In the last few years I have heard more and more about kids with phones. I see little kids at the mall texting or talking on their cell phones. Growing up way too fast.
My aunt and I were driving the other day and she was telling me about how her ten year old son's class was going on a trip. They were going to stay at a camp in cabins and were told they could not bring their cell phones. The parents then erupted into questions like "what will they do without their cell phones?", "how will they contact us?", "what about their iPods?", "can my son bring his nook?" The teacher in charge proceeded to explain to the parents that the trip was about real socialization and besides, if electronics get damp or dirty they break. If the kid brings a book it can get a little messy and still work. The parents could stand to go a few days without hearing from their kid. (Also, the parents were told to make their kid carry his or her own luggage to the buses.. really? They had to TELL them that?)
Now all of this about not bringing electronics on a camping-type trip is the same speech we give campers and their parents all summer long at camp.
Why is it necessary to have a cell phone at 9 or 10? For that matter, why do you one at 13? It just isn't necessary at all. Who do they call? I can understand if your kid plays sports or is in after school activities. They might need to call their parents. When I was a kid I had to call on the pay phone from the mall or school. But they've taken those out of most places. However, it still isn't necessary to text your other 10 year old friends all the time. You see each other all day everyday in school, right?
not look like this girl
On the school bus once we made crank calls on it but other than that it wasn't used. Texting did not exist as far as I knew.
I got a nicer phone in 10th grade but it was for the same thing. I called my mom when I was done at the mall or at basketball practice. In 11th and 12th grade I had a flip phone I could use to call my friends but texting was limited so I had to use it wisely.
I guess when I was 9-13 we did have AOL instant messenger which we used to talk to our friends after school and we emailed each other. But still, that was only for about 3 hours a day. And if your friend wasn't online and you needed to talk to them, you called them at their house (weird, right?).
Now we have constant texting, emails to our phone, and facebook chat. The more I've become accustomed to texting, the more I hate it. I don't want to be at everyone's beckon call (or text, I guess) 24/7. Sometimes I want to do my own thing and focus on life beyond my phone.
We are raising these 9-13 year olds (and sometimes younger) to be dependent on impersonal methods of communication. The teacher at my cousin's school said that kindergarteners are having trouble reading facial expressions because they are always looking at some sort of screen instead of at people.
It's true that people had friends before they had cell phones. People were late and friends ditched each other or forgot about things.
When I was growing up, our friends disappeared for at least two weeks every summer when they were on vacation with their families. We didn't hear from them until they got back. What a thought! They weren't texting us that entire time to complain about their family or tell us their every movement throughout the week.
A professor of mine asked us something interesting the other day. She was talking about how we use our cell phones and facebook to keep in touch with our friends but asked, "wouldn't you rather be out doing things with your friends instead of just reading about what they're doing?" I miss the days before cell phones when I memorized phone numbers, wrote and mailed letters, and when I actually hung out with my friends I wasn't constantly distracted by texts from friends that weren't there with us. Don't get me wrong, I love staying in touch with people I never get to see via texting and facebook but I would rather hang out with them in person.
It makes me sad that this upcoming generation won't have the types of interpersonal relationships that I had growing up. Like in the case of my cousin's elementary school class, their teachers will have to remind them to socialize.
Sorry for the rant. Let me know what you think. Are you annoyed by this too?
-Brianna