Mobiles: good for spelling, bad for stress.
Research from the University of Staffordshire points to people "becoming addicted to mobile phones, causing them to become stressed and irritable", reports The BBC. From a study of 106 phone users, 16% were found to have problems. The effects range from becoming irritable and pre-occupied with phones, to higher blood pressure.
The GSM Association comments: "We would say mobile phones are a liberating tool. You can switch them off so you only need be contactable when you want to be."
Elsewhere, The Guardian reports that text messaging "may actually be improving, not damaging, young children's spelling skills, new research shows." The study from Coventry University is based on interviews and tests of 35 11 year olds. "We are interested in discovering whether texting could be used positively to increase phonetic awareness in less able children, and perhaps increase their language skills, in a fun yet educational way."
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