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Take the phone away. Why does a 15 year old need a phone in the first place? I could maybe understand at 16 years old if the child is driving to work/school and something happens. But at 15 and younger, whats the point?
I see a lot of people, mostly teens, texting, using the cell phone and/or Ipodding, sometimes seemingly simultaneously. It's too much for me to fathom. I do use a home computer, however, and I love to send and receive e-mails...not spam. I worry when I see a kid walking along and opening his/her phone only to discover their are no messages...the kid quite often looks devestated...and that cannot be good. I do believe this gadgetry will, in the long run, do more harm than good, most especially to the kids that are barely entering puberty. I'm probably just an old fuddy-duddy, as they used to say.
my aint you the one. Teenagers used to talk on the phone for hour now they text what is the problem. Most of these messages are one liners anyway. WHo cares. Unless you pay by the message. At least they got their moneys worth. These rip off telephone company's want to keep the traffic down so they release this junk on a few who overuse the system. Next the thought police get to vent on how bad it is. BTW what is the difference and who drew the line at 16 anyway?
In a way I feel sorry for this coming generation. They are definitely having an identity problem. Our schools have taught them all the wrong things; that we are all winners, we are all beautiful, we are all smart, that it is okay to be something that society normally rejects, that there are no negative consequences for their actions, that it is about the process not the end result and so on ..... Yet when they arrive in the real world all these things don't hold true. It will be interesting to watch them fully develop into adults and see where it leads. I'm betting we are in trouble as a nation! But again who knows? Maybe they can text us out of this mess we are in!
Logdump or more fitting , Dump on a log , are you 15 ? The "aint " gave you away . Go text someone or do your homework .
I agree, it's time to take away the cell phone or, at the very least, severely limit its use.
Like no texting on Sundays, family time on Saturdays, during school hours, and after 5pm on weekdays. That should work.
I have one teenager that has over 15,000 texts a month and one that does about 1,000. It's just a new generation. I view it in the same context as that 'rock and roll music' that was supposed to destory our minds and our parents before us. Each generation is raised with new technololgy and you can either try and keep up with them and communicate on their level or complain about it. By the way I subscribe to a service that blocks texting during school hours and after a certain time at night. There are controls out there, use them.
These young people need to get a life ... a real life w/ conversation, face to face communication & some real culture, etc.
I agree, no one under 16 needs and cell phone and if you think they do, just remember, we all grew up WITHOUT cell phones. It really irks me when I see kids who are in elementary with phones. WAY too young for that. We knew how to take care of ourselves, if we were lucky enough to have them, we understood what FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY meant. I am 28 and I maybe send/receive a dozen texts in a day, some of them are business related. I happened to be in school when pagers were all the rage and I didnt understand it then either, arent we in school for a reason, not to call our deadbeat friends who are not in school but to actually learn something? I also agree with the lack of language skills, yes I have a few grammatical errors in this statement but ask your average teenager to write an essay, a paragraph even, and see if it is comprehendable as proper English or if it's full of abbreviations that, to them, seem normal yet the rest of the real world would simply disrgard.
40 years ago when I was kid it was the tv (boob tube). My parents didn't buy into the hype that it was going to ruin all the kids. My brothers and sisters watched hours of it every day. Guess what all 6 of us went to collage.
It is a way for them to entertain and enjoy themselves. in time most will lessen thier time and the next generation will find something that the older generations say will be nogood for them
In case you haven't noticed, the world has changed significantly from when you people were young. Its a lot more dangerous and parents nowadays want their kids to be in constant communication. As much as you want it to be, this ain't the world of Leave it to Beaver. Kids nowadays have cell phones, and keep in touch with not only family, but friends also. The older generations have always said the younger ones are going to be ruined by new technology, or new fads. Remember when parents tried to censor Elvis because he shook his hips?
A lot more dangerous? How? I believe violent crime has actualy decreased, of course that depends on your area.
lol 6 thou? really?
Dude i had 15 thou my junior year in one month and like 10-12 for the following months, 6 is like a month where you dont text much. do your research.
Unfortunately, this is an epidemic across the board. My daughter had over 11,000 text messages in a month. However, she is not allowed to have it on at school. We have verizon and when she gets punished we disable her ability to text on the phone. She can only send and recieve messages from her parents because we are on the same bill. She can't talk on her phone until after 9pm on the weekdays and on the weekends. It has helped her focus alot.
Well my 8 year old and 10 year old do have cell phones. They participate in many activities and I prefer being able to have constant contact with them. They can easily call me when practice is over at the park and such. When they walk home from school, which is nearly 2 miles I do check on them as they are walking. No, there were no cell phones when I was a child and I remember when waiting for a ride I had to walk to a pay phone then back to the waiting area which at times was a distance apart. Now that we have them I am going to use them. My kids do text but they also play sports, spend time with family, and have friends over. I text myself often, I find it easier when I am too busy for an actual phone conversation. I even text my husband overseas for a quick conversation. I do not text to the extreme and nor do my children.
I agree, Im only 18 and I think that 15 is way too young to have their own cell phone. I can understand if you give the child your cell when they go to a school event or overnight at a friends house. They definitely should not have one of their own though. But I have to say because of work and just friends I had over 50,000 texts just last month, and it may sound absolutely ridiculous but with a schedule like mine 2 second phone calls are pointless.
<3
What parent would even let there kid on the phone that long? Jeez I wounder why teens get into so much trouble. The Parents dont care why should the kids.
Lazy and stupid parent give the little nose pickers the phine so they can go on with there ever so busy life.
So does technology and fads have a positive or negative effect on young people? We had phonographs, 8-tracks, cassettes, and CB radios. How about rock-n-roll? Did you wear a bike helmet when you were a kid? How about a seat belt? How about the nuclear bomb? Television would rot everyone's brain (it actually did), game systems, the telephone when it had a cord....
What's the point to all this? With every new advancement in society there are positive and negative consequences. Cell phone and texting are the lastest and greatest.
I remember when the young generation wouldn't amount to crap. Which generation is that?
This is a great experiment in mental conditioning. Text message addiction will have long term consequences which will likely be negative. The response to constant text messaging is somewhat Pavlovian. It's also possible that the phenomena will be short lived as some young people discover that there is something more to life than the instant gratification of a text message. It's a unique phenomena. I can't recall something like this in a long time. It is definitely having an effect upon the mental functioning of the youth of this country.
How so?
I agree with your assessment. However, I would only interject re: instant gratification....isn't that the main issue concerning the housing crisis and all the have to have toys?
It is actually possible to have texting TURNED OFF, so if the bill/time consumption is the issue, that is the solution. The cultural thing isn't worth fighting or being concerned about - it's evolution.
Yes it's possible. I currently have texting on my phone, but it's not allowed on my daughters phone - she's too young right now - thru the cell company. She also can't get on the internet, it's totally blocked so even if she tries, it won't let her and I won't get billed for it.
When she's old enough to start using texts, I plan to pay for only so many texts per month - she goes over that limit, and she'll be paying me for the excess on the bill. I'll allow only so much freedom, after that, she's responsible, and will get grounded, etc., if she doesn't follow the rules.
The unlimited texting is far cheaper or a plan that is free to other users of the service.
my married, grown children are the same way! it's either texting or the nextel two way thing...they come over and i feel like i am interrupting them just to talk! my 3 year old grandson loves to use the two way and usually talks to however son is speaking to. these kids seldom use email anymore either unless they have to! they have the internet on their phones too! oh and they watch tv on them...listen to music...it's bizarre actually!
maybe someone will develop a chip that can be implanted in their heads so they won't have to type the messages but rather just think them and they will send...lol, wouldn't that be intrusive ;) wonder how would think to mind-text and listen to music at the same time...hmm...scary thought!
You can turn texting off - but no young kid wants a cell phone without text messaging. Grown ups want to talk - kids want to text. It's the new "cool" thing, but it is mental conditioning that will likely result in shortening attention spans. I've watched kids who text all the time and they are constantly scanning the phone for the next message. It's addictive and Pavlovian.
As a 40-something mom of a 12-year-old boy who has a cell phone and texts with friends, I have to say it's been beneficial in our situation. When he goes bike-riding and hanging out with his friends in our neighborhood, I feel better about allowing him a little freedom. When I was growing up, we kids were unsupervised a lot of the time,and it was considered a good thing ("Go out and play!" was what I heard). But these days, with the paranoia about child-snatching, children don't get the same freedom we did. With the phone and texting, I can reach him if need be, and he can report back to me where he is without having to have a long conversation. He can just text me, "At Joe's," and that's all we need to do. I text him back, "Be home by 6:00" or whatever, and that's that. If he doesn't follow the rules, then it will be grounding time with loss of privileges.
Texting, video games, and the ipod have not eroded our relationship. We still talk and interact and do things together. Back in my day, there were limits on phone calls, curfews, shutting my room door, watching TV, and listening to loud music, and car use. You could use those things to build some high walls from your parents if you wanted. It's how you deal with it that matters. My mother did so in a way that allowed to me to enjoy these things, but we managed to stay close.
Teens wanting to interact with friends more than parents is nothing new. To my mind, we just have different ways of accomplishing this. We had stereos and Walkmans, now there are iPods. We had a land line, now they have cells. Different times, same parenting concepts. Make rules, set limits, and enforce them--the same timeless parenting skills apply.
As the mother of a 15 year old girl the freedom thing scares the hell out of me. There are wierdos everywhere. At least the texting makes me not worry so much and I can give her a little space.
I also know that teens don't want to talk with parents, they want to talk with their friends. Its normal at this age so when we do talk whether its texting or talking in person, I don't complain. At least we are communicating.
As for a few of you that think these kids need to get a life. My daughter texts about 15000 to 20000 a month and she has a life. She has a horse which means a lot of responsability for a 15 year old. She also gets good grades and is not in trouble.
AMEN civvie
I agree. Once my girls are dating (oh boy!) I like the fact that they can text me or I can text them just to make sure everything is okay. I find that much safer than the old days where some parent sat up waiting by the door. I remember having a beeper when I was a young adult which once it beeped you had to go hunt down a pay phone to return a call, I hated that.
This girls is averaging almost 9 messages per hour, 24 hours every day! What is wrong with this picture? The only possible advantage I can see in this would be as training for her future job as a telemarketer or customer service representative.
My 16 year old neices life revolves around texting and instant messenger . She's failing out of a private highschool because she doesn't do her homework . She cant construct a grammatically correct sentance . Television doesn't interest her , just that damn phone .
Yup, and this professor Ito in California, says, " It can be a very socially affirming thing." I'd say that's a bunch of baloney. And the prof's belief that it's all about "...sharing a sense of co-presence." sounds like more of the same. Lew-838518, I sure hope your 16 year old niece is made to pay for her obvious addiction and that momsy and daddy-o aren't footin' the bill.
When I was 9 years old and up if I wanted anything personal I had to have the money to pay for that item. That includes clothing, movies, shoes, auto, insurance everything except for meals and a room. While working from age 9 and up I had to pay a certain % to the household.
Today most kids are given anything they want. My grandson asked his parent to buy him a guitar and he played with it, took lessons for about 6 months and hasn't used it since.
I paid for my kids college when they went. Everything else, except for food, clothing, would have to be earned by their having a job or earning points doing chores around the house.
I don't see or hear much of that happening today.
You had to work at 9 yrs olds to pay for clothes and toys? WTF kind of parents did YOU have? And what do you mean by working, you can't even get a job til your 14, 16 for the good ones. Or did you mean chores around the house?
I say get your kids the things that they actually have a use for. My mom would rarely buy us new gaming systems, but we had a PC in the 90's before most of my friends. Alot of people thought THAT was spoiling us, but you look around and realize, it was about the best investment in our future she could have made.
Don't be afraid of technology, even the stuff you don't understand. Get to know what's useful, what's vital, and what's a passing fad. Keep your kids current, and remember what life was like as a teen - sometimes it IS important to be able to show off to your friends, new clothes, shoes and toys are an excellent way to reward good behavior and insure your kid's high self-esteem (and if you don't think how they look is important, then you've completely forgotten that part of growing up).
Biff , her father ( my younger brother ) died two years ago . He was divorced from her mother because she was having an extra marital affair . He was granted full custody of my neice but allowed her to to stay with mother three days a week under the condition that she would be dropped off at school and her grades stayed the same .
Long story short the kid never had any rules at her mom's house and life was just grand . She no longer wanted to live with daddy . He'd remarried 10 years prior to all of this . Her mom was more fun . Meanwhile he's dying of cancer , she was told months prior to his death what was happening and quite simply said "that's too bad ". In the last year this is what happened , Mommy and she had some problem ( we don't what it was to this day ) , she get's checked into a hospital because she say's she would rather die than live with her mother . She then lived with my mother until she turned 18 ( freedom day ) and now lives back in her fathers house where the whole thing started . Go figure . After all the hateful things she said to my brother knowing what she knew , I haven't an ounce of compassion . we've been very good to her and my wife went overboard with love and sympathy . I don't get it , she was spoiled since she was born by my brother , that's my only thought .
In our second year of our Master's program we had one student in one of our classes who would sit through an entire 3 hour class and text constantly. She would actually be texting while we waited in the hallway for the previous class to let out and then continue right on into our class. There I no way that I could see that she could have possibly gotten anything out of the class. This continued through the entire semester.
Lew - so let me get this straight - you have a niece whose father died of cancer and he never told her about it until very late? Her mom is worthless as a parent at setting rules and giving her guidance? She has been passed around by the family? You (who claims to be loving and supportive) basically thinks she is a pile of selfish crap?
And you think her whole problem is the cell phone? Wow, wake up. This girl is screaming for help and it doesn't sound like there is anyone willing to step in. Maybe you need to quit holding a grudge and do more thinking.
No shiloh , her mother gave her NO rules or Guidance . That's why she wanted to live with her .
Yes, Lew, I gathered that from #6.4. Perhaps you shoud re-read the last paragraph of #6.6.
Who cares if people text? The real issue is when and how much. As a small business owner I have to deal daily with employees who have become so used to texting and yakking on their phones that the device is an appendage. They of course think it's no big deal," it's just a message and I type really fast", but when it happens forty times a day, along with ten phone calls" to find out what's happening" it really affects the flow of work. I've often wondered how much more productive our economy would be if for one month there were no personal cell phone calls, text gossip marathons or internet surfing during work hours. I realize it's asking a lot for people to put their personal doings aside while they are at the job, but the people who actually run the businesses would be giddy to the point of actually, like, giving the employees ,like, you know, more money. Like, you know ?
What's wrong with telling your workers - "use your phone during work hours or you're fired"?? I understand their need to keep up, but good Lord, this is a job they have, and regardless what kind of job, you focus on that - not your social life. A call here and there (or a text) can't be that big of a deal, but with what you're talking about...?? No way.
You may just want to tell them what you wrote - the offer of more money usually makes people listen better!
What needs to be done is a new work rule policy implemented. You have to follow State and federal guide lines in implementing new work rules. There are many work places that do not even allow cell phones on the work area floor or station. the only periods of such use is during break and lunch periods. they forget that it they who applied for employment and not you asking them to come work for you time is money.
Lmasure..........I had to read your offering a couple times to figure out which way the italics leaned.........whether it was a prohibition or an encouragement........at any rate...
When an employment agreement is reached betwixt two parties, it is [ to me anyway ] for mutual convenience. You need a source of income, and the employer needs your particular skill set to get the job done.
This implies commitment.........which in this case is a two-way street. I made a promise to my employer, that I would give 40 hours a week of my undivided attention to performance of my job, securing income for them, so they can afford to continue to pay me.
What's the point ? I work in a highly technical environment, at a given work bench, in an HVAC / motor / anything broken.........repair facility. My personal credo, requires -- no, demands that I do things once, do them right, so nothing [ well as little as humanly possible ] comes back to haunt me.
A quick example..........if it is 40 below outside, with the wind a wailin' and the squirrelcage blower on your heating system pukes, the repair facility is 50 miles away, you want to make one trip, and have your needs met................but don't forget that there are a lot of other slackers out there, that didn't check to see if their heating systems would last the winter.......................
Get the point ?? ............. if my mind is not 100% on my job..................you just might wind up making two or more trips in that lovely weather, with pipes freezing/bursting in the offing.........which because you are a slacker, you cannot blame on me.............these situations spawned the addage, that s.h.i.t. flows downhill.
Cell phone? .............." your call has been forwarded.............." unless you are losing blood at a copious rate................run your calls thru the chain of command, or dial 911 and let them do the job they are committed to......!!!
salmon , don't offer more money . There are atleast 30 people that would be giddy to get their jobs . We absolutely need to have cel phones in my line of work The only person not payed on comission is the receptionist . Thing's are so crappy now she's only working about 25 hrs. a week .
We had/have a texting/phone problem with our daughter, now 21. When she was 15, she used over 15000 minutes in ONE month! And, yes, we can do the math. We took away her phone, and when we returned it, it was with strict rules of use. She now has her own cell plan, and is constantly texting on it. However we have laid down the rules: No texting when we are involved as a family, and the phone stays off when we go out together. If she breaks the rules, she hands the phone to us for the duration of our time together.
If you're paying the bills, you should control your child's activities on their phone. If you're not paying the bills, you should be able to control how your child behaves in your presence. And for heaven's sake, if they're flunking out of school take the phone away!!
Your daughter is 21 and you take away her phone if she uses it when you are out? Isn't she a little old to be getting her "things" taken away from her parents as punishment. Actually isn't she a little old to be getting punished by her parents at all. Let her grow up and learn for herself, when she looses her job over texting or friends or a boyfriend!
Nope, she's not too old. She still lives in our house, and therefore is subject to our rules. She has the option to move out if she wishes, and she has the option of not joining us for dinner. I should be allowed some peace when with my family. If it means taking away a phone, so be it.
I understand the living in your house, your rules stuff. But if your 21 year old daughter doesn't have enough respect for others to follow there wishes of not texting when out with the family, don't you see the problem. Somewhere along the line her parents didn't teach her how to respect others!!!!!!!!! How about instead of treating her like a 5 year old and taking away her things as punishment, treat her like an adult and don't invite her out to dinner. If she ask why, tell her it's because she is rude when she is with you guys and you don't enjoy being around her when she text all the time. Trust me when she goes out on a date with a guy and text the whole time, he isn't going to "take her phone away", instead he isn't going to ask her out on a second date.
"My students are better writers than they were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 25 years ago."
I find this extremely difficult to believe... what with the writers from MSNBC to the Associated Press, I constantly find errors in their writings. From simple spelling errors to not being able to put a sentence together. It's aggravating!
I don't allow my daughter to text yet - she's a little young, but even with her emails, I check them out before she sends them and make her fix her mistakes. I tell her if she's going to write to someone, she needs to do it correctly - the first time. In my opinion, when I get an email that's not coherently written, I think the author is a bit of an idiot, especially with "spell check" being available everywhere.
I do not look forward to when I allow (if I allow) my daughter to start texting. If I do, there will be certain rules she has to follow, and I have no problem stealing her phone to check her messages without her knowledge. Heck, I already get copies of every email she receives, why not keep going?
I turned off the text messaging feature of our service a long time ago. If you have something to ask or tell me, call. As stated in the article, few things can be summed up in a sentence fragment. And, I get enough junk mail forwards via email, don't send that crap to my phone too. My friend got no less than 20 stupid chain messages during teh Super Bowl...she'd get mad at every one, yet she'd keep checking the damn phone when it beeped at her!
I have a co-worker who CONSTANTLY texts. We do heavy phone work at our job, and multitasking isn't an asset, it's a must, with all the reports, tracking, etc. we do as well. Granted she sets down the cell phone by the second ring of the office phone. But at least once a day she gets some "important text" that requires her to hastily grab her phone and say, "I have to use the ladies room" and she's gone 10-15 minutes...then still manages to get her allowed 15 minute break in. In the meantime the rest of us in the department are stuck covering for her, adding more stress to an already stressful job. She is not the only one who abuses the privilege of having a cell phone at work either. Management has told her about her bad habit, and she cuts back for a day or two. Work ethic? 20-somethings have no clue. And, yes I carry my cell phone with me, but I ignore calls during work hours. I may check to see who tried to call me, but never once has it been something that couldn't wait till I was off the clock. I am at work to work, not to arrange my social calendar, discuss family problems, or just 'check in' with buddies and friends.
If it were my company, I'd hire some techie wizard to create a jamming device...inside the building NO cells phones work. Family emergencies can be relayed to employees via the old fashioned method...calling the main office number.
I find texting rude and disrespectful, because it takes precedence over everything else that is going on. I'd be willing to wager that none of the message are so important that they can't wait until later to be shared.
I'll step off my soapbox now.....
Here's an idea.....leave articles around discussing how text messaging causes brain cancer.....
A jamming device has the potential to spread to neighboring companies or homes thereby interfering their services, it potentially could mess up internet as well depending on your ISP or the surrounding companies' or homes' ISPs. Not to mention the fact that despite some people abusing text messages, there comes a time when emergencies will come up that you must answer the phone. As in your wife is pregnant or you have a sick family member.
However, I agree that your co-worker slips out all to much for them to all be emergencies. But if it's such a problem that it distracts you from doing your work then talk to her about it directly. If it doesn't throw off your work ethics then forget about it.
It isn't just kids either. Where I work they had to crack down hard on cell phones in the workplace. People have gotten the idea that they can spend company time , and I'm talking a lot of company time on them, and get paid for it. I stood in a convenience store once waiting 6 deep in line while the checkout girl, who must have been at least 30, finished her cell phone conversation to whoever, talking about a whole lotta nothing for about 3 minutes, then acted like we were all a pain for actually expecting service.
I don't get the whole text messaging thing. Why on earth would a person spend about three times the time typing a text message on a teeny tiny keyboard when they could either speak to the person or leave a voicemail. IMO talking on the damn things by a driver of a moving vehicle should be a misdemeanor at least, and texting on one by the driver of a moving vehicle should be a class C felony. I've damn near been killed three times over the years by someone with a cell phone screwed into their ear, but not even a close call by anyone eating a cheeseburger on the move. I've heard all the excuses, like " oh I couldn't run my business without doing it" etc. Must be a damn poorly run business if the owner can't think 5 minutes ahead and use the land line before leaving the office.
You will not see anything done until an immediate family member of your state law makers is killed in a automotive accident caused from one talking on their cell phone. There are states where it is illegal to use a cell phone while driving but poorly enforced.
Five highschool kids killed in New York. Evidence of driver texting just before accident. How many killed in L.A train Crash. Evidence of engineer possibly texting before accident and missed "Stop" signal because of it. How many more that we do not hear about happen everyday around the country? If my cell phone rings while I am driving I find a place and pull over before I answer. If I miss the call because I cannot pull over, no big deal. If it is that important they can leave a message and I will return the call when I can safely do so. Texting while driving? NO WAY !!!!!!. It takes away from your ability to control your vehicle and your attention off the road. Besides can anyone tell me how you even send a text message or read one where the words are not completely spelled out????
Keep your laws out of my car. When cops take the entire inventory of Radio Shack out of their cruiser, THEN and ONLY THEN can they even TALK about trying to take away my right to stay in communication with family and friends. I have had numerous occasions where my cell phone has proven to be invaluable in a certain situation.
Also before you go slamming me for being part of the "problem" you should know that I have not EVER had an accident because I was talking on the phone. The only 2 times I've been in accidents were not my fault. Once was when some idiot didn't see that I had stopped for a red light and slammed into me, knocking me clear across the intersection, and the other was when I was driving through the country and a deer hit the side of my car. There was nothing I could have done to avoid it and the officer who responded told me the same thing.
Just because other people can't walk and chew gum at the same time is no reason to punish everyone.
hey reality.....keep your car off the road away from my car....
Reality just because you haven't been in one yet doesn't mean that you won't be in one due to being distracted by your "lifeline". I am pretty sure all the inventory of Radio Shack your talking about helps a police officer to complete their job and a lot of times there are 2 officers in the car. One is working equipment and one is driving. They need the equipment to do their job and keep people like you safe. Ignorance and the thought that you are invincible and always right may prove to be your undoing at some point.
You people understand the words DOUBLE STANDARD??? Just because a cop may need the entire inventory of Radio Shack to work with does not mean that they should not have to abide by the same laws as the rest of us. Being told you're a "danger" on the road because you're talking on the phone by a cop with the entire inventory of Radio Shack in their cruiser is a double standard if ever there were one.
And "hobodave" you're a laugh a minute.
I know exactly what this article is saying, I have a 16 yo son who avgerages 8000 message a month. When his girlfriend comes over they do not even talk . They will be sitting just a few inches apart and instead of talking they text.
There is merit to that situation..............you won't be having any unscheduled grandchildren.........[ evil laugh ]
TAKE THE PHONE AWAY.
Simple.
3 words..Freedom Of Expression
Lest we remember our own rebelious selves at 15.....
"Cut your Hair" meant to me in 1974 to grow it longer..............
However..the longterm effects of texting may be undesireable.... (lack of proper sentence structure knowledge, ect. or poor habit of such)
Unlike wearing the crotch of your pants at knee level..thats just a passing fad ......
as Long Hair was in 1974...........
I agree ... each case is dirrerent... You see 6000 messages and go oh my god! Then you stop and think wait a minute How many were one liner like "Iagree" Or "cul8tr" or LOL etc/ One of the favorites is "K". Parents have the right to do what they like with their kids and if it is ok for the parent in this case so be it. Fuddy duddues have something to rant about the parents of the kid are happy and the kid is happy. Life goes on.
You are correct about the one liners log. A vast majority of texts are a wireless version of the monosylabic grunts that teenagers have used to communicate for eons
I was recently on vacation with a family who had a 16 year old daughter and we were at a very nice restaurant and "Megan" was completely removed from the dinner conversation; she was texting on her damn phone! After about 15 minutes when her mom didn't tell her to put it away, I asked her if she would care to join us?
The 22 year old office manager where I work is constantly texting her friends on company time. The boss chooses to ignore the situation and look the other way because "Jen" is his daughter's best bud.
Another example: While driving along in a local college town, I noticed three male students walking with each other and all three were texting on their phones. They were totally out of the here and now; too wrapped up in texting someone else.
The younger generation indeed is addicted to texting. It's unfortunate because the majority of them are unable to make eye contact with you and have a one-on-one conversation. Very sad.
Ten thousand texts in one month. That's what we discovered on our carrier's website, when we had suspicion that our 17 yr. old daughter was overusing her phone. This hardworking, dedicated student was loosing focus and grades were suffering. Family meeting was held. No more texting during school, work, and you better not be while driving. If you don't want to get rid of your childs unlimited texing, through your carrier's website, you can probably place restrictions on use. During weekdays we have locked the texting feature after 10:30 p.m. and we can monitor on-line if any texting is going on during school and work time. All family phones also go in an office for charging no later than 11 p.m. on weeknights.
Show care and concern. Discuss limitations and restrictions. Monitor if you feel necessary. This is a HUGE concern that if not curbed, will impact these kids ability to communicate effectively. Feeling emotion, having quality time with family and friends, effectively doing your homework, studying for a test and eventually holding down a fulll-time job!
It is the "privacy" thing.
You can't sit in a room and talk but you sure can type.
Recently our office had a mandatory trainging for 911 dispatchers on using a TDD [yes you type on it].
Out of the 10 people 3 failed the test.
I do not care what any psyco-doc thinks, the human brain is only capable of focusing on one thing at one time.
I have told people they should tell their boss they need a pay raise...because they are too poor to pay attention.
and I'll bet there aren't one in 10 million people who can explain how this new technology works. That wouldn't be a bad thing to know, would it? Especially when you learn how private your yakitty yakking and t(s)exting is not.
You hit that nail on the head, Joe......... I was temporarily disabled / recuperating, and briefly entertained myself with a parabolic mike, and an fm radio receiver.
These lovely little contraptions that mommy could buy to place in babys' room to keep an ear on the kid, transmitted -- [ btw....they still do ] one h.e.l.l.u.v.a lot more intel than mommy was aware of, or I really wanted to hear for that matter.
People are just plain ignorant of how many avenues are available to snoop where they aren't expected.
Uh? You think there is no one around who can explain how this new technology works? That's quite laughable.
This is getting idiotic, texting is not making myself and my friends stupid. mindless babble is there are much bigger concerns in youre childs educational life than texting. For a start shakespeare? (I may have spelt that wrong my bad if i have) Im picking on it as it was referd to in the article. The guy isn't that good if he was we wouldnt all be bored of him and learning his plays/storys and whatever else has no educational merit in the realword at all. And in the fear of offending im not going to put my views of religion, but i will put my views on R.E its compulsory now, why? Everyone at my 3,000 strong school hates it keep it as a subject but forcing it is atoundingly PC gone over the top. I may be ignorant of the muslim world but that doesnt mean im going to go up to someone and offend them ill just leave them to it. people need to start seeing us (i will not use the word children as its patronising) adolesents as adults for the sake of my sanity. We are NOT mind washed by texting true 6.783(?) texts is a lot but so? And Sexting (new word for me) true it happens but much more goes on. Im 15 Right and i have seen 13 year olds doing weed, and a good 50-70 people smoke (disgusting murdourous habit ban it NOW) and i live in the average place. A good number have alredy have Sex. There idiots yes, stop that 3 girls have been pregnant 3 in my year. Cyber Bullying now really what worse cyber or reality? if anything its a good thing. I personally dont care of others views about me but some insecure people do and well in that case cyber is a step up from psyical is it not? and if the victim has any sence cyber is easyly stoped in the form of a Mute/Block/Ignore button. (yes they are on phones) So dont treat us like idiots.
Hunh? Whuzzat?
Steven, judging by the number of errors in your post, you need to spend less time texting and more time on your homework. Holy moly, that was scary!!!
For one thing you need to learn how to use spell check wonderful tool and I use it for I know my weak area. Texting is a good tool but it has its time and place. Ttechnology today has taken away from the young learning basic math. Where my wife works the young workers there do not know how to put in a 1/4 pound on a digital scale. Now this took place at a supermarket deli. Plus I and my wife have had the displeasure of one who was inconsiderate to others in a movie theater. That text messaging was more important than the movie. I got it stopped when I mentioned my displeasure from the bright light of the phone.
I think this post says all that needs to be said about the detrimental effects of texting on a person's ability to use language correctly when in non-texting venues. Some of us remember the first "dumbing down" of the language when word processors came out and many suddenly believed that the "spell checker" would make them sound like intelligent, articulate writers. When I receive professional correspondence, I can still tell when someone depended on the "spell checker" to actually compose and proofread their thoughts.
I have been unable to find any research supporting a statement in this article that texting improves writing, although I might intuitively buy the premise that it helps people express themselves more succinctly.
Steven, your horribly written rant is nothing but a wall of text that helps prove much of what the people here are complaining about. From your opinions of the topics you touched on, you seem to be an intelligent young man, but you're writing skills are pretty much non-existent.
You're 15, so it'll take you a few more years to realize that not all adults are fun-suppressing robots. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and really think about what you'd like to do with the REST of your life. Every moment you spend worrying about what you can't do rather than what you'd like to do is a moment wasted.
Regardless, good luck, kid.
Here is a living, breathing, walking, talking example of what is wrong with this phenomenon. Steven, the written and spoken word, regardless of the language the person uses, are the tools by which humans communicate. It is absolutely imperative that we have these skills honed as adults in the workplace. If you use these tools correctly, you will be listened to by your peers. You may not be agreed with but at least your ideas will be listened to. Use them incorrectly, as you have in your postto an almost unimanageble degree and at best you will be ignored, and at worst you will be scorned and laughed at...as you most certainly are with this post.
Rofl. You "adults" are hilarious.
You all think you're smarter than Steven, no? Lose the attitude and then come back as a sincere person who cares about our society, instead of just an angry, jealous adult (which is how most, if not all of the people have come off on here).
Hey Steven.....What grade are you in? My soon to be 12 year old grandaughter can spell better and has better grammer than you. I agree with Linda 342661 you need to spend spend more time on your school work and less time on the computer and texting. You are a perfect example of what we are talking about when we say how texting effects spelling and grammer. If you want to be treated as an adults then start acting like adults. Start by learning proper communication skills. You can do that by paying attention to what goes on in class.
Steven you don't have a good Shakespeare teacher . It's a shame . Everything he wrote is still applicable in todays society in one way or the other . Get a paper route or something your soliloque bored me to tears .
Steven, I have a wonderful idea. Show the entire text of your post to your parents and a trusted teacher at school. I will almost bet that your parents will be outraged at how badly their tax money is being misused. Trust me on this lad...you are getting severely shortchanged in the classroom. Whether it be the fault of your teachers, or of your own making by not paying attention, you need to start getting your parents money's worth.
hey harry, whar's yer GRAMMER? inna kicchen makin' cookies?
I am saddened by your obvious lack of comprehension of the beautiful English language. You might think you are the brightest bulb on the planet in your oh-so-wise 15 years of life. Most people discover around the age of 25 or so that their parents had much more intelligence than they credited to them. We, as your society, fear that you have traded in your 10,000 candlelight brilliance for that of led lighting and expect to see your way down your dark future.
Yeah, good luck with that.
Hey, HoboDave, congrats! you know how to use spellcheck, but spellcheck does not catch all grammatical errors or the use of 'effect' would have a suggested change to 'affect' in Harry's writing.
Check it out.
You grammar critics are a hoot
Sorry Joe. As a wireless engineer, I'm one of those one in 10 million. I won't bore you with specifics but a text is a simple 8k data file and your yakking is also extremely private. As a parent, when I discovered that my son was texting 30000(yes 30K) a month, and could look you in the eye, hold a conversation with you all the while texting under the table without even looking at the phone, I limited both my children's texting to between 5:00p and 8:30p and urge every other parent to do the same. Find your carriers web site, placing limit can be done with a few mouse clicks.
Best go back to engineering school there, rch101196, 'cuz yer full of it !!
Yes, it takes a lot of time, and a lot of sophisticated and dedicated equipment for the endeavor, but still highly possible if one wants to invest the effort.
Additionally, we all know that there are some extremely intelligent individuals out there, with entirely too much idle time on their hands............
I know some "geeks" if you will, with the savvy to build, a/w/a/ the money to waste on just such equipment.............and it is frightening to see what they can do.
Think " Enemy of the State" was just a movie ??............. think again !!!
Packrat, your post makes absolutely no sense.
Seriously.
?? Maybe, if in the unlikely event you could rally a consensus to support your humble opinion, I would have cause to worry.
I made three valid points..........Kindly indicate what you cannot grasp, and I will draw you a picture.
1. Electronic eavesdropping is a fact of life........very few "firewalls" are immune to hacking..............what the point to listening to a babyminder would bethough, is moot.
There are many "hackers" out there, with formidable skills and equipment, some of which they engineered and built themselves. These are the "geeks" I speak of, the selfsame tribe of brilliant minds many highschool "elites" derided as "nerds"
I do not posess any such level of computer savvy, nor do I aspire to it. Conversely, there are not many other levels of technology I cannot coax back to life. Obsolete does not exist in my vocab. I am a certified geek, and damn proud of it !!
I do not dwell in the fantasy of movieworld, but I do like a good story now and then. Another I would recommend however, is " Live Free or Die Hard". Like "Enemy" it labors to tell us just what is going on in electronic surveillance.
Most scenarios such as these, are written off as "too fantastic to be true" Look where technology has gone / is going, in only the last 50 years
Get your head out of the sand, Mr. Dockery...........Seriously !!
Internet forum grammar critics, what else is new? One of my biggest pet peeves, that's for sure. Why don't you grammar critics get a real life and realize this is not English class?
They may be private but there is nothing that is keeping the other person who receives the text from forwarding it on to another person, then to another person... It can keep going. Some teenagers have the mindset that the next person will keep their conversation private and that is not always the case. Some of them don't understand the consequences of not being able to take the message back and once it is sent then they have no control over who sees it.
Are kids learning good socialization skills by learning to communicate by texting? What happens when they grow up and have to work and be able to speak clearly to their boss or coworkers? One lady mentioned her child texted over 15,000 a month and their time was limited.
So if you look at the numbers for this, lets say there are 8 hours turned off for school and 8 for nighttime for sleep. 15,000 a month breaks down to 500 a day if you take a month to be 30 days. So during the school week they are averaging 62.5 texts an hour for the 8 hours they are allowed to text outside of school and sleep. That is one text a minute. That just seems outrageous to me and I wonder how they do anything or get anything done. I used to have to do chores and homework and I rarely talked on the phone as a teenager even though I am a girl. I am a 30 year who has used text to communicate with friends who refuse to talk on the phone or when calling may be inconvenient.
I don't think teenagers should be on the phone at all while in the car at all. They are learning how to drive and how to do it responsibly. If anyone thinks they can responsibly text or call while driving then they are an accident waiting to happen. Even the littlest distraction can be fatal.
It is a new generation yes and I know that technology plays a big part in that but like the article states at what cost??
Thank You Reality 841008 !!!!!!!! I agree wholeheartedly with the pet peeve.
6,000 a month? I WISH that's all my 15 yr old did. Heavy finanical lesson for us when we learned our daughter had the capability to go 6,400 in a matter of 2 weeks (that was over a year ago). The month she was allowed to have her phone back and we added the unlimited, at her cost, over 10,100. She kept her grades up and wasn't in any trouble, she'd managed to also keep her volunteen time up and in quality as well. She texted during lunch but not in school for fear the teacher would take the phone for the rest of the school year, as well as her father and me. She's a very normal, social, Honor roll, rounded kid. She can sure text faster than anyone else I know though.
Thanks, Corporate America, now your ruining our kids, just like your ruining our jobs and American way of life, all for your Greed, and at our expense ! Just like your VIOLENT Video Games that now have our Youth Killing people, like they've become Zombies, while parents work 12 hrs. a day to try to make it, while your CEO's recieve multi-millions in salaries and bonuses and all expense paid trips at the tax payers expense- Corporate America is destroying this Country and everybody in it- why- we've become Brain-Dead Zombies- Why the Guy in the Movie Network- was Right- We're madd as hell and were NOT going to take it anymore- say it- say it- say it again yell at the top of your lungs people !
parents have a choise BLOCK TEXTING but parents dont want to be parents, they want to be best friends with there kids....
Yeah Jetranger , blame it on corporate america . Their your kid's , if you feel comfortable blaming their actions on the economy , fine with me .
Tom353478................you certainly got that one right !!!
This is what is wrong with our society today. What happen to picking the phone up and talking or writing letters to someone? We have all lost touch of human interaction. I hate texting but some of my friends thinks that is the only way to communicate. If I had a 15 year old they would have limited texting and minutes to talk. The children today is spoiled and have not boundaries to follow. I know when I am upset with someone I want them to hear it my voice and you can not show your emotions over the text messages. You can state it but it does not come let them know how upset you are. I think we need bring the communicating back in our lives. These children are not going to be able to communicate as adults.
Don't worry Gay , when I'm pissed off I don't text . Whoever it is see's me very clearly in person .
LMAO!!!!!! WTF is wrong with some people? They have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century?? LMAO!!!!!!!
I do text when I am somewhat too busy to have a full conversation. Sometimes I text a quick hello just to let someone know I was thinking of them. I text friends across the country and my husband overseas. Sometimes life just gets busy, but it is great to be able to keep in touch through texting. My kids text but not to this articles extreme. My kids are somewhat spoiled but they also make good grades in school, do chores, and are respectful. I have no problem at times giving them some things that I can afford to give them.
I just gave this letter to my daughter's last Friday. I took out their names so that they won't be embarrassed.
Your TEXTING will be deleted within 24 hours because of the following:
First if you’re reading this letter at lunch I invite you to share this letter with your friends, because if they are as smart as I think they are, they will find some validity in what I have said, therefore I will not mind the possible laughter at my expense.
Dear,
Over the last year we have had constant conversations on how texting was necessary in order for you to survive as teenagers in this world. _______— this conversation started a year ago and _______— it was last June. _______, I’m sure you remember sitting in Nashville, last February, getting ready to venture onto an amazing opportunity, one that most kids would only dream of and instead of realizing how lucky you were, you chose to throw a tantrum on why you couldn’t have texting. _______, I remember you laughing at ________— and thinking she was crazy. Then only four months later, you also started throwing tantrums on why you couldn’t have texting. Throughout the year, I stood by my decision that texting was an unnecessary waste of time and would not behoove you for any reason.
So, in January of 2009, I decided to give you a trial texting period, because you both gave me the reason that you would stay off of the computer and be more productive if you had texting. Well, you are both failing your trial period. One, more than the other and here are the reasons why:
1. You both can’t put your phone down for a minute because you are afraid that you will miss that one important text of “what’s up” or “hey, what ya doing”. “Not, much, what are you doing”. “Not much”. If I walked around with let’s say a lighted folding hairbrush in my hand 24 hours a day and constantly stared at it to see if it lit up or opened it up to see if there were any signs of life going on, you would say “Mom looks like an idiot”. “Mom, put that stupid folding hairbrush down”, “ Mom, would you quit looking at your hairbrush”, “Mom would you quit opening the hairbrush”. Just because you have a phone in your hand instead of a lighted folding hairbrush, doesn’t mean that you look any less stupid. Well, I’m here to tell the both of you, “you look stupid standing around holding your phone in your hand all day. You look stupid opening up your phone all day to see if you missed a text. You look stupid looking down at your phone all day to see if the little light has gone off”.
2. Before you had texting, your dad and I would always point out to you how rude both kids and adults had become because of texting. Here’s some examples of how rude you have become since you were given texting:
A. You invite friends over and instead of talking with your friends or having fun with them, you’re texting someone else. Which friend did you want to spend time with, the one you invited over or the one that you’re texting. I can’t imagine inviting Lari over and the entire time that she’s over I’m having a conversation with someone else. Basically, I’ve told Lari, “I’m a little bored with you right now and I really want to talk with someone else”. “Sorry you’re not fulfilling my needs as a friend right now and someone else has become more important”. This is what you say, every time you continue to answer a text. It would be different if you looked down and saw that your dad was texting you and then you could say “My dad, is texting, must be important, let me answer this text”. But that is not the case. Ask yourself this question, are the people that I’m texting right now my real friends? Or, Am I ignoring my real friends by texting this other person? If you’re honest with yourself, I’m sure you can find the right answer! I am confident that any life altering text that you’ve received while your friends were over can be answered once your true friends have left.
B. You text in a restaurant!!!!! This has always been our biggest pet peeve. Put your phone down and eat your lunch and have some conversation with the person you’re sitting across from. Do you know how annoying it is to be talking to a person and they stop the conversation to answer their text. Why did you invite me to lunch in the first place (other than to pay) if you insist on texting someone else. Do you even know how annoying it is to the other person to watch you try to eat with one hand and text with the other.
C. Okay, so we’re in Nashville and the photographer is trying to get some raw footage of you all (remember we’re in Nashville) hanging out together and out of ten kids, there is only one sitting there texting while he’s filming. Hmm, wonder who the one kid is?? Very unprofessional. Another example, we’re at a photo shoot and the photographer and editor of the magazine are waiting for you to change and they look over and you’re not changing, you’re both texting. Extremely unprofessional.
D. The constant buzzing of the text. Do you know how rude it is to have to constantly listen to the buzzing of the phone. Again in Nashville because you couldn’t leave your phone behind, there were several times when they would have to stop shooting footage because someone’s phone was buzzing.
3. We were told that you would not spend as much time on myspace and now facebook if you got texting. Well, YOU’RE STILL ON THE COMPUTER and now do I not only have to tell or yell at you to get off the computer but I have to yell at you to quit texting and join in on life. So, now we have “Waste your lifespace”, facebook and texting stealing your young lives away. If you want to communicate with someone, pick up the dog gone phone and talk to them. At least you will hear the influctuations in their voices and not have to determine their moods by the signs of a smiley or sad face icon.
4. Now that Altell has become Verizon, you’re biggest thrill in life this week is how many people can I now text for free. . Your faces light up like a kid in a candy store when you find a new person that has Verizon. If you don’t believe this, just look at who you have started texting this week. It has not been, how can I become a better student, singer or musician, but who can I now text for free. Who can I now have unimportant conversations with, when I really should be concentrating on what is important for my schooling and career . I watched you the other day try to practice upstairs and you couldn’t even get through a song, without stopping to answer the buzz.
I could go on but it is 5:00 in the morning and I should be sleeping. Yet I’ve chosen to write this letter and have decided to give you a gift of life today. I’m going to give you part of your life back to you by eliminating your texting. Wow, just think how much time you will have to do the things in life that matter. Take a look at your Alltell bill last month and you both texted almost 5,000 times which at ten seconds a text is about 8 hours of your life last month that went to texting. If you could have only played the piano or guitar for those 8 hours, just think how much better you would have become. I am confident that when someone looks back on their life and looks at the things that they missed out on, that they will not say, “Boy, I wish I would have texted more”.
Unless you can tell me the benefits in texting and how you plan to change, your texting will be blocked starting tonight. I Love You both and want to see you succeed in whatever is important to you. If texting is what has become most important, then I guess I can sadly say that you have both become successful texters.
Finally, my darling daughters, you will read this letter and the first words that will come out of your mouth is “you’re dumb”. That’s okay, because I know that I’m not “dumb” by having said these things. I will leave you with this reminder of your past. About four years ago, your brother would sit in the office and constantly text and you would look at me and say, “why does he do that, he looks so dumb”. You would even make fun of him and imitate him pushing on all the buttons. You would then tell me, that you never would do that when you got older and I would tell you that texting was a bad habit that your brother wasn’t smart enough to break. Well, your brother doesn’t text anymore and you do, so who looks “dumb” now.
I Love You,
Your Annoying Mother
Thank you for this post. It warmed my heart.
I'm glad you're not my mom. Unlike you, my mom's pretty cool and does not have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I got a phone when I was 16 and it has EVERYTHING, including internet access. I have music, texting, pictures, everything. My cell phone is my lifeline and a great conveinence. Texting is NOT hurting anyone, except a few technological dinosaurs who refuse to accept the ever changing technology of the world we live in. I'm just LMFAO at your stick your head in the mud approach to life.
In my response to Reality mom's aren't always supposed to be cool, they are supposed to be a parent which this lady seemed to be doing with her children. One problem I have noticed with children these days is that mom's want to be considered cool with their kids so they don't discipline or put restrictions on them. Maybe it worked out for you that your mom was cool but being a parent isn't supposed to be about being cool is about raising your children to become responsible adults. It is sad that your cell phone is your lifeline honestly...
No its not sad that my phone is my lifeline. Its great for keeping in touch with family (especially in other states) and my friends when we're not together. In fact just Saturday I sent my cousin a picture of a baseball player she likes who's from her hometown, since she couldn't get down here to see him.
This is symptomatic of things much larger - high anxiety and compulsiveness for two. This is NOT normal behavior for a teen or anyone else. The long-term effects are unknown, but cellphone addiction in general is a huge problem. We have people who text while driving now, as if talking on a phone while driving isn't bad enough already.
When people's lives start to center around only one or two things, it isn't good.
6000, 8000, 30000 texts a month. sounds like a addiction to me.
so maybe texting is kind of like blogging. it can be a problem.