Mobile Phones Reduce Teen Smoking

from the there-are-conclusions-then-there-are-conclusions dept

Japanese teenagers are spending so much of their money on mobile-phone bills that they can't afford to smoke, a new government report says. High school students there typically get between $55 and $65 allowance per month, and spend between $36 and $55 on their phones, leading researchers to believe there's a correlation between the rising bills and dropping smoking rates. A report three years ago also said mobile phones were causing kids to smoke less, not just because of money, but because it gave them something to do with their hands and were "smart, chic and adult." It's hard to quantify the impact of mobile phones on smoking, especially given the changing social attitudes towards it, but perhaps the handset has replaced the cigarette as the sign of cool for kids.
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  1. identicon
    dorpus, 22 Aug 2005 @ 11:30am

    But Increases Prostitution, Suicide

    "Phone clubs" for teen prostitutes are a serious problem throughout Asia. Net-based suicide clubs are also causing teens to commit mass suicides throughout the country, with cars full of dead bodies and carbon monoxide being found every week.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2005 @ 12:49pm

    Re: But Increases Prostitution, Suicide

    Hey, at least the hoes won't smell like cigarettes anymore...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    fuzzmanmatt, 22 Aug 2005 @ 8:09pm

    Re: But Increases Prostitution, Suicide

    Oh darn. We're loosing people who are dumb enough to think that they aren't worth anything. Poo.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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