My buddy doesn't ( didn't? ) understand why I won't let my kids have text messaging.

[MichelleVW]

Lol....I just asked my DD18 how she and her friends made plans and she said, "huh?" So I said, "do you call or text?" She said, "we usually text it's easier"

So I told her that there were people on this thread that said they would never let their teens have text messaging and she just looked at me like I had 3 heads and said, "well, how would they talk to each other???""

Seriously...it's the teen preferred method of communication...they don't talk on the phone they text.

 

[runwad]

My dd13 has a tracfone but not texting, well I guess she could text but we'd have to pay. I have a trac fone and DH has verizon but a 20/mo plan. We have a landline that only costs 25/mo way cheaper then we could get cell phones for. I'm hoping like a previous poster that by the time we let DD have texting, next year 9th grade hs, that the faze will have fizzled a little. I don't think 13 year olds need such an active social life. Now when she gets in high school ok, but middle school? Sorry not in this house. I don't like the things kids say in texts it's too easy to be mean. Plus I want to know who my daughter is talking to and if she's on the phone I know if she's getting a text I don't. She has her whole life to be a grown up. Right now she's a kid and I want to see her in the backyard playing stick ball with all the neighbor kids, not worrying about what social activity she's not invited to because she doesn't have texting. But I do realize this is the way kids communicate and we will visit getting texting in high school.

 

[dismom2]

So, if you didn't have a cell phone, you wouldnt "be able to talk to her at all"? (referring to your own mother) That's pretty sad. I have a cell phone and a land line, and my land line is $25 a month. How can you afford an apartment and a cell phone, but "can't afford" a land line phone? You do realize they cost less than cell phones, don't you? Even if it's in addition to a cell, a basic (land line) phone is dirt cheap these days. Not saying you should get one, but in your words, "this thread is just silly".

My parents don't have a computer or cell phones (well, they have a pay-as-you-go phone in the car for, literally, emergencies only), and I assure you, all of their kids keep in touch with them all the time, and they are able to reach them all the time, by other means (regular phone's, visits, letters...).


Yes, it is very possible to live a full life without a cell phone or text messaging. I have a cell with texting, but I still get plenty of phone calls, and even paper invites, as do my children. And I've never had a coach refuse to use a phone to contact us. Yes, kids with no phones do play sports, too. What if someone doesn't get their text? Do these coaches even care? I've never heard of texting only communication by a coach. It's irresponsible to refuse to pick up a phone and call (or email...) a student ever. We've never encountered that in any city we have lived in, large or small (currently large).


Only one of my kids has a cell phone with texting, but I assure you, they all have very good friends, and very fun, active lives. I doubt my childrens "real" friends are going to "drop them" (as another pp mentioned to someone else) if they can't text them. Sorry, but "real friends" aren't that shallow. If your child's best friend has no texting, I would hope she or he wouldn't "drop" them as a friend. What does that say about them? Can't blame that decision on the 'non texters' parent. That's a reflection of how much your child values thier friend, actually.

Also, another poster said that 99% of kids have texting. If this is true, then just how inconvenient is it for your child to actually make a call to the one (maybe two) people who don't have texting, to invite them somewhere? If they really want that person there, they aren't going to "forget", or be inconvenienced (unless it's just an aquaintence, maybe, and they don't really care if they go or not).

I'm not against texting---some of us here do some of it, but I do find many comments on this thread laughable.

ETA: People who do not own cell phones, or, God forbid, don't text message, are "productive members of society", too. Not sure what world you are living in. My parents don't even own a computer (not because they can't afford one, but thier lives are rich without a lot of this new technology, and they have no desire to change what's 'not broken'), and they are more productive than a lot of people, and gee--they live in a very large city and have a lot of good friends, and lead very active lives. I find this attitude very sad.

i moved into my own apartment at the beginning of the summer, and if my mother was as hardheaded as the op, i wouldn't be able to talk to her at all. i can't afford a land line phone, so my cell phone is my only means to interrupt her life.

this thread is just silly. i'm sure people felt this way back in the 1900s about those devil automobiles too.

the fact of the matter is that we don't NEED any of the things that make our lives easy and comfortable, but we all like them. if you don't want to be interrupted by technology, i'm sure you could find a log cabin in the woods to go live a quite, medieval life all by yourself. but i'll take my running water, television, internet and cell phone and go live as a productive member of society.

 

[Doe]

And I've never had a coach refuse to use a phone to contact us. Yes, kids with no phones do play sports, too. What if someone doesn't get their text? Do these coaches even care? I've never heard of texting only communication by a coach. It's irresponsible to refuse to pick up a phone and call (or email...) a student ever. We've never encountered that in any city we have lived in, large or small (currently large).

I've never heard of coaches main method of communication by text either. All four of our kids play/played school/club sports and all communication was done via email or slips of paper sent home with the kids with the info on it. My two oldest have cell phones but only because they pay for them. They both play/played at the varsity level in high school and their coaches didn't even have my kids cell phone #'s.

We have 4 kids. We've always told the kids they can have a cell phone when they can pay for it. Since we have to put them on our plan the deal was they had to have the first years payment saved up before they could get a phone and the second years worth of payments saved up at the end of the first year of the contract. So far my 17 & 18 yr olds have phones that they got about one year ago. No phone yet for the 13 & 14 year old. Missing social activities has never been a problem for our kids. Since the two older kids got their phones it hasn't made a difference in their social life in that they were just as active socially before they got their phones.

Maybe it's the good old small town we live in or their awesome friends, but not having cell phones and the ability to text their friends hasn't hurt them socially. With 4 teens our house phone rings quite a bit, to the point sometimes I want to mute all the ringers!

 

[MichelleVW]

With 4 teens our house phone rings quite a bit, to the point sometimes I want to mute all the ringers!

Oh...thank goodness for texting because I don't have to hear the phone ring every 5 minutes!!

 

[C.Ann]

So, if you didn't have a cell phone, you wouldnt "be able to talk to her at all"? (referring to your own mother) That's pretty sad. I have a cell phone and a land line, and my land line is $25 a month. How can you afford an apartment and a cell phone, but "can't afford" a land line phone? You do realize they cost less than cell phones, don't you? Even if it's in addition to a cell, a basic (land line) phone is dirt cheap these days. Not saying you should get one, but in your words, "this thread is just silly".

My parents don't have a computer or cell phones (well, they have a pay-as-you-go phone in the car for, literally, emergencies only), and I assure you, all of their kids keep in touch with them all the time, and they are able to reach them all the time, by other means (regular phone's, visits, letters...).


Yes, it is very possible to live a full life without a cell phone or text messaging. I have a cell with texting, but I still get plenty of phone calls, and even paper invites, as do my children. And I've never had a coach refuse to use a phone to contact us. Yes, kids with no phones do play sports, too. What if someone doesn't get their text? Do these coaches even care? I've never heard of texting only communication by a coach. It's irresponsible to refuse to pick up a phone and call (or email...) a student ever. We've never encountered that in any city we have lived in, large or small (currently large).


Only one of my kids has a cell phone with texting, but I assure you, they all have very good friends, and very fun, active lives. I doubt my childrens "real" friends are going to "drop them" (as another pp mentioned to someone else) if they can't text them. Sorry, but "real friends" aren't that shallow. If your child's best friend has no texting, I would hope she or he wouldn't "drop" them as a friend. What does that say about them? Can't blame that decision on the 'non texters' parent. That's a reflection of how much your child values thier friend, actually.
Also, another poster said that 99% of kids have texting. If this is true, then just how inconvenient is it for your child to actually make a call to the one (maybe two) people who don't have texting, to invite them somewhere? If they really want that person there, they aren't going to "forget", or be inconvenienced (unless it's just an aquaintence, maybe, and they don't really care if they go or not).
I'm not against texting---some of us here do some of it, but I do find many comments on this thread laughable.

ETA: People who do not own cell phones, or, God forbid, don't text message, are "productive members of society", too. Not sure what world you are living in. My parents don't even own a computer (not because they can't afford one, but thier lives are rich without a lot of this new technology, and they have no desire to change what's 'not broken'), and they are more productive than a lot of people, and gee--they live in a very large city and have a lot of good friends, and lead very active lives. I find this attitude very sad.

Very well said - specifically the bolded parts..

And with that, I rest my case.. It's been an interesting thread, that's for sure!