Cellphones help kids keep in touch with parents
By Martha Irvine

CHICAGO — There were two things 11-year-old Patty Wiegner really, really, really wanted for Christmas. One was a furry, playful dog that's now filling her parents' home with the sound of barking. The other makes a different kind of noise — it has a ringtone that mimics rapper 50 Cent's hit song "Candy Shop."

While some might question why someone so young might need one, and some scientists have expressed health concerns, Patty is one of many kids her age who are asking their parents for cellphones. And increasingly, they're getting them.

"It's cool and popular," Patty, a sixth-grader in Valrico, Fla., says of her reason for wanting the mobile phone. "And I can talk to my friends and talk to my dad and mom."

Her mom, Lisa Wiegner, wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea but gave in because she likes knowing her daughter can contact her if she needs to. "And," mom says, "I wanted to be able to be in touch with her in an emergency."

Some parents have been prompted to add their kids because their wireless companies offer "family plans," giving them a specified number of minutes to chat with one another each month.

Now, a few other companies are pushing the trend further by creating specific products for "tweens," a population of preteens as young as age 8 that some consider the next big, untapped market of cellphone users.