Texting for Teens

Maybe I'm wrong.  Perhaps I'm old-fashioned.  Being a teenager is awkward enough without the added non-social media of texting.  Before my time I'm sure that older people thought telephones were the bane of good conversation, but texting is different.  While I'm sure that communication has risen because of texting, my beef is with the quality of that communication.

Why would I call texting, facebooking, and chatrooms non-social?  Simple.  There really is no human contact here.  No voice.  No sight.  Just an impersonal "Hi" "K" "IDK" etc.  A person behind a keyboard is dangerous.  If you're reading this blog, you should know that.  I'm a person, not a computer.  I have thoughts, ideas, aspirations and texting creates none of that.  Just mindless jibberish at the teen level.  The sharing of pics and tiny messages is not quality communication.

I pose this question:  What good can come from teens texting?  It has its place.  "Home at 5" would be very useful if I were in a meeting and I want to know what's keeping my teen, but those quality communiques are rare.  What is texting used for? 

• As a replacement for open, eye to eye conversation and contact.  Teens today continue to thrive on non-social media and continue to be awkward face to face.  I've seen this transformation.  On the phone, they're ok.  Even then the phrases they use are below what their age level might suggest.  When it comes right down to it, they'd rather text you than talk.
• To pass "notes", and often leads to cheating on tests.
• To remove the human qualities in each of us.  A phone call at least allows you to understand the inflections of voice and understand what the person is feeling.  Hearing someone cry is much better than "I am sad".  How sad?  Sad to the point of throwing yourself in front of a bus?  Or sad that Patrick Swayze passed away?
• Removing the fear of face to face and replacing it with often vicious phrases.  It's easy to hide behind a keyboard.  It's easy to type in anonymity.  Not to mention that the typed word can be misunderstood so easily with dual meanings.  Trying to decipher someone else's notes is very difficult.  Why?  Because only the person that wrote them can understand the context in which they were written.  If you sat in the same class, you'd have a pretty good shot.  If not, you'd be lost or misunderstand them.  The same goes for texting.  xoxoxo might mean hugs and kisses, or something more.  Feelings are trampled on without even trying.

With all this in mind, I blocked my daughter's cell from getting or receiving texts.  Oh, yes, I was not popular with her on that point, but she wanted the phone more.  She calls and I talk to her.  She can leave a voicemail for the "Home at 5" message.  When I talk to her, I get a sense of how her mood is.  How frazzled she is.  How calm she is.  You don't get that with texting.  You get choppy, cryptic messages that can be often misinterpreted.

The other big issue in my mind with teens who incessantly text is when they start to drive.  Driving and texting does not mix.  I'd rather have my daughter drive a couple of years before being the texting champion at school.  Driving takes a particular attention level.  Texting does too.  A beginning driver does not need that added distraction.

In summary, texting has removed a lot of the social skills necessary to cope in our daily lives.  Teens who carry on conversations in their pockets while speaking face to face with you is rude.  Who knows which one they are paying more attention to?  I would hope they would turn them off and have a real conversation, but I find that's not the case.  What will happen in the next few years as we churn out more and more of these non-social people?  That answer is a big IDK.