Say: Text Messaging Can Fight Childhood Obesity

JeanneSager — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:49:00 GMT

So they have a permanent squint from staring at that little screen and they speak in text-message-ese (or is that only in corny wireless commercials?). Texting can be good for your kids. According to a study in this month's issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, obese kids get the same benefits from texting that they would from traditional food diaries.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina broke families into three groups - one with kids reporting back to parents via text message, one with kids filling out paper diaries and a third not monitoring their intake at all. Parents of the texting and paper diary kids were given a series of questions to ask daily: what was the number on your pedometer today?; how many sugar-sweetened beverages did you drink today?; and how many minutes of screen time did you have today? Before letting them loose, researchers led the families in an educational program to help kids learn better eating behaviors. They were encouraged to reduce their sweets and increase their activity levels.

The kids who answered via their cell phone were more than twice as likely as the paper diary keepers to make the effort to answer the questions. Less than half fell back into their poor eating habits. Perhaps playing a role in the results were the positive feedback messages generated when kids sent in their text messages. A little bit of sugar goes a long way - especially for kids on a diet.

There's a certain amount of irony in the researchers' suggestion that kids limit their "screen time," before putting them in front of a tiny screen to monitor their weight. But a little screen they can take anywhere can take them off the couch and out into the fresh air. Turns out kids can walk, talk, chew bubblegum AND text. And maybe, lose weight?

Image: PocketPicks

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More People Cheating than Ever Before

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:30:00 GMT

Eternal monogamy: the beloved ideal that about a quarter of Americans find impossible to uphold. Marital infidelity is on the rise, according to the New York Times. Since 1972, the General Social Survey has consistently found that about 10 percent of married people cheat, with men cheating almost twice as often as women (12 percent to 7 percent).

But analyzing infidelity trends over the last two decades has shown some marked changes. In 2006, 28 percent of men over 60 reported cheating at some point in their lives, compared to 20 percent in 1991 (Viagra went on the market ten years ago). And among older women, incidences of cheating have increased triplefold—from 5 percent to 15 percent.

We can’t chock this increased infidelity up to boredom after a silver anniversary because the trend holds true for couples under 35 as well. 20 percent of young men and 15 percent of young women now report treating, compared to 15 percent and 12 percent two decades ago.

Theories about the reasons for increased cheating largely center on the advent of the Internet and cell phones, which have made it easier to coordinate extra-marital encounters. But the marked increase in women’s infidelity is harder to explain: are women cheating more now because they are more likely to go on business trips or stay late at the office? Or are they simply more likely to report their infidelities now that there is less (though still much) social pressure for women to be chaste while men are applauded for their sexual exploits?

Whatever the reason, I must admit that I’m looking on the bright side of this increase in female infidelity. I’m certainly no champion of extra-marital affairs, but it happened at these relatively high rates even in hunting and gathering societies. So, if cheating must happen, why should men be the only ones in whom it is expected and even, to do some degree, accepted?

Image: New York Times

They Say: Technology Keeps Families Connected

Amy Kuras — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:02:00 GMT

If you’re reading this, it’s no surprise to you that people use mobile phones and internet connections to reinforce their social ties. That’s borne out by a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life project.

And it’s the most traditional families, with two married adults and minor kids – that are most likely to have cell phones and net connections.

More than half of families surf the Internet with their children, as well. Of course – why else would there be so many Sesame Street clips available on YouTube? It can’t all be nostalgic Gen Xers and Ys, right?

Also, of couples with two mobile phones, 70 percent use it at least once a day to talk to their spouse, and 42 percent talk to their kids via mobile at least once a day – a figure which I find low, personally, since I don’t actually remember how I used to grocery shop without calling my husband about five times to ask him questions and update him on my whereabouts, and he does the same when he’s on kid duty.

More than half, 53 percent, of those questioned said that the quality of their contact with distant family members had improved thanks to technology, while 47 percent said it improved interaction with those they live with.

Where’s all that time to surf and chat coming from? Mostly TV watching – 25 percent of people say they watch less TV now. I’d have to agree – I am usually surfing and blogging and watching TV all at once.

So, to sum up – technology good. Who knew?

Photo: dvorak.org

Mom blackmails daughters ex with nude photos

Brett Singer — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

The punchline? Her daughter, and the ex-boyfriend, are 13 years old.

This is all in "alleged" territory right now, but the basics are wacky: Police in Elgin, Illinois "are investigating whether a local woman used nude photos of her daughter's 13-year-old ex-boyfriend as blackmail to get the two back together." The mother and daughter live in Sleepy Hollow, Illinois. The Headless Horseman has not been charged.

The photos were on her daughter's cell phone, since the kids had been sending nude pics to each other. That's wacky enough but I guess not that uncommon these days. (By the time my kids get to be that age, thirteen year olds won't be doing that anymore, right? RIGHT? Hello, anybody there?) After the kids broke up, the girls' mother found the photos, and allegedly sent "hundreds of threatening e-mails and text messages" to her ex, saying that if they didn't start dating again, she – the mother – would post the pictures online.

Can you say, "much too involved in your daughter's life"? I knew you could.

Adding to the weirdness, the mother could potentially face the following charges: "intimidation, harassment…[and] possessing child pornography." It's that last one that makes me go "whoah." But, if you think about it, it's true, right? Hard to get your head around, but technically true since the boy is underage. The kids won't be charged.

Source: 9news
image: here

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They Say: Cell Phones Don't Break DNA

Miriam Axel-Lute — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:37:00 GMT

Should I relax about my daughter's fascination with my cell phone?

It seems highly likely that the data in a recent major study from Medical University of Vienna showing that cell phone radiation broke DNA (i.e. caused genetic mutations) was fabricated. It was just too close to the data from another study, and the blindness (where you aren't told which samples are which to avoid bias in what you expect) was explicitly compromised, with codes the technician wasn't supposed to have written down all over her notebooks.

There is, understandably, something of a hue and cry, with some researchers fighting back and saying the accusations of fabrication are coming from people linked to the telecom companies.

But what I found most interesting was this comment, which says the whole question may be a distraction. There are a whole lot of awful things people who work with microwave radiation worry about, says the commenter—blindness, tissue damage of all sorts—but DNA breakage isn't one of them. So debunking this study may kind of be like saying "Lead paint doesn't cause diabetes!" It doesn't really answer the question about whether you want a cell phone sitting next your kid's head for extended (or not so extended) periods of time.

My daughter isn't old enough for me to actually consider getting her one yet—for those of you with older kids, how have you made the call?

Photo by derek olson.

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Girl Talk May Fuel Anxiety

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Naturally you want your children to have strong friendships, people they can trust to help them navigate social and emotional concerns. But there may be such a thing as too much talking.

Psychologists call it “co-rumination:” the tendency to dwell on a personal problem with a friend, seeking empathy and validation of your feelings. Anyone who’s responsible for paying a teenage girl's phone bill is probably more than a little familiar with this type of conversation: do you think he likes me? Is so-and-so mad at me? Should I break up with him?

As this tendency has started to figure more heavily into female friendships with the advent of MySpace, Facebook, cell phones, and email—which mean that the majority of friendships can be based on chatting or gossip, rather than activities—researchers have started to wonder if it’s such a healthy way for friends to relate with one another.

Indeed, several studies of third, fifth, seventh, and ninth graders have shown that co-rumination can lead to increased anxiety and depression in girls, at least in the short term. Obsessing about a problem with a friend can make that problem seem bigger than it is—and worries can be contagious: if my best friend is so concerned about how many times a week her boyfriend calls her, maybe I should be, too.

Researchers found that emotional conversations did not affect boys negatively, perhaps because they occur less often or because the tone is different. Boys may be more likely to focus on solutions to problems instead of just venting them, which psychologists say is the most effective way to converse.

One way parents can help their daughters avoid this self-perpetuating cycle of anxiety, obsession and validation, and hence more anxiety is to encourage your children to come to you for advice, so they get the perspective of age at least some of the time. Any other tips for parents to help their daughters most effectively deal with emotional upsets?

Photo: New York Times

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

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:30:00 GMT

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.

Hannah Montana has teamed up with Wal-Mart to bring tweens everywhere “personalized” wake-up calls and reminders to go shopping—for back-to-supplies, naturally. The call is free! The only price is having millions of teens and preteens hear their favorite rockstar remind them to shop at Wal-Mart, the company that underpays its workers, burdens taxpayers by exploiting public health care programs and development subsidies, destroys the environment, and tells its workers how to vote: not Democrat.

If Hannah calls, don’t answer!

Photo: Washington Post

The Biggest Driving Mistakes Moms Make

Amy Kuras — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:32:00 GMT

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: "Tempting as it may be to use free minutes to schedule a playdate…." Sure. Because everything we do as mothers has to be about our children. It's not like we have jobs or friends or volunteer activities we might need to check in with, no, we're just shopping, cooking, cleaning, playdate-scheduling machines.).

Other dangerous behaviors are eating behind the wheel, drowsy driving, and tending to our kids while in the car (passing out snacks and handing over sippy cups, for example). It all comes down to driver distraction. Distractions of just three seconds cause fully 80 percent of accidents.

I know so far, I've been lucky – the multiple times I've reached or glanced back to tend to my kids while driving have resulted in other drivers not hitting me, (but probably wishing they could because I'm driving like an idiot). I must say, my cell phone's been broken for about a month now and while I miss the convenience of catching up on calls while I am out and about, I'm glad I have had a chance to break the habit.

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

Madeline Holler — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:01:00 GMT

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.

Slate has a nitpicky slideshow -- Llama Llama Red Pajama launches the pictoral thesis (I'm vindicated!) -- delving into why kids lit illustrators don't bring the most updated technology to the pages of kids books. One idea is that by dating the technolgy, parents are able to harken back to their own childhoods and develop a fondness for the book. In deconstructing the huge set of headphones on a passerby in Knuffle Bunny, the writer detects a nod to some Brooklyn dwellers' purposeful embrace of old technologies (yes, but would they call for take-out on that clunker of a phone in Goodnight, Moon? Just asking.)

Image: Slate

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

Amy S.F. Lutz — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:25:00 GMT

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.

Here in the U.S., however, things aren't moving along so briskly. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communication Commission have maintained the current ban on cell phones, citing security reasons - although internet services will soon be available on many U.S. carriers. And some members of Congress are trying to pass a law that will permanently prohibit cell phones on airplanes. Members of the Committee on Transportation Infrastructure are proposing what they call the HANG UP Act - "Halting Airplane Noise To Give Us Peace."

But experts predict that a few Luddite Congressmen won't be able to hold back progress for long. Rich Ling, author of "New Tech, New Ties: How Mobil Communication Is Reshaping Social Cohesion," argues, "We really can't say, 'No telephones.' People's desire to use the phone on the plane is not going to go away."

I have to say, I for one would be happy if cell phones were forever banned from airplanes. And a 2005 study found that over sixty percent of consumers agree with me. After all, flying is one of the only times I can actually relax with a book, without my kids, or my computer, or my phone demanding my attention. Who wants to spend two or five or ten hours listening to the person next to her yap on his cell phone?

Cell Phones More Dangerous Than Cigarettes

Amy S.F. Lutz — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:29:00 GMT

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. Dr. Vini Khurana has concluded, after consolidating data from 100 studies about cell phone radiation and tumors, that using cell phones for ten years might double the risk of brain cancer.

Given that three billion people around the globe use cell phones on a regular basis, this risk would make the phones a larger health risk than smoking (which only affects one billion people) or asbestos (far fewer than that).

The cell phone companies dismiss Dr. Khurana's claims as "exaggerated," naturally. And I don't think I've ever rooted more for a completely biased, self-interested industry group to be right.

TLK2UL8R POS (Um, what?)

Brett Singer — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:00:00 GMT

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.

TLK2UL8R = Talk to you later, POS = Parent Over Shoulder. Translations are from Webopedia, but, as the Times points out, by the time you learn these, there will probably be more lingo to learn.

image: Wikipedia

Does A Cell Phone Zap Sperm?

Adrienne Martini — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:30:00 GMT

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.

The answer is less than satisfying (in short: maybe) but the question raises even more questions. Could carrying your Blackberry near your twig-and-berries be an effective form of birth control? Does the size of a man's Nokia correlate with his potency? If he has a Razr, is he straight and true?

These are the questions that I want answers to, Ms Parker-Pope. The gauntlet has been tossed.

Image credit: mac.com

Cell Phones Disrupt Sleep

Amy S.F. Lutz — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:05:00 GMT

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?"

But maybe I should take care to use a land line at night. Researchers announced that cell phones release enough radiation to affect both the amount of time required to enter deep sleep, and the amount of time spent in that necessary stage of sleep. Such altered sleep patterns can result in insomnia and headaches. The body's ability to heal itself, which happens during the deepest stages of sleep, can also be compromised.

The study's results directly contradict a 2007 study by the UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme, which reported that cell phone use caused no immediate harm to the brain.

Ahh, a study funded by an industry that concluded using that industry's products can't possibly be bad for you. Order has been restored to the universe.

Seven Medical Myths Even You Might Believe

Madeline Holler — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:47:00 GMT

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. Apparently, cell phones are not the least bit dangerous for hospitals. Ha! I knew it!

Two U.S. researchers looked at some common beliefs and then searched through medical evidence to see if these beliefs could be supported. They found that cell phone calls in the hospital cause only minimal interference with medical equipment.

The mythbusters also found that those eight glasses of water a day that you never managed to drink (and by “you” I mean “I”) – neither here nor there. No impact on health. Just an impact on number of trips to the bathroom.

Here are some more conventional beliefs that the researchers found no support for: turkey makes you sleepy (there go the lead-ins for nearly every Thanksgiving evening news broadcast); we only use 10 percent of our brains (never heard that one, have you?); shaving makes hair grow back faster and coarser (good news for my upper lip – wait, that was waxed not shaved).

Here’s a myth that threw me for a loop, since it’s one of the mini-lectures I like to give around the house, which make me feel quite motherly. There’s apparently no evidence that reading in dim lights affects your vision. Really? Bummer. I loved passive aggressively turning on lights and pretending to be the only one with any sense aruond here.

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

Karen Murphy — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:08:00 GMT

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.

But look! A Disney phone (surprise!)! With Bluetooth and a video camera! Or the toylike Firefly, such a bargain at 10 cents a minute (those minutes will add up FAST) and with picture buttons instead of a number pad because we don't really read yet at five, do we? And a picture of a woman in a dress means M-O-M, doesn't it? Hello, why is five-year-old Billy needing to call Mom anyway? If he's not actually with Mom, isn't he likely to be with someone who has a phone?

The whole thing sounds like a huge marketing gimmick and a spectacular waste of parent's money. But hey, if you give me a good reason why kids under, say, 13 should have a cell phone I'm all ears.

Cell Phones Are Dirty! Ew!

Karen Murphy — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:55:00 GMT

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]

Solar Powered Purse

Kelly Mills — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:03:00 GMT

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.

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

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:41:00 GMT

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?

New York City Parents Rally For Phones

Melissa Summers — Sun, 13 May 2007 21:04:00 GMT

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.

The district has decided to try a program where students can pay to have their phones stored during the day in lockers. If it's effective in keeping the phones out of the classroom they'll implement it in all schools. It's funny we can't even get enough parents to volunteer for Fun Fair at our school and yet these parents are out there filing law suits to keep phones in their kid's pockets. Wow.