I'm just a tin can and string kind of man

I am not sure what is more annoying: the obnoxious ring tones I hear when I am in public places or a 10 to 12 year old yapping away on a cell phone. Both need to be banished from the face of the earth.
All kids no matter what age use the manipulative tool when they want their first cell phone. But Mom! It will allow you to stay in touch with me while I am away from the house. Yeah right! Aside from school when is a 10-12 year old farther away from home than a couple houses up the street? Mom should do the same as my Mom did, step outside and yell. If a 10 year old is so far away that he or she can not hear their mother yell "it's time to eat" then that location should be off limits.
Everywhere I go these days I see kids with cell phones attached to their bags, backpacks and pants. I even saw a pre teen with a Spock phone stuck in his ear.
There are two possible reasons a 10-12 year old gets a cell phone. There is status, which is generally the reason the kids want the phone and the need to stay in touch, which is generally why the parents give the kid a phone. The latter is a legitimate reason but kids don't really see it that way. It's just a status to them. At 10 it's cell phones at 18 it's cars. When you see two 10 year olds with phones, they are not talking on the phone they are comparing ring tones and features of their phones.
The other day I was in my local grocery store when I saw two pre teens standing 15 feet apart and they were talking to each other on their cell phone. The tin-can-and string in me demanded I drive to the closest home improvement store, buy a cutting touch, then find the closest cell tower and cut the tower down. In my defence I told the tin-can-and string that life is getting more hectic and sometimes being able to communicate instantly is the only way to keep things flowing smoothly.
Too often parents offer up a cell phone for their own convenience. What ever the case, add it up and a cell phone for a pre teen is a bad call.