That was the situation in Genoa, Italy, where the elementary-school set was bringing their cell phones to school and calling home whenever the urge hit. One principal banned the phones, saying that the situation was getting out of hand. And at another school in Genoa, a girl called her mother to complain after she'd been reprimanded by a teacher. It's not surprising, perhaps, that cell- phone addiction is claiming such young victims.
Cell phones are ubiquitous in Italy and have surpassed the number of regular telephones.
That's 25 million cell phones for 57 million people. But unlike cappuccino or Prada fashions, this is one Italian trend we don't want to import. It's bad enough that American teen- agers live on the telephone.