MOBILE PHONES: How's your text life?

But that also makes the mobile a useful tool for adult professionals such as youth workers, especially if they are willing to embrace the culture.

"Mobile phones are really handy when you need to get hold of young people quickly," says Lee McDaid, mentoring co-ordinator at Lewisham Council.

"Before, you could only talk to them in person, or catch them on the land line phone if they were at home. For some young people it's the form of communication they are most comfortable with."

Talk to young people and most will say the mobile has enriched their lives. But like everything else in life, too much of a good thing could be bad for you. According to child safety organisation Childalert, young people have become obsessed with their mobiles and SMS texting. Many now spend all their money on funding this obsession, says a Childalert report, Mobile phones: An addiction, a necessity or just fun?