New Rules Needed for Teen Texting

CELL PHONES

Between the proliferation of cyberbullying that has been dominating the headlines and the inappropriate communications that cell phones enable among young people, the author of V7VK- YbuWewsrKnovvbelievesit is time for parents to set up new rules for their adolescents regarding the technology that has become an intractable part of their lives. "The common joke with teens is that they're all developing oversized thumbs from all the texting they do on their cell phones," notes Jacquie Ream.

'The truth is that technology has moved faster than parents' ability to keep up with it. Only five years ago, it was not terribly common for teens to have their own cell phones. Today, most kids use them, and the only rules they get from their parents concern not texting over their celi plan's limits. Kids need more. Parents have to be able to explain to them the complexities of how this technology can affect their lives, and how to prevent fr�e negative phenomenon of cyberbullying and more."

Ream has written a set of rules - a new ABCs - for parents of youngsters with cell phones:

A is for acknowledge. Parents should acknowledge and accept that technology is here to stay, and it likely will move faster than they can keep up with it "We need to stop and try to calculate the ramifications of having that technology, and it goes beyond worrying about making sure our hair looks neat before we answer the video phone."

B is for beware. When we were kids, bullying was restricted to the schoolyard, and when we were home or with our friends, we were safe from it. Today, cell phones enable bullying 24/7, and the implications are far-reaching. Cyber bullying has been blamed in the suicide deaths of teenagers a!! over the country, so parents must provide proper guidance so their offspring do not wind up either as the bully or the bullied.

C is for care. Youngsters ought to be taught to place a higher value on their friendships and acquaintances. Instead, Internet sites like Facebook have instructed kids that making a friend is as easy as clicking "yes" to accept a friend request and that ending a friendship is even easier-just click on ttock," and lhai person's out of your life. 'We should use technology to represent our values, and not allow the technology to determine what they are.

'We cannot sit back and btame technology for the crisis facing our kids today; Ream concludes. Technology is a tocJ.Tnere is a human hand and mind behind every vicious texl message and every texted threat. We must teach our children a sense of basic core values about their relationships so that they don't fall down the slippery slope that cell phones and the Internet is paving for them."