For parents, a phone dilemma -- chicagotribune.com

NEW YORK — It's a signature parenting dilemma of the wireless age: Should kids have cell phones?

It pits parents' desire to keep tabs on their offspring against the feeling that it's wrong for youngsters to spend time chatting and texting.

Now there's further ammunition: The warning last week by the head of a prominent cancer research institute to his faculty and staff. Limit cell phone use, he said, because of the possible cancer risk — especially when it comes to children.

The warning from Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, was based on early, unpublished data and came despite studies that have not found a link between increased tumors and cell phone use. But it's struck a nerve among parents.

"Now we hear about this possible medical risk," said Marybeth Hicks, mother of four. "I couldn't possibly know if it's real or not."

It's hard to gauge but in 2004, 21 percent of those ages 8 to 10 and 36 percent of the 11 to 14 group had phones, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Should the latest medical news cause huge concern? "If you've got good reasons for them to have it, I'd go ahead," said Frank Barnes, a professor who chaired a recent report on the subject. However, he added, "they've probably got other things they should be doing."

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