Teenagers connected by the convenience of cell phones

• Jennifer Matters says she has a cell phone mainly so her parents can stay in touch with her.
• Go online for more Scholastic competitions: If you want to read more about this topic from a child's perspective, check out www.ypress.org.
• Cellular phones have become a small, convenient and, for many, an inexpensive way to communicate.
• They also have evolved into playful gadgets that can take photos, access games, send messages and sport ear-catching ring tones.
• These features make them attractive to younger and younger consumers.
• According to the Yankee Group, a Boston-based communications and technology research firm, 56 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds in the United States own cell phones today.
• Those figures ring true for four Indianapolis middle-schoolers, who estimate at least half of the students at their schools have cell phones.
• Alexis Keen and Ellen Griffitts-Cohen are eighth-graders at Guion Creek Middle School in Pike Township.
• Samantha "Sam" Hupp and Jennifer Matters are sixth-graders at Belzer Middle School in Lawrence Township.
• With prices falling and many companies offering family plans, extra phones can be added for a lower cost.
• "My dad's work pays for his cell-phone usage.
• Sam said her phone is an important connection to friends.
• As phone equipment has gotten cheaper -- in early 2000, a handset cost over $200, compared with about $20 today -- multiple features have been added.
• "I get the Internet and IM (instant messaging).
• Educators suggested the distractions were many, including ringing in class, cheating with text messaging or using the camera to share exams or take photos of students changing clothes in gym locker areas.
• Most of the kids do, but if you get caught with one in class, they can just take it away.