Do you let your teens talk on the phone all night?

[icebrat001]

Partner (raised by father and step mom) and I are taking care of her little sisters 14, 15 (raised by her biological mother), and the 14 year old sister was on the phone until 3 AM !

The girl starting talking on the phone at 11 pm and at 3 am she was still on the phone and I told dear partner that was enough, she had to get her sister off the phone, she was talking way too loud and had no business on the phone that late.

Partner didn't want to seem bossy, she she felt telling her sister to get off. If only my partner could here some of the conservation this girl was talking about.

So my question is, do you let your teens talk on the phone all night? What time do you make your teens get off the phone?

 

[grinningghost]

My Dad was a FREAK about me not talking on the phone at night, so I made a pact with myself that I would NEVER be like that. I see no harm in talking on the phone, it's the same as if she had the friend over for the night, but better - I only have to listen to half the conversation.

Of course, this is only on weekends and vacations. During school the phone gets hung up at 11:00. I think that's reasonable.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

Nope. My daughter was at a sports camp this past weekend, her roommate was on the phone all night for a few nights, toward the end of camp when roommate was whining about their 5:00 a.m. wake up and how tired she was, my daughter said well if you weren't on the phone all night, maybe both of us could have gotten some sleep

 

[SherryNC]

Now that it is summer dd,15 can talk until 11pm, I've made an exception until midnight a few times. During the school year, no phone on school nights because everytime we've tried, her grades suffer since she rushes through her homework and doesn't give enough attention to studies. We will probably try again this year and see if she is more responsible.

 

[pearlieq]

I did it occasionally when I was a kid and I have some very fond memories. If it's over the summer with no obligations the next day and she's keeping it down, I can't see what it would hurt once in a while.

If she's on the phone all night you know she's home and not out getting into trouble!

 

[grinningghost]

If she's on the phone all night you know she's home and not out getting into trouble!

Amen Sister!

 

[cruisnfamily]

This has become a BIG issue for us this year with DD12.

During the school year, the phone calling is done at 9pm. Any calls after 9pm better be urgent!

During the summer, I didn't really have any rules in place and found DD on the phone one night at 11pm and heard from a friends mom they were up until after midnight on the phone during a sleep over. So, we've revisited the phone rules. I've decided 10pm is late enough to be on the phone. So, 9 during the school year(weekends included) and 10 during the summer. So far, so good.

 

[icebrat001]

If she's on the phone all night you know she's home and not out getting into trouble!

That's very true!

I guess i'm just worried because the 14 year old was talking to one of her friends saying she doesn't have sexual relations with older men, which got me to thinking, does that mean she does with boys her age?

I'm so worried about them doing something they shouldn't be doing while we are responsible for them. Their older sister in my age and has 5 kids. The biological mother tells them it's okay to have sex and it's normal and has sex in front of her daughters and prances around naked.

Thank goodness, dear partner wasn't raised by her. I guess I'm asking for too much by wanting to instill a few moral values in them.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

when i was younger, as long as i was getting calls late (to wake up everyone else) i could stay on the phone as long as i wanted..i never really stayed on too late, but a few times i did..as long as i didnt talk too loud then no one really cared

 

[CajunDixie]

With summer here we've let DS14 be on the phone as late as 1 a.m. Usually, he's off the computer and phones at midnight and goes to bed but even on the nights he's on the phone I know who he's talking to and where he is so I don't think it's that big of a deal. During the day he's been going to work with DH so it's not like he can call his friends during the day.

 

[bettyann29]

During the summer break, spring break or Fridays/Saturdays during the school year I dont have a problem with it.. During the school year the rule is no calls after 9 pm... I personally dont see any harm in it as long as the person who is on the other line's parents dont mind them being on the phone.. I certainly dont want them to get anyone in trouble by being on the phone ...

 

[MinnieM3]

DS16 and DS19 stay on their cell phones for who knows how long. At some point, I have to go to sleep. DD19 is working 2 jobs and usually has to be at work at 8am, so not a problem. DS16 is the phone hog. Every few days I check his call log and fuss at him if there is anything after 1am.

Summer only.....we confiscate all cell phones during school week.

 

[Twinkles6892]

I don't really use the phone much anymore. You can't talk to 9 people at once on the phone like you can on AIM. I have been known to stay up until midnight, 1 AM on weekends IMing, at 10 on weeknights I get off cause I'm tired!

 

[EthansMom]

It sounds like you aren't worried about the fact that she is on the phone so much as what she's discussing. If you're worried about what she's up to, then some frank and honest discussions about bc, diseases, etc. is probably warranted.

It's good that someone cares about her as it sounds like so many people around her are giving this girl some bad advice.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

well my sister was one who BEVER got off the phone
she would keep the portable next to her and it would die all the time

when we were in high school my dad used to take the phones out of the house yes outof the house and out them in the trunk of his car and take them to work
this way she couldnt talk on the ophone all after noon
by paretnsused to get these huge long distance bills from her talking to friends

at night they started confiscating them
it was awesome to be punished for her crap NOT!!!!
they finallty got me my own line but not portable so she couldnt use it

it was crazy

 

[i_luv_potc]

if i did that... my mom and dad would kill me! we ave a cell phone for a home phone and we try to have as much free minutes as possible... so if i spent most of the night on the phone my mom would make me pay the money!! (no way, i have no money!) my mom get's mad at me and makes me hang up the phone after a half an hour ( i have a friend who can't shut up. lol.)

 

[Feralpeg]

DD doesn't like talking on the phone. She doesn't like to use IMing. I guess I'm lucky.

 

[monarchsfan16]

My sister and I have our own cell phones. It's up to us how long we spend on them. However, dad pays the bill, and if one of us goes over the minutes we have (800 for the 2 of us) I expect we'll be coughing up the extra money. But, there's no restriction on how long we can be on the phone. The house phone better not ring after 9 though (probably earlier) since stepdad needs his beauty sleep, and we're in big trouble if the cell phone rings that late downstairs too, even if it's a wrong number. As long as stepdad can't hear it though, it's not an issue (what he doesn't know can't hurt him). I, however, am not a phone talker. Therefore, this is not an issue for me. I'm online way more than I'm on the phone, and once again, as long as we're not keeping stepdad awake, it's not a big deal.

 

[Amberle3]

When I was a teenager, if I was up until the wee hours of the morning talking on the phone then you can bet that the topic of discussion wasn't something I could put on these boards.

 

[Chris2597]

My dd talks on her cell phone constantly at night. We get free minutes after 9pm and on weekends....so i dont mind if she talks until the wee hours as long as she keeps it down and doesnt disturb our sleep. I figure there can be so many battles with teens...so I pick the important issues to stand firm on......and this one subject doesnt have to be a battle....sure I would prefer the phone to be off at a reasonable hour, but I think it is important to not battle with them over every little thing and to let them feel empowered to make some of their own decisions on issues such as this...She isnt sneaking out, at a party, etc....just on the phone at home...it is a pretty safe area to let a teen make their own choice....My dd has pretty much figured out on her own that she is tired the next morning when she talks until 3am....most mornings she can sleep in but once in awhile we have an appt or plans.....I have asked her to turn the phone off during the school year at 11pm on school nights....It works for us.