Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
Texting Takes its Toll on Teenagers

The New York Times:

Dr. Joffe says parents tend to be far less aware of texting than of, say, video game playing or general computer use, and the unlimited plans often mean that parents stop paying attention to billing details. “I talk to parents in the office now,” he said. “I’m quizzing them, and no one is thinking about this.”

Still, some parents are starting to take measures. Greg Hardesty, a reporter in Lake Forest, Calif., said that late last year his 13-year-old daughter, Reina, racked up 14,528 texts in one month. She would keep the phone on after going to bed, switching it to vibrate and waiting for it to light up and signal an incoming message.

Constant texting is bound to lead to some very real problems, like sleep difficulties, to be sure. But in a way, I can’t help but think these are expected problems – and more importantly, problems that we’ll just have to let kids face.

The “always connected” culture is certainly something uniquely new to today’s youth – never before has information been so readily available, friends so easily reachable. Adults seem quick to find the problems with this dynamic new culture – and who knows, maybe it’s their responsibility to do so. But I think, overall, we need to realize we’d do youth a disservice by indulging in what’s often our gut reaction to this new culture: to simply strip youth of these technologies and experiences.

We need to realize these new technological experiences will almost certainly be a given and required part of the political economy when youth today enter the workforce in a few years. We’d be reckless not to allow them a chance to explore and master things like constant connectivity now.

I was glued to a computer by age 7. I think I had my first Palm pilot and desktop scheduling software at age 13. I finished reading and adopted David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” at age 17. I figured it all out, and now I somehow make money with all of this newfangled technology.

So social phenomena like texting, we have to realize, isn’t necessarily good or bad. The New York Times article actually reminded me of the shenanigans from a few years ago, the frightened choruses that “texting makes people illiterate!” – which, of course, texting doesn’t. If anything, texting has proven to be more like an additional language for youth – think Pig Latin or Klingon, or even a real language like Spanish. Similar things could be said for Twitter, Facebook and any other new technology – these things don’t necessarily subtract from our social ability but rather simply reshape our interaction, in some cases making cross-cultural mobility even easier.

Texting and an “always connected” culture is something today’s youth will have to navigate roughly on their own, without easy answers from adults. And I really believe that’s a good thing. There will be bumps along the way, but we gotta trust that kids can handle it.

Society eventually adapts. Kids and teenagers usually end up being among the first to adapt. It’s the same case with everything new: we figure it out.

Turning back to the article, I’ve decided the last few paragraphs are my favorite – the kids’ responses to their parents’ criticisms of texting:

“She (Reina’s mother) should understand a little better, because she’s always on her iPhone,” Reina said. “But she’s all like, ‘Oh well, I don’t want you texting.’ ” (Her mother, Manako Ihaya, said she saw Reina’s point.) Professor Turkle can sympathize. “Teens feel they are being punished for behavior in which their parents indulge,” she said. And in what she calls a poignant twist, teenagers still need their parents’ undivided attention.

“Even though they text 3,500 messages a week, when they walk out of their ballet lesson, they’re upset to see their dad in the car on the BlackBerry,” she said. “The fantasy of every adolescent is that the parent is there, waiting, expectant, completely there for them.”

May 27, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , :: #