Cell-phone digital divide?

Maybe not. Here, too, are work-arounds that may not be good for teenagers. Sometimes 17-year-old J.J. Payne in San Francisco goes without lunch so he can pay his $100+ monthly mobile phone bill, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Regardless of income level, cell phones are a hot ticket for teens. "Kevin Truitt, the principal of [J.J.'s high school], has struggled for years with students talking on their cell phones in class or text messaging under their desks. But now, it's the debt his students are racking up with their phones that has him concerned," according to the Chronicle. One student told Truitt he had a $2,000 debt. The scary thing is, one cell-phone service in the SF Bay Area allows minors to sign its contracts without a parent co-signing. For more on this issue, see "Young phoners in debt." [A 2004 Yankee Group survey found that half of US teenagers have their own cell phones, up from one-third the year before.] In the UK, the BBC reports on questionable financial tactics used by phone ringtone sellers - and some tough new rules they face. Looks like US providers could use some new rules, at least where minors are concerned. As for the earlier digital divide - the *computer*-based one - the World Bank says it's closing, Reuters reports.