teens WITHOUT cell phones, email

[Robinrs]

Oh crap. Gotta check my 11-year old's contact list when she gets home.

My son is 17 (will be 18 in 4 months), has an email for business and school stuff, has a cell phone for emergencies (and STATUS, yes, STATUS ) but hardly ever uses it and has NEVER texted. His girlfriend, 18, doesn't either. He told me this morning that he's amazed that I'm more tech savvy than HE is and I'm almost THREE times his age!!

 

[mhsjax]

That's how they keep in contact with their drug dealers, obviously.

My kids don't need to get in touch with their drug dealers, We, his mom and dad have had enough surgeries within the past year and we have enough pain pills that they don't need a cell phone to contact their drug dealers. They just come to us, because we really don't take them.

 

[golfgal]

This reminds me of when the Harry Potter books came out and all the people that wouldn't let their kids read the books because they heard they were full of dark and evil things-never having read the books themselves. It seems like the people that are so against texting either have never texted themselves or don't have teenagers .

 

[mhsjax]

I couldn't agree more with this post. It has gotten out of hand...Majorly. Cell phones were a great thing when they first came out and were simply a phone you could take out of the house for the convenience of being able to be reached when you were out and about.

Now days, cell phones are not exactly what I would call a phone for 99.9% of the people who have them. For that percentage of people its a social networking device, and I say that because all they are doing is texting on it, and maybe making an actual phone call once a week.

It never ceases to amaze me whenever my sister has friends over and the room is dead silent because instead of opening up their mouths to talk, they are sitting around and texting each other. Someone try to convince me that is not a communication breakdown.

Its absurd how people are attached to their phones to the point where they only text on them, and cant even get on it to make a phone call to the person on a weekend or weekday, the same person they had been sending texts to for well over an hour, and go and have lunch or something to actually talk to that person face to face.

Exactly. I know of kids that are in the car together and texting each other. One parent was telling this story and another parent stated and I agree, that it wouldn't happen in her car, she would take the phones away for the ride. There is no reason you can't open your mouth and speak. If you have to text a conversation when you are with the person, or you can't put down your phone and socialize with the people you are with, then ladies and gentlemen, you have a problem.

I also did realize that people are so busy that they can't take an extra 2 minutes to leave wait for the phone to stop ringing and the answering machine to pick up.

 

[mhsjax]

This reminds me of when the Harry Potter books came out and all the people that wouldn't let their kids read the books because they heard they were full of dark and evil things-never having read the books themselves. It seems like the people that are so against texting either have never texted themselves or don't have teenagers .

But not all of us, I do text when I have to, or it is more convenient and yes I do realize that there are times like that. I also have a teenager and a pre teen girl that has a social life that would rival almost any teenagers. She doesn't text much at all. Seems like people that love to text assume that those of us that don't love it have never done it or don't have teenagers, my hubby has to a lot for his business and he hates it, but does it when he needs to and refuses to text for social reasons. so we don't fit into your group of haters.

I just hate the addiction to it, and yes it is almost at that point. My DD and her friends tried to bring out their phones while at a restaurant, I have seen tons of other kids and adults do this. They look down the entire time and they can't or won't have a conversation with the people that they are with.
Anyway, I looked at my DD and asked her if she had lost her mind and she and her friends put their phones away. How sad that there they were a group of 4 of them and they had to break out the phones to text and play. Sad statement of society, that is my problem with it.

 

[kristilew]

I couldn't agree more with this post. It has gotten out of hand...Majorly. Cell phones were a great thing when they first came out and were simply a phone you could take out of the house for the convenience of being able to be reached when you were out and about.

Yeah, and tv's were a great thing when they first came out and you could only get Lawrence Welk and the news. But now that there's cable, people are using them for entertainment purposes...it's gotten majorly out of hand

jk, I couldn't resist...So you use a cell phone one way, and I use it another. We can probably say that about a ton of stuff. Just because some of us like to utilize modern technology doesn't mean it's gotten out of hand. It's just gone past your personal comfort level. No one is making you use phones that way...

 

[allison443]

Exactly. I know of kids that are in the car together and texting each other. One parent was telling this story and another parent stated and I agree, that it wouldn't happen in her car, she would take the phones away for the ride. There is no reason you can't open your mouth and speak. If you have to text a conversation when you are with the person, or you can't put down your phone and socialize with the people you are with, then ladies and gentlemen, you have a problem.

Um, I'm pretty sure kids do this so the parent/driver cannot hear their conversation

As far as taking another child's phone away, I don't think that is my place. My own kid, fine, other people's kids, I wouldn't do that.

 

[mhsjax]

But at least we are not toting our TV's around and not being present when out and about, just look around when you go to lunch or out to dinner, kids can't seen to put them down.

Disney even did a episode on Sweet Like on Deck, (my kids still like that show) So it isn't just the very few of us that think this way. Poor London couldn't function without her phone and texting.

 

[mhsjax]

Um, I'm pretty sure kids do this so the parent/driver cannot hear their conversation

As far as taking another child's phone away, I don't think that is my place. My own kid, fine, other people's kids, I wouldn't do that.

To bad in my car my rules. If you need to have a conversation, then you have it, don't sit there and text each other while in the car. It is rude and I wouldn't tolerate it. I am glad most parents feel the way I do in my neighborhood, if you are in or on our property, then you follow our rules. The parents accept this and are fine with it.

 

[allison443]

Disney even did a episode on Sweet Like on Deck, (my kids still like that show) So it isn't just the very few of us that think this way. Poor London couldn't function without her phone and texting.

I refuse to acknowledge "Suite Life on Deck" as an authoritative source for anything!!! (I cannot stand that show, sorry)

 

[mhsjax]

I refuse to acknowledge "Suite Life on Deck" as an authoritative source for anything!!! (I cannot stand that show, sorry)

Didn't say it was an authoritative source, my kids watch it sometimes. Just saying that it is a statement of the world kids live in. If you don't want to believe that some kids are addicted to texting then fine, I live in the real world and I can guarantee that some are. And in my world, kids will not text in my car to avoid me hearing the conversation, it was to be used as a tool, not a whole way of life. you WILL speak to others when with them, not text them.

 

[golfgal]

Exactly. I know of kids that are in the car together and texting each other. One parent was telling this story and another parent stated and I agree, that it wouldn't happen in her car, she would take the phones away for the ride. There is no reason you can't open your mouth and speak. If you have to text a conversation when you are with the person, or you can't put down your phone and socialize with the people you are with, then ladies and gentlemen, you have a problem.

I also did realize that people are so busy that they can't take an extra 2 minutes to leave wait for the phone to stop ringing and the answering machine to pick up.

Um, I'm pretty sure kids do this so the parent/driver cannot hear their conversation

As far as taking another child's phone away, I don't think that is my place. My own kid, fine, other people's kids, I wouldn't do that.

I agree-it isn't any different then a kid going into their bedroom while talking on the phone so the parents can't hear them. I don't understand why it bothers you so much that the kids text each other in the car, to whom are they being rude?

 

[Scurvy]

I don't think there is anything wrong with kids today. I know a lot of awesome kids. Some people can't understand the attachment to computers, but that poster seems to have mastered them. What is wrong with people today?!

It is the snobby attitude on either side that makes this another battle in the mommy wars. Pathetic.

I know lots of awesome kids, and lots of not so awesome kids. And some kids have plenty of things wrong with them and also plenty of things right with them. I think that's probably always the case, with every generation. But even the kids I know with the very worst problems, I don't see any correlation with whether or not they have cell phones.

 

[indimom]

I know lots of awesome kids, and lots of not so awesome kids. And some kids have plenty of things wrong with them and also plenty of things right with them. I think that's probably always the case, with every generation. But even the kids I know with the very worst problems, I don't see any correlation with whether or not they have cell phones.

And vice versa...

 

[mhsjax]

I agree-it isn't any different then a kid going into their bedroom while talking on the phone so the parents can't hear them. I don't understand why it bothers you so much that the kids text each other in the car, to whom are they being rude?

Sorry but when they go into their room to talk on the phone the person they are talking to isn't there physically. These kids were talking to each other in the car, not some person that wasn't there physically, BIG difference. Kids will not text each other in the car, if they want to talk, simply turn you r little head, open your mouth and speak to the person sitting next to you, you don't have to text the person sitting next to you. Maybe rude was the wrong term it is STUPID. If you can't have a conversation with the person sitting right next to you, without texting, then you have a problem.

would you go to a restaurant with a friend, sit in the same booth or at the same table and have your conversation by texting?

 

[KimR]

Sorry but when they go into their room to talk on the phone the person they are talking to isn't there physically. These kids were talking to each other in the car, not some person that wasn't there physically, BIG difference. Kids will not text each other in the car, if they want to talk, simply turn you r little head, open your mouth and speak to the person sitting next to you, you don't have to text the person sitting next to you. Maybe rude was the wrong term it is STUPID. If you can't have a conversation with the person sitting right next to you, without texting, then you have a problem.

would you go to a restaurant with a friend, sit in the same booth or at the same table and have your conversation by texting?

But I think the point she was trying to make is that the purpose of the texting is not to avoid speaking to each other, but rather a way to keep the conversation private. I don't see anything wrong with that.

 

[coneygoil]

When I was 14 back in 1996, we didn't have a cell phone and I had no clue what emails were! If someone wanted to get in touch with me, they'd call my house phone or come by my house or talk to me the next time they saw me. That was only 14 years ago, so what in the world has happen to make people forget that that kind of "lack" of communication did exist.

I find it great that your DS doesn't have a cell phone. Teens and even younger kids are so dependant on texting that they can't even communcate when they are together. When my little one gets old enough, she will definitely not have cell phone until she's able to drive.

 

[allison443]

Sorry but when they go into their room to talk on the phone the person they are talking to isn't there physically. These kids were talking to each other in the car, not some person that wasn't there physically, BIG difference. Kids will not text each other in the car, if they want to talk, simply turn you r little head, open your mouth and speak to the person sitting next to you, you don't have to text the person sitting next to you. Maybe rude was the wrong term it is STUPID. If you can't have a conversation with the person sitting right next to you, without texting, then you have a problem.

would you go to a restaurant with a friend, sit in the same booth or at the same table and have your conversation by texting?

In your example of the car, there is a parent present in the car who could overhear the conversation. I think most times kids text each other in the car because they are having a private conversation and don't want the parent to overhear them. Do you object to them having a private conversation and you consider it rude to you?

 

[Colleen27]

Again, I'm not against it, but why text back and forth, when I can just call someone?

As an adult, I like texting because it is a to-the-point method to get out one-way messages/reminders like "Practice is cancelled tonight because of the weather" or "Scout meeting will be at the park instead of the meeting hall this week". Getting that information via text is much less intrusive into whatever I happen to be doing at the time than taking calls from coaches/scout leaders/other parents.

From a kid/teen's perspective, it is no different than going into the bedroom to make phone calls. When I was a kid we still had a corded phone, so I'd stretch that thing to it's limit and hog the half-bath to have some privacy. Our first a cordless phone was the Best. Thing. Ever. because I could go in my room to talk without wondering if my mom or brother were listing to my side of the conversation (not that the conversation was even very personal, but you know how teens are ).

Texting is that same basic thing, taken to the nth degree - no one can overhear, no matter where the conversation takes place, and for teens who think who they crush on and the latest hot gossip should be as carefully guarded as state secrets, there's bound to be immense appeal in that aspect of texting.

 

[golfgal]

Sorry but when they go into their room to talk on the phone the person they are talking to isn't there physically. These kids were talking to each other in the car, not some person that wasn't there physically, BIG difference. Kids will not text each other in the car, if they want to talk, simply turn you r little head, open your mouth and speak to the person sitting next to you, you don't have to text the person sitting next to you. Maybe rude was the wrong term it is STUPID. If you can't have a conversation with the person sitting right next to you, without texting, then you have a problem.

would you go to a restaurant with a friend, sit in the same booth or at the same table and have your conversation by texting?

Again, did it occur to you that they didn't WANT to talk outloud because they didn't want YOU to hear what they were saying. Parents don't need to know EVERYTHING about their kids.