The Cell Phone Age

They used to be known as, “Latch Key Kids.” Today they all have cell phones. Is this really the best way to raise our kids?

Who Knows?

We live in an age where we have the ability to communicate with the entire world at our finger tips. It seems sort of scary, doesn’t it? Am I alone with my thoughts, or is anyone else worried about our kids?

Maybe I’m wrong? It could be that kids are more mature these days than they were when mine were still living at home. I certainly hope so, otherwise there’s no telling what the world will come to with all that communication between kids that’s going on.

Today Vs. The Good Old Days:

Remember the good old days? As I recall, each family had one TV, one car and one phone. How did we survive? If we had to make a call while driving down the road, we’d have to stop somewhere and use a pay phone. Can you imagine that? Still, here we are. Most of us survived, but then again, it was my generation that created the cell phone age.

I’m tempted to say, “I’d never allow any child of mine to own a cell phone.” Still, if my kids were still under my roof, they’d probably have one stuck to their ear like every other kid in this country. As a mom, I was always a push over for they way kids have of convincing us, “Everyone has one.” No one wants their child to be left out, different or teased. Would you want your third grader to be harassed on the play ground because he didn’t own a cell phone and couldn’t send a text message to Johnny during math class? Not me!

What Can We Do?

Luckily, my children are grown and old enough to own their own cell phones, but I sympathize with all those parents out there with young kids. I’m sure it isn’t easy to protect them today, with all those ways to communicate with who knows who. Still, since I consider myself to be, “hip” enough to move on from the good old days, I’ll give you a few ideas:

1. If your child must have a cell phone, how about created and enforcing some rules? For example: No text messaging after mid-night. There shall be no cell phones at school. There is a limit to its use.
2. Check your child’s cell phone each and ever day. Make it routine in your home so that the child learns to, “own” the words he uses each day. This would be a good rule for the computer too.
3. Make the child pay for his own cell phone. That alone will cut down the times he uses it and who he communicates with.

Conclusion:

I’m all for change and advancement, but maybe we should consider what we’ve learned about child development. It’s a proven fact that a child’s brain is still not completely developed at the age of thirteen. The ability to comprehend the concept of logical reasoning is incomplete. With this in mind, we must be extremely cautions with what we place in their hands and allow to ring in their ears.