About half of teenagers in the United States and Japan say they are “addicted” to their smartphones. To be addicted means an individual is unable to stop doing something -- in this case, using the telephones. University of Southern California, or USC researchers asked 1,200 Japanese about their use of electronic devices. The researchers are with the Walter Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. Their findings were compared with an earlier study on digital media use among families in North America. Willow Bay is head of the Annenberg School. She said, “Advances in digital media and mobile devices are changing the way we engage not only with the world around us, but also with the people who are the closest to us.”