I am going to guess that he is a teen if he has an iPhone. If he has Quiz Bowl at his high school, he should try it... this addiction will serve him very well in that arena. smile

If it is distracting from his homework, you probably need to encourage him to use it as a reward for himself ("I will finish my math homework, then check Google News or BBC for 10 minutes before going on to my English paper"). I am an adult news junkie, and do this myself sometimes.