Kids With Cell Phones Not as Safe Crossing Streets

Parents can take away a lesson here, too, Schaechter said.

"The change has to be with the parent," she added. "Parents need to consider the risk before they buy the young child a cell phone, and parents need to lay down rules and clear consequences for cell phone use, which includes not using it when crossing the street or not on sidewalks. The research provides an opportunity to teach children responsible behavior before they get behind the wheel of a car."

The second study surveyed 77 children and their parents about cell phone use.

Investigators found no gender differences in cell phone use, although black children who had phones tended to use them more than their white counterparts. Older children tended to use phones more than younger ones. Cell phone use was not affected by the family's income level.

More specifically: 33 percent of children surveyed own a cell phone themselves; 85 percent use a cell phone regularly (their own or a parent's or sibling's); 65 percent "almost always" took a cell phone with them when leaving home; 87 percent talk on the mobile less than 10 minutes a day, while 10 percent used up time 11 to 20 minutes daily; 17 percent talk on the cell when walking outside.

The key author of this study, Kayla Fanaei, was shot dead on Oct. 8, 2007, as she pulled into an elementary school parking lot to avoid conducting a cell phone conversation while driving. The lab of David C. Schwebel, which conducted both studies, finished her work.

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SOURCES: Katherine Byington, doctoral student, psychology department, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Judy Schaechter, M.D., associate professor, pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and director, Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Miami; April 11-12, 2008, presentations, National Conference on Child Health Psychology, Miami Beach, Fla.