Anyone around here got teenage kids? Went to a holiday party & hosts kids were around. Astonished to

T

traca

Well-known member
see them texting friends non-stop. The older of the two girls had TWO cell phones--one (2 year old) standard phone and one iPhone. She held one in each hand and texted from both ALL NIGHT LONG. The younger girl felt deprived by only having 1 phone to text from.

I suddenly feel very very old.

A friend of mine said her step daughter's phone bill last month had 100 hours of talk time and over 3,000 texts.

I did get a hot tip from our holiday texters. They said there's an iPhone app called "Free Text" and through that you can text unlimited and not have to pony up the $$$ for unlimited texts with the phone company. Fascinating.

 
My 18 year old DD has cut back quite a bit lately it seems.

But she does text quite a bit. She knows that it's rude and that I won't allow it in certain circumstances.

 
I wouldn't feel "old" but I would feel that I had been in the company of girls with pretty bad

manners. The hosts daughters?

 
I've cut back on all my electronic gadgets lately. Too much information rolling in...

I finally started cutting back on all the random list serve e-mails, unfollowed a bunch of people on Twitter, and took a hard look at how I use my cell phone. (Since I moved to an iPhone with the Twitter ap, I was on it ALL the time. Annoyed myself. Delete!)

It's been really nice, actually, minimizing the gadgetry in my life.

 
At least they were "present." When I was 15, I'd hang out in my room until called for dinner. While

they were texting, at least they were catching snatches of conversation here and there. They weren't contributing to the conversation with this boisterous group of adults, but at least they were present, you know?

But it was weird to see how one girl was texting with a cell phone in both hands. It was like she was some kind of Wall Street mogul! One guest asked what she was texting about. Most of her friends were with their families on Christmas Eve, talking about how bored they were and making plans for the break. Normal chatter...

 
I dunno, I find this so depressing. everywhere I go, young and old have their heads down and their

hands full of electronics, not even watching where they walk. it's an addiction. I'm glad I'm not afflicted. no texting for me. or even much phoning---I usually forget my phone. I think I mentioned this before, but while waiting for my car, every other person in the waiting room was fixated with their phones---I was the only one reading a book, an actual book from the library no less. I guess that's not much different. I had my head down too.

 
Sadly I have 2 cell phones too...but I'm not happy about it

I have my Blackberry for work but use it mostly for email because and the phone coverage/clarity is so awful in my area with the provider they use (AT&T) so I kept my personal Verizon phone as well so I have something to talk on where I can actually hear the other person. (I refuse to get an iPhone as long as they are still married to AT&T.)

My SIL is ALL about the texting and of course all the kids in the famliy as well. I could not believe my SIL got her 9 yr old a cell phone. I mean omg, he is 9! But then again that SIL and BIL will text each other while sitting in the same room. Yes really...sigh.

I'm not a huge fan of texting. They all think I'm so not "with it" enough because of this. I told them if they had to live on email and IM like I do for work they would't want to spend all their off hours glued to this stuff either. Oh and I won't do Facebook either. Not can't, won't. This of course makes me the equiv of older than dirt, lol.

Technology is great but taking the crack outta crackberry is a better thing as far as I'm concerned. And I must not be too bad because I have friends kids that want to stick around at the grown-up parties; they hang out with us because "you are all (us grown-ups) so much fun." So guess maybe we're still cool after all. smileys/smile.gif

 
I have teenagers and lots of nieces & nephews, we have strict no texting rules for family gatherings

 
Communication and Technology are great, but...

there's a time and place for everything, and family gatherings wouldn't be my choice. It also might not be the hill I chose to die on with teens. It seems to me, we "children" were sequestered to another part of the house until summoned for dinner...or did we just gravitate away from the stories we'd heard so many times before? If there was an out of town member of the family present, it seems we all wanted to be closer, but even then, the youngsters were herded off.

 
I can't speak of out-of-towners but having been raised by old school Scottish immigrants,

we were innately brought up with the "Children are to be seen and not heard" adage.

Throughout the course of many years however, I have seen my friend's kids interplaying with their family and guests sans inhibitions and they seem very well adjusted (well, some...) to this day.

Life isn't fair, never has been, and never will be. That's what keeps me sane.

Quote by moi.

 
What really bothers me....

is not their oblivious attitude towards the rest of the world, because I do think it's part of being a teenager.

When I was growing up, I had the music, the hours and hours alone in my room, and phone conversations with friends late at night when everyone else was asleep. Nowadays the tools are different, but the modus operandi is similar smileys/smile.gif
They will for the most part all turn out as nice individuals as they mature - this too shall pass!

now, what really really bothers me is texting OR talking on the cell phone while driving. As a runner, and biker, I don't know how many times I felt threatened by drivers of all ages (often ladies in their mid-forties are doing it) texting or talking on the cell phone - they are absolutely oblivious to what goes on around their car. It is, in my opinion, almost as dangerous as drunk driving, but most people do it.

I never touch my cell phone while driving, neither does my husband - it is a rule we've agreed upon from the first day we got our cell phones.

at least teenagers texting during a party are not putting anyone else's life (and their own) in danger smileys/smile.gif

 
I guess it's like the phone in "our day" - gee, how old does that sound, but what

got me on Christmas day is when my 55-year old sister kept getting text messages AT THE TABLE while we were eating. True, they were kind of frantic texts from my niece in another state who just got some bad news, but hasn't anyone heard of using a phone to talk about it?

This was 10 minutes after my B-in-L got a non-emergency phone call while at the table, took it, and was away from the table for almost 2o minutes.

I think both of these were rude... teenagers, I chalk up to not having social manners yet. Hopefullly they will learn.

 
I ALWAYS had my head in a book. Would bring one to all events, read while walking

along the street, propped up while dressing and while eating (if my father was not at the table, that is). I lived in a perpetual literary fog--and still do, I guess.

 
The result of the no texting rule is that the kids all interact with each other

instead of everyone being on their "own private island". I'm sure some sneaking off to text happens, but it makes the occasion much more enjoyable when everyone is present (when they are texting, they're really not present).
I have a big family, ranging in age from my grandmother (100) to our newborn nephew, and we are all important participants in the conversations. I think when kids are listened to, they are much more likely to participate (the newborn doesn't really have much to say, though).

 
yes, we had the phone, but in our house we weren't allowed to take calls at family dinnertime. my

stepson and family have that rule too. no electronics at the dinnertable. it all surely can wait till after dinner. none of them have jobs that would require emergency calls or paging. whatever happened to playing games together or movie nights, without the phones??

 
I love technology, but like you all said...there is a time and place

I got a Motorola Droid for Christmas and I'm enjoying learning to text our kids, and do stuff with it that is actually fun. Did you know it can scan bar codes and tell me where the product might be less expensive at another store?

Anyway, I have schooled myself to text only when necessary, not just to tell someone I am eating a sandwich. I telephone most of the time, so I can actually talk with a human voice and hear the voice of those I love. Mobile phones are a fun tool...and if you think of them as a tool, your life will be less complicated. Mine is totally turned off while at home, unless I am playing with it to learn something.
I also have a rule "no electronics at the table". and it is a good rule.

 
I was honored to attend the birth of a friends child and my friend was

texting the entire time she was in labor.

I, on the other hand, only text when I absolutely have to and no more than 1 word (often 1 letter).

 
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