Monday, February 9, 2009

TEXTING...

To text or not to text...
THAT is the question.
I struggle with this.
I can see the pros to texting,
but I see more cons.
I have avoided this world for a long time.
I'm sure I could still avoid it but as of two months ago,
I joined the world of texting.
I still have mixed feelings about it.
I would rather make a phone call.
It's faster and more personal.
I like to text when my husband can't talk at work.
It's fun to send him personal messages.
Sometimes it's convienient when I don't want to talk.
But I'm not so sure that's a good thing either.
I have been hearing lots of statistics lately
and lots of personal stories.
I have a friend who's 13 year old daughter sent
36,000 text messages in 12 days.
Is that even phsically possible?
My jaw was on the floor.
When I am at my children's school, I watch how they interact.
They all have cell phones, but they aren't talking, they're texting.
And WHO are they texting? Each other. That's how they converse.
It's mind boggling.
Did you know that last year was the FIRST year that
more text messages were sent than phone calls made?
Did you know that as of June 2008,
over 75 Billion text messages
are sent every month
compared to just 18 Billion in December 2006.
That number has grown by 250% each year for the last two years.
Did you know over 60% of kids are texting during family dinner?
NOT IN MY HOUSE!
My kids don't even own cell phones and aren't allowed to text.
I'd love to know what your thoughts are on this subject.
Do you text?
Do your kids text?
Talk to me...or text me. ;)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

As I walk through the school in which I work I am amazed at the amount of texting that is going on. Almost every student is texting someone. A few months ago I was asked to talk to parents who have students in the high school about texting and computer saftey. Just in case you wanted to know the kids refer to texting as sexting and sex messaging. A study was done of over 1300 student ages 13-20, they found 1 in 5 students had sent a nude photo and 75% had sent sexually suggestive photos. 20% of the girls in the study had sent a nude photo of themselves to their boyfriends. In my school 100% of student asked had sent or recieved sexually suggestive images. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING ON THEIR PHONES?????

ChefTom said...

I text, IM, phone, fax, blog and email. Although I try to do all of the above if it the most effective way to communicate. Each can be dangerous if not used properly. My kids are still young and not allowed to even surf the web.

Unknown said...

Okay--I was all good about commenting on this until Steve enlightened my to the world of 'sex'ting... can't say as I'd have found out about that one. Not much to add here. I do text, but only when it's not polite to converse. I text my son when he can't answer the phone, and I text my husband just to give him a hard time (doesn't like it). That's it. Now I have new family fun conversation fodder... thanks so much Becky and Steve. [sigh]

Becky said...

This...my blogging friends...is why Officer Orton will NOT let our children have phones. END.OF.STORY!

Unknown said...

me. not my.

ellen said...

I think cell phones and texting are ridiculous (especially for teens). Call me old fashioned. Have any of those texters sent a letter recently?!

Joy said...

Love cell phones and texting, they both make my life easier. don't mind teens with phones either as long as they are not at church with them etc. Rules must be applied and followed and parents need to stay on top of the contact etc of their kids. My Kids will have phone with texting, but no internet or photo abilities, they don't need that! I have friends and family that do it that way and it works great.

April said...

I have to admit I've only texted once in my life with my husband's coaching because he was driving:) I guess I'm a fuddy duddy! I'm one of those people who uses a pre paid cell phone because I don't use it often enough to make a plan worth while. I also can't quite figure out facebook...and I'm still trying to figure out my i pod :) I promise I'm not an air head, but I think I'm on technology over-load! :)A good old fashion phone call or a private
e mail are still the best ways to find me!! Imagine what I'll be like when I'm 85 trying to figure out new gizmos- hopefully my husband's already lost his mind by then so I don't drive him crazy!

Smilin' sunshine said...

I am quite opposed to kids having cell phones~my kids, even the 14 year old~DO NOT have phones. They constantly ask for one, because ALL the kids at school have one. NO WAY I say. There is no need for my kids to have a phone. They don't need to call or text anyone that they can't talk to at school or call from our home phone.
That said, we have let our oldest take his dad's phone when they are skiing on the mountain. Then if something happens or they need to get in contact with us, they can call us. But, it is Dad's phone.
Texting while at school or church is, in my opinion, RUDE! People have prepared things for these kids and I think their parents should teach them that the polite thing to do is to listen to the teacher or speaker.
I obviously am very opinionated about this issue. What other parents do is their business, not mine, unless it interferes with me.

It does disturb me that the things Steve wrote are happening. All the more reason for my kids not to have that ability!
I think you will get a lot of comments on this one!!

nanci said...

I agree with no cell phones for kids. My children don't get cell phones until they go away to college and then they're included on our plan so we can see how many minutes they're using or how many texts they're sending. I have only sent a few text messages from my phone - but my husband recently added text messaging to all the phones on our plan so I'll probably be using it a little more often (but only with my own family members!). I hadn't heard about the sexting either - thanks Officer Orton. I'll have to ask my BYU student (returned missionary) about that!

shirlgirl said...

I do not text. I only have my cell phone in case of emergencies. Once in awhile I forget to put it on. At any rate, even though I do not have children, I don't go along with texting. I watched Dr. Phil the other day. A young girl, age 11, was texting someone. Come to find out, it was an older boy whom she went to meet and he raped her. This poor child will never forget what happened to her, and it is a lesson to kids to be very careful. As far as school is concerned, I think phones should be left in their lockers when they come to school and take them out when they are going home. If a parent needs to get in touch with the child, call the school office. That's what our parents did years ago. We didn't have cell phone. Steve is right on the money!

Undaunted said...

My chillins' don't have cell phones. They aren't likely to have ones either. As for the texting, I am not a texter. I think it is irresopnsible to let your child text like that and I think it is a plain death trap to text in the car. (lots of people do) Talking on the phone is bad enough. As hubby and wife the texting can be nice, but defently not for the kiddos. It is hard enough to figure out what is being said face to face let alone deciphering the meanings of text.

Erica said...

NO I do NOT! I hate getting texts because they cost ME money! My children do not text, nor do they have cell phones--too young! In my opinion, they have no place at school. I went to my friends' locker or vice-versa if I wanted to talk with them. If I missed them, I called them from a LAND LINE when I got home! Now I know we come from a different time and place and kids today probably think we are so 'old fashioned'...but it's all about protecting our kids. Mine do go online but I can sit here and monitor that. When they are teens, I will not be with them when they are texting to see what they've said to someone...or what someone is saying to THEM. I definitely feel it's a personal choice for us parents and that we all have to do what we feel is right. Education is the key...thanks Steve! (and Becky) :)

Unknown said...

I text, but usually only when I am at work and need to communicate with Leanne about something.
I am on the phones 9 hours a day talking to people, so I prefer email and text when I am off work.
I don't have any problem with Kids having cell phones,but I think texting should be limited and strictly controlled by the parents.

Jo Jo said...

No text allowed here, only prepaid phones as well. Good for husbands and wives who can't communicate during the day. Great to have officer Orton on board - we want more! He really should set up his own blog and blog with parents about issues at school - the rating for the school would sky rocket knowing a police officer could answer questions, and might help with other issues if the parents are well informed. Was this a contest? Did I win with that idea? J/K You should set one up for him. www.Officer Orton . blogspot.com

Apes said...

I do text, but only because it is much easy way to communicate with Adam when he is at work...and if I have something quick to tell someone and I don't feel like having a full conversation. We don't have children, but have already discussed that our children will not have phones until they are in their late teens. If a child can't be responsible enough to hand in his or her homework than how can you expect him or her to take care of a cell phone. Also, if you want your child to call you from somewhere and they have a cell phone how do you know that they are actually where they are suppose to be? My children will have to call me from a landline at all times. (Unless of course landline's do not exist anymore once we have children old enough...)

Christy said...

Very scary about teenage missuse. My daughter tells me that most of the 6th graders have a phone in her school. "all of them on my bus mom".
No no, no, (she is 4th grade). I do use the text message, but just to my husband who can only get messages that way during his job. (and during church meetings hehe) So I am grateful for the system in place to help communication, but for kids, this need is not there. Too distracting from learning opportunities. Life should be spent looking around, eyes open, not face down.

Wiggles said...

Wow, this is a hot topic. Yes, I do text when I just want to let someone know I'm thinking of them or if I need to leave a quick message. I text quite a lot with one friend who doesn't like to talk on the phone at night because it distrubs her sleeping husband but that is the extent of it. I am distrubed by the situation with the children and cell phones. We have recently had some issues with the sexting at our 5-8 school. I was quite frankly horrified. It seems to me like the kids shouldn't need to have phones. They should either be at a place where there is a land line avaliable or with a responsible adult who has cell phone. I like the idea about the Officer Orton Blog. Probably can't be done due to liability concerns but a good idea.

ChefTom said...

For kids there are cell phones made that only have 4 buttons on them that you program your choice of 4 phone numbers and that way for emergencies they can call mom, dad and two other contacts. there is no texting capabilities, but some do have GPS built in so you can track there where-abouts.

KeriLyn and Matthew said...

I am not in the texting world, and right now, I am totally ok with this....not sure if I will ever be a texter....but, i wasn't sure that I would ever blog either....so, I suppose some day I may see the need for it....but not in my near future!!!

LL said...

gosh. I have to agree with Joy. I think it makes life easier. And it's fun. I check McKays phone often...and talk very openly with him about the rules. He has to keep high honors or he can't have his phone.
IT WORKS FOR US! I am aware of the dangers though.