Clark recently saw a statistic that three-quarters of Americans now have access to the Internet at home. It wasn’t that long ago that it was just over 50 percent, and many thought it wouldn’t rise much above that. But it has. Something else that has spread like wildfire is the use of cell phones, especially by children. Of kids 11 to 17, almost 60 percent have a cell phone. Almost a third of kids who are 8 to 10 years old have a cell phone. Hard to believe isn’t it? We are becoming more like Scandinavia, where kids carry a cell phone to nursery school. The kids can only call Mom, Dad, maybe grandparents and a few select others. They see a picture of the person on the phone and call. And Clark doesn’t think youngsters having cell phones is a bad idea. Parents simply need to be careful and establish rules regarding the use of the phone. Allowing your teenagers to share your plan, and therefore share your minutes, is not smart. These parents get hit with huge bills if they don’t explain how the phone is used. Kids also love using the text messaging function on phones – also known as SMS or Short Message Systems. These kids often don’t realize that parents are billed every time a text message is sent or received. So, consider using metered SMS capability, international block and other prohibitions. Clark is also a big fan of pre-paid cell phones. Your kids get their own phone, but they only get a certain number of minutes every month. After that, no more! Virgin Mobile has very affordable plans and the company is branching out across the country. Boost Mobile is the other company offering pre-paid plans, but they are only in the West.