When the mobile phone becomes more important than real conversation
Where would we be without mobile phones? Some parents are beginning to wonder whether the benefits of this technology are outweighed by the annoyance of the craze for texting that seems to have taken over the teenage population. Grandma used to say, "everything in moderation", but there are some teenagers who seem obsessed with their phones and unable to function without them. From a safety point of view, most parents are grateful for technology that can allow their child to contact them at any time, from anywhere.
The GPS trackers in mobile phones have located disappearing teenagers and the police utilize this technology to great benefit. So, when does a useful object become a menace? Many schools have banned mobile phones, except at recreation time or before, or after school, and certainly they are banned from exam halls. The majority of mobiles now have Internet access and many teenagers regularly receive Facebook and Twitter updates on their phones, so social networking is literally on the move.
However, when a mobile phone becomes the most important form of communication, replacing conversation with the family, it becomes close to an addiction. There are teenagers who text as they eat, text as they walk, on the bus, in the car, at family meals, even during lessons at school. Their life is centered on communication with a group of friends or sometimes just one friend, to the exclusion of the world around them. Some educationalists blame the texting craze for a drop in literacy, saying that children cannot spell properly anymore, so used are they to text speak. Parents see it as anti-social when their teenager does not speak to them, so intent are they on texting.
When should you be worried about your teen spending all their time texting? When it starts to interfere with their everyday lives, when they stop talking to you, when they stay up all night texting and are too tired for school the next day, then you should start to worry. Try taking their phone away from them, if they become seriously agitated and aggressive, then this is no longer a form of social interaction, it has become an addiction. Obsessive behavior is unhealthy, and a form of communication that relies on the written word, with no face to face contact is often open to misinterpretation and abuse.
Texts have been sent to end relationships, cowardly, to bully teenagers, cruel, and to lie with, the list is endless. Grandma also used to say, "A time and place for everything"; she was right. Texting and mobile phones have their uses, but they should not replace conversation face to face and prevent your teenager from leading their lives.