The XX Factor: What women really think.

In Favor of Public Shaming For Cell Phone Misconduct: A Rant

I’m more of an etiquette snob than self-proclaimed etiquette expert Anna Post. Or so it seemed at yesterday’s “Mobile Etiquette Tea,” where she and Intel’s Dr. Geneveive Bell discussed what’s socially acceptable use of cell phones, smart phones, lap tops, and e-mail.

Over finger sandwiches and a tower of cupcakes at the Russian Tea Room, a woman posed a hypothetical for Anna, the granddaughter of Emily Post: Who is ruder, the person jabbering away on her cell phone on the bus while everyone around her grows increasingly annoyed, or the annoyed seatmates who spent 10 minutes rolling their eyes and harrumphing and generally trying to make it passive aggressively clear to her that she should shut up? Anna said that, as with someone who spills red wine all over a dinner table, the proper way to deal with the “accidental offender” is to keep your annoyance to yourself so the situation can be smoothed over as quickly as possible ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX).

There Are Far Worse Things To Feel Guilty About

Forget about feeling mommy guilt over which way your child faces as you wheel him along, Emily. Children need to feel separate from parents once in a while, even if you miss them a bit when they are facing away. Forward-facing strollers may or may not deprive your children of verbal-development benefits gained from eye-to-eye conversation, but I think parents of youngsters could make a big difference in that respect just by turning off their wireless handsets. Cell phones are the magic wand of parental helpers, but the attention-drawing mobile miracles must have a far more insidious impact on a child's communication skills than the seat on his pram. I'm not judging. There were no cell phones when I was raising my children. In 1972, when my daughter was born, I used cloth diapers and car seats hadn't been invented yet. When my son came 16 years later, snugglies and umbrella strollers (genius!) had made child transport mechanics much more manageable. If I'd had such a life-changing timesaver, I'm sure I would have neglected my children all day long, but fortunately for them, wireless communication was at least a decade off. Nevertheless, I'm struck by how often I notice parents and caregivers with small children in the park and at the grocery deeply engrossed in conversation on their cell phones. I'd like to see a preliminary study on the developmental effect of that.

Throw the (Text) Book at Her

Dahlia's recent article on "sexting" asked whether it makes sense to charge teens who exchanged naked photos with producing or possessing child pornography. Apparently, that's not the only cell phone behavior that can leave a kid in cuffs. According to this report from the Smoking Gun, a 14-year-old high-school student in Wisconsin was arrested for disorderly contact for texting during class. Long story short: A teacher called a "student resources officer" after the girl refused to hand in her phone. She denied not only texting in class but also having a phone at all; a female police officer searched her and uncovered the Samsung Cricket in her "buttocks area." The person she was texting during class? Her father.

It must be maddening for teachers to deal with students texting during class. But arresting a kid for disorderly conduct? Wouldn't a suspension be a better approach than arresting and strip-searching a 14-year-old for a cell phone?

They Apparently Just Don't Understand

Seconding Noreen's comments: If the Times wanted to be consistent with its gender stereotyping, the love-that-iPhone piece might have explored how surprising it is that MEN are using cellphones. You know, that men would want to acquire a technology that enables them to ... communicate. It has always seemed to me the obvious technology for women, at least according to accepted gender notions.