Every five minutes my children ask me for the "latest thing". They tell me that all their friends have it already and they can't live without it. Our house is full of Game Boys, Play Station CDs and a million other "latest things". But, the one "latest things" we have refused to buy is a mobile phone. Our twelve-year-old son wants one, and we've said "no". He says he'll only use it for texting and he really needs it for emergencies. We don't want him to have a mobile phone, because it may be bad for children's health. Unfortunately, when I say, "As your father, I don't want you to have a mobile phone, because you might get a brain tumour ," he tells me that he doesn't mind.  Why do twelve-year-old boys only want things that are bad for them? We've already told him that he can't listen to rap music--the words are disgusting . And I've said no to beer with his meals. Right now I'm saying no to everything. Then a few weeks ago he asked for something called a BB gun. He says everybody's got one. Of course they have. He shows me a website full of them and tells me it only fires plastic pellets  . Finally, I say yes. I can't believe I've said no to phones and yes to guns. In October our son becomes a teenager, and I pray that research will find that mobile phones are safe...even better, that young people may become less moody--and more interested in personal hygiene . Until  _ , I'm saying no. Why do the children want "latest things" so much?
"Latest things" are fun to play with. "Latest things" are easy to play with. They want to keep up with other children. They want to show off the latest things to others.