R U 4 RL?
It seems my eyes haven't stopped rolling much these days. I am beginning to worry they're going to roll right on into my brain.
What's set off this latest round? The newest craze among American teens: sexting. That's teenagers sending one another lewd or obscene text messages or audio-visual stimuli on the cell phones for which their mommies and daddies are likely footing the bill.
Most teens are pretty self-absorbed, not so self-aware, and definitely not under the impression that matter created in cyberspace cannot be destroyed, so it's only natural that they would use these newish multimedia resources to engage in a little titillation, much to the chagrin of their parents. Although the episode never aired, I am pretty sure Ward was ewually as shocked the first time he caught The Beav sneaking a look at his old pin-up mags out in the shed. Teenagers being stupid, especially when it comes to sex (and particularly in a country that places so much emphasis on abstinence-only education) should not surprise anyone. However, what is surprising, is that so many people are overlooking the easiest way to combat this particular scourge: don't let teens have cell phones.
I have yet to be given one reasonable argument as to why children, and yes, these are children we're talking about, require the responsibility of owning or using such a sophisticated communication device. We do still live in a world where pay phones and block parents are readily available, do we not? In an emergency situation, I am pretty sure that a properly street-proofed Junior would be able to communicate the need for assistance to someone, somehow. But if you as a parent insist that your child must be contactable, or be able to contact you, at all times they are out of your supervision, why not just give them a long-range two-way radio? Or a cell phone capable of only dialing your number(s) and 911, and only receiving calls from you? These things do exist. Why does a child need a phone capable of recording and sending audio, video, and text?
I can remember when my sister was first allowed to have a telephone in her bedroom. It was a pretty big deal. I can also remember my parents removing it from her bedroom after she had been warned not to tie up the line for so long. She managed to survive the ordeal of having to place phone calls from the kitchen or basement where they could be heard by me or our parents. She also learned not to tie up the phone as much, and eventually got the privelege of having it in her room reinstated.
I don't know what's happened in the 20+ intervening years (don't worry Heath, that makes us both old) that has caused people to think that cell phones are indispensible to today's youth, and therefore cannot be used as a bargaining chip when kids act irresponsibly. Several hundreds of generations of humans managed to survive without texting. I am pretty sure today's teens can, too.
Comments
... well I think what resulted is that your sister eventually met an OK guy and they eventually got married, and now she doesn't need that phone in her room to call him anymore ...
Posted by: Tim at May 16, 2008 12:16 PM
The phone in my room was a privilege. Although I totally thought at the time that it was a right because I was a self absorbed teenager. But yes, it was a privilege and one that got revoked if I abused it, OR if I simply didn't follow house rules about general stuff (because my parents knew taking the phone would hurt and mean something to me).
I think when Bobbin is old enough - and I don't have a clear definition of what that is but it likely will depend on her maturity and activity and day to day reality of her world and ours - we'll get her a cell phone but I can't imagine it happening before she's in highschool. And when she does get one it will be locked down to Tim and my numbers, her Grandma's, and 911. Later on we might let text messages happen and she will likely be on a pay-as-you go plan where we will pre-pay for a certain amount of usage and if she exceeds the amount we pay, it stops working & she needs to pay-as-she-goes from her allowance to keep using. And at some point we will probably open up the features a bit further - music, camera, but again, with constraints. and if I EVER find out officially or unofficially she's using the damn thing during school hours, or if we even THINK there is anything of questionable integrity going on with it, it gets taken away :-)
Posted by: heather at May 16, 2008 07:11 PM