If my sister and I had behaved like that to a visiting uncle or aunt, my father would later have given us both a jolly good slap.

Spot on- there's a principal cause of the plague. Parents refusing to act like parents.

The cell phone infection begins quite young- before these children can afford to purchase the phones themselves and or pay the phone bills.

Adults are enabling and encouraging this new psychosis.

One phone call to the cellular provider disables the texting function on an account.