Hold on to your hats. Better sit down. Gird your loins. Here comes a big one.

News flash from a research team at the University of Alabama: Children who chat on cell phones while crossing the street are more likely to be in an accident than those who are not on cell phones! They recommend we warn our children of the greater risk of being in an accident if they don’t disconnect before they cross.

Do we really need to do this? Apparently we do.

Now, “Stop, look, and listen,” that useful phrase we all learned by kindergarten, needs to be changed to “Stop, disconnect, look, and listen.”

Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why not just put a warning label on the side of each cell phone? You know, like we do on cigarette packages? We could put something like, “Talking on this phone while crossing the street could be hazardous to your health.” Then all the children who use cell phones would read it and be sure to choose wisely.  Just like we do.

Chick Moorman