Well, the eldest Chattering son desperately wants a cellphone for Christmas. To him, it’s a symbol of being grown up.

I am in the minority of parents concerned about cellphone health risks; my own cell leaves my cranium with a warm, tingling feeling every time I foolishly indulge in a long conversation without the hands-free earpiece. I admit to being an “energetically sensitive” sort of a person. And I’m also slow to embrace technology generally.

But the developing skull of a child, according to this month’s Ode magazine, is more malleable, and still contains “bone marrow, which produces stem cells, blood cells and lymphocytes.” In other words, the cellphone radiation risk for children may prove to be more significant.

On one hand, the American Cancer Society deems cellphone use safe, and took the time to set up this informative webpage. Ode (the magazine for “intelligent optimists”) takes a skeptical view, reminding everyone to reserve cellphones for short conversations, and encouraging us to use a phone attached to a cord for all other phone communication. That means the article’s author Kim Ridley is questioning all cordless phones; yeah, that one you’ve been using for years! Both the Cancer Society and Ridley refer to research studies, and in one case, seem to interpret the same study differently. MicrowaveNews.com, a reliable source I’ve mentioned before, also monitors cellphone safety regularly.

So how do you use your cell, and don’t you think children and teens should be told to use cordless phones as little as possible? Let me know.