Teens, Texting, and Technology      Home Page

Knoxville News Sentinel                                                                                Print this page

“I’m good, but I’m not that good,” said my daughters Algebra teacher. “I cannot compete

against cell phones and ipods!” It was with some shock that I listened. You mean kids

are in class listening to music and using cell phones? No wonder her grade needs

attention.  

When I was in school, we didn’t have cell phones or ipods, but if we did we would not be

caught dead using them in class! There was Mrs. Baggett’s’ ruler, she would have

spanked our hands with that wooden weapon and we would get her message. Or Coach

Davis’s eyes, he could look at us and we were on our best behavior all day.  

As a parent, I have no choice but to parent with the rules of today. As much as I would

like a teacher to give my child the eye, most teachers are afraid to inflict discipline in

today’s classroom due to new standards that have been established. This leaves most

discipline to take place at home, even though most teens spend very little time at home.  

In talking with other parents, I’ve participated in some great discussions on how to keep

up with changes in technology. 

• Take time to learn the parental controls available on cellular plans. In our plan I  can manage times of day when my children’s phones work and when they won’t work. Under no circumstances do I want my children texting in school, so I placed the phone under time restrictions during school hours. 
• Pay attention to what’s on cell phones. One good idea is to have a central “cell phone” space in your home. As a parent, view what’s coming in and going out ontext messages. There is simply too much risk today of inappropriate and sometimes illegal messages not to be on top of what’s coming into your home. If something inappropriate comes in, block that number immediately.  
• Monitor face book and my space. Again, there is too much at stake to not know what is happening through the keys on that computer. In our home we have software that doesn’t block anything, but we can view everything. We can monitor face book chats, emails, and websites visited. It makes it easy to hold our children accountable because they know they are being monitored.    
• Change with your children. There is no way to be a part of their world if you do not understand it. If they text, you text. If they face book, get one of your own. Participate in what is important to them so that you can understand who they are becoming.    
• Invest time in your children. Often I see parents picking up children from a school line with a cell phone attached to their ear. NO! Make sure once you are all together, they have your attention. That will likely not happen if your teen has to seek you; it’s our job as parents to be available.    

Parenting teens can be work, but with a little time and energy, we can utilize the tools

available and make sure we are staying on top of our teens, texting, and technology!