By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:55:24 +0000

I’m a step-parent to a 13-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy, and I’ve got a little one on the way. My husband and I really can’t stand the attachment the 13-y-o has to her cell phone. It was a gift from her mom — we disagreed with the idea, but we can’t really control what is done there, so we try to manage it at our home. We’re trying to come up with a system for the cell phone usage at home that won’t be overly punitive or controlling, but we are trying to help her understand that it is inappropriate to allow incoming and outgoing text messages (non-stop) to interrupt family conversations, social gatherings, or really any other human interaction. Her dad and I both have cell phones, but they are very basic, mainly used for our business and to talk with family when necessary. We don’t text. We currently disallow cell phones at the table during meals — all phones in the house are off while we are in family meal mode. We don’t allow her to take her phone into restaurants or to homes where we’ve been invited as guests. We’re trying to emphasize the importance of face-to-face communication with the people who’ve invited us to a meal, or to some other activity. I have nieces and nephews whose parents (my siblings) have not bothered with these rules, and I’ve sat through entire meals with these children without being able to make eye contact or ask them how school is going or have any kind of conversation because they were so busy with texting and/or gaming on their DS’s. Drives me nuts. I don’t have a problem with gadgets per se, but I do have a problem with children who haven’t been taught some limits, and the importance of social, human interaction.

Comments on: Generation Text: Raising Well-Adjusted Kids in an Age of Instant Everything

By: Deb