I thought that in order to get you all more active and talking about important issues that maybe I would start pulling things straight out of the headlines for us to debate and talk about. I am curious as to your opinions on the subject. Todays article is all about texting and the habits of the teen texter to be specific! They are estimating around 50 texts a day per teen with only 5 or so phone calls a day. In fact this means that we are looking at an entire generation who will use texting as their primary form of communication.
Since we know that email has its own trappings for miscommunication, the abbreviations used in texting not only slaughter our language but also leave even more room for misinterpretation. So what do you think? We can't stop it, so there is no point in trying. Now we need to teach our teens about responsible texting. Here are a few to get us started.
1. No texting and Driving - EVER
2. No texting in class
3. No texting at the Dinner Table or at any meal for that matter.
4. No mean texts, if you wouldn't say it to someone's face then you shouldn't say it in text. Also, I like if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. Cyber bullying must end.
5. When you are spending time with someone (anyone) be present in the moment and not focused on texting someone else.
6. Be sure and teach your teens effective communication skills, they WILL still come in contact with other generations for years to come and at some point they will need to get jobs from those people, so prepare them PLEASE to know how to communicate in other forums!
What rules would you add to the list?
SouthernTMomma you are just so right on. It's hard to teach the behavior when we are so addicted to it ourselves. It's a problem we created and one we have to fix. It's OK for them to communicate this way for sure as long as they have the basis for real communication. Way to go - you are absolutely being the person you want your child to become! I applaud you!
I would add : If you are giving your teen a phone that there will be no privacy. I think allot of parents think that their kids should be trusted however you can give a good kid a cell and have things go badly fast. It is the parents business whom they are communicating with and how they are conducting themselves. As parents its our jobs to check up on them at all times. I have seen allot of disturbing headlines lately on bullying. You never know if your child is the bully or the victim. The only way to determine that is to check up on them not turn a blind eye and say " I trust my kid" . In the end cell phones are now small computers so we need to watch carefully.
Butterflytat01 you are very right. My children know in my house every piece of paper, notebook, backpack, purse, cell phone, computer everything is searchable at any given time. The asked if I would always do this even after they turn 18, I tell them if I'm still putting the food in your mouth and the roof over your head you better believe it. I also check the phone records and know who they are texting and calling and they now let me know if they have a new friend (and I talk to that new friend) bc if there is a number I do not know then I call them and introduce myself and tell why I am calling. You never know anymore and it is scarey so I am a very very nosy mom!
I think everyone has a right to be scared at this point. So we definitely all agree that adding in the idea of laying ground rules before even giving them a phone is of key importance and that in fact means while I pay the bill and you live under my roof I have access to your phone on command.
My Sister does something interesting with her daughter who isn't allowed to have a phone yet, she lets her use hers when she is home from school. I love this because it allows her to have total access, sets them up for understanding the rules and teaches them to be aware of what they are saying and doing with it.
Been a while but let's talk about Spit
- MrsManners
on Apr. 20, 2010 at 12:59 PM