Texting and The New Generation

Everywhere you go today someone is texting. I sit in my car,driving my daughter to school and she is texting away.

I do not know about any of you but I remember being in high school taking a course on typing. If you could type more than sixty words a minute accurately,you were a genius !

Today people fly across,what I consider to be tiny text keys. They do it with such ease,so quickly. How do they do it?

This new generation of young people are really different.They keep tabs on each other all the time. They do not seem as concerned with privacy as we were.

The past summer my daughter had a baby.I was there in the delivery room with her,her partner,her best friend and her partners mother and sister. Now of course at the final stages they all left and her girlfriend,partner and I stayed. They were photographing and texting every moment. It was very strange. For me I would not of liked the invasion of privacy.

My daughters friend also had a baby,a short time after. It was the same thing. We all knew when she went in,when her water broke and the second the baby was born.

At Christmas during one of my shopping trips,I saw texting devices for little children. I know my four year old son is definitely interested in us when we text. Of course they would be as they imitate what they see.

Your shopping ,checking out of a store,people are talking on phones,or headsets as they serve you.Remember the times when you were paying for something,the cashiers attention was with you. Not so much any more.

Where ever you go,the Dr's,the dentist,the store,in check out lines,in cars,at airports,at schools,in bed,people are texting.

Now I realize there are some great advantages to being able to stay in touch . We know where people are. We can let them know if we are going to be late. If we forgot an item on a list,we text it to them. They can text if a car breaks down. Text when they need a ride home.

Yet what are the disadvantages of texting?

I have heard of cases where younger kids develop repetitive strain injuries.Cell phone elbow,also known as cubital tunnel syndrome is a tingling sensation in hands caused by compression of a nerve .Blackberry thumb strikes those who spend too much time texting.Reports of back and neck pain,due to being hunched over and the neck crooked.

Excessive wear and tear on the thumbs could lead to arthritis. Causing hand pain and swelling.

A boy died after walking in front of an oncoming car while sending a text message to his friend.I hate to think of this happening,yet I can see it . You get so involved,your just not aware.

Sexting ,which so many teens think nothing of, is flirting on the cell phone it involves sexy texting as well as nude or semi nude photos of the person. In a recent study which was commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com, 22 percent of teenage girls and 18 percent of teenage boys have taken nude or semi nude photos of themselves and have either sent them to someones cell phone or posted them online. These pictures are usually taken with a camera phone and passed from phone to phone and/or from phone to computer.

An insurance poll found that 67% of teens admitted to texting while driving at high speed, and 37% of teens admitted to having been "extremely distracted" by texting, in some cases leading to close calls or significant accidents.

Teachers are complaining of students texting during class time.Students are being distracted and distracting others.

Should we be concerned as parents? You bet we should be.We have yet to find out all the risks and dangers associated with texting.

Yes there are many good reasons to text.There are also many dangers that we need to be aware of . How do we protect ourselves,our children?

One way is communication,talk to your kids. Make them aware of the dangers. Ask them how they feel about it.

You should know that 3 of the four major wireless carriers will help you set rules. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile allow you to set times during which your child can’t send of receives phone calls or texts. It does allow you to set numbers, say your own, that your children can always call or text! You can also completely block unwanted numbers.

Verizon and AT &T charge you five dollars per month per line for the parental control package. T-Mobile charges 5 bucks total for up to five lines on one account.

With Sprint, you can’t designate texting or calling times, but you can block numbers for free.

You can read more about each of the carrier’s parental control features by visiting their websites.