I went to a Youth Conference a couple weekends ago with our Stake Youth and heard a speaker talk about Cell Phones and how texting has become the new way to communicate. The speaker quoted news articles about teens who had difficulty communicating face to face with others. With the luxury to think and pause before you type out your responses in a text or im, the ability to think on your feet is not being developed. Youth of the Z and I generations are choosing to text rather then talk to each other, even when they are sitting right next to each other. I did a search for "texting taking away ability to communicate" and read a couple interesting, allbeit not totally reliable research sources and saw this statistic that the Youth Conference speaker also had shared with us. I thought it was interesting.
In June 2001, cell phone users sent 30 million text messages in the U.S. A year later, that number had jumped to nearly 1 billion.
The Youth Conference speaker also asked the youth to learn to be respectful of others when they are texting. He said many people think that texting is the new smoking. Texting at dinner and during meetings just isn't appropriate. There is a lady I see at the park periodically and she is frequently texting to other people. Sometimes I feel like telling her to come enjoy our company and 'talk' to her other friends at a different, maybe more appropriate time.
I don't have a cell phone. (Not because I wouldn't like one, but because I am enjoying not having the $50 monthly bill associated with one.) I don't really even think I would know how to text if someone handed me a cell phone and asked me to text a message to another phone. I fear what it will be like when I have teens. My friend was telling me how she never hears the voices of the boys that call her daughter. They call her daughter directly on her cell phone, and probably wouldn't call at all if she didn't have one. You know, when we were kids and our parents answered the phone, they at least got to hear the boy ask to speak to us. I feel like there is something important about hearing the boys, or girls, voice at least. I can't exactly express why, but I think it is important to hear their voices.
What do you think about texting and cell phones?
2 comments:
Good topic Pepper! I agree that our youth are learning to communicate very differently - they text things I don't think they would say face to face. They carry on 5 or 6 conversations at ONCE. They text during dinner or meetings or while they are with other people - rude!
On the other hand - I love the instant access I have to my kids. I get email on my phone too, and I love that I can take care of people who need something from me while I'm sitting at the park.
Sara went through a texting phase where we wanted to break that phone in half - it was constant. She matured and grew out of it eventually.
We're not allowing phones on trek this summer - bucket and bag search before you get on the bus. We'll see how successful that is!
All things in moderation - that's my 2 cents. I'm curious to find out how your other readers feel about texting!
dont give up on me... I have something to say- I just need more alone time to think!
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