Could you give up texting?
Mikey 14 comments
The NYT is running an interesting article on the merits of banning your kids form text messaging. The father in question puts an almost draconian case forward and could be considered lidite-ish if his solution didn't involve another form of faceless technology - "Why can't kids just talk to each other on the phone?". But he's only concerned with the social impact that sending 100 text messages per day was having on his daughter. That's a lot of texting.
As a father myself I can understand although my girls are way too young to text (they're still learning to read). But I also realise that this is how kids communicate these days and it's something I expect to happen as they get older - or be it what ever form of communication is hip with them years from now. Did I just say hip?
What this particular father may not be considering is that banning his kids from texting may be counter productive, because all the other kids are doing it and that leaves his kids feeling feeling like social outcasts.
What about you? Could you give it up? Do you think your kids (even yours) would get any benefit from giving it up?
Jack
Tuesday 31st March 2009 | 09:31 AMBeing a teenager myself I personally find texting to be quite annoying. This may just be because I've yet to get a phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, but then the main reason I haven't yet is because I simply wouldn't use it enough. As a bit of an observation I think Instant messaging is now far more common (particularly within kids around my year level) than texting. The majority of teens now days regardless of whether they're computer nerds or not, spend large amounts of time in front of the screen. Instant messaging is just cheaper, quicker and more convenient. Obviously it's not always as accessible as sending a text message though.
Away from the computer, I much prefer a quick phone call. The amount of back and forth discussion you could quickly have in a phone call, might take anywhere up to 10 or 15 minutes to convey via text. The only logical reason I can see to the excessive texting that some teenagers engage in is the cost. On a (specific) Telstra pre-paid plan you can send a standard text for 1c. With a phone call there is a 30c connection fee, along with an additional 39c per 30 seconds. I personally don't find the cost an issue, and I'm sure most adults don't either, although if I was a teenager that was short on money I can obviously see why I'd prefer texting, especially if I had an active social life.
I can't live with out texting and I am 34.
During the NFL free agency weekend I burn through over 100 a day. It is an easy way to throw something out quickly.
I spent too many years as a supervisor in customer service call centers and because of that I hate to talk on the phone unless I absolutely can not get around it.
Kissthis
Tuesday 31st March 2009 | 01:56 PMI resisted the trend at first, but now I'm hooked. My daughter, and all of her friends, can text at the speed of light, while she's driving, and in her sleep. I'm not that proficient, and to tell you the truth, I don't want to be.
I guess the old saying is true, you can't stop progress....... I'm okay with that :)
Laiste
Tuesday 31st March 2009 | 03:36 PMTexting drives me bonkers. I'd much rather just call any day. It's quicker when it comes to working out things. If all you need to say is "I'm on my way home" or "bring a loaf of bread" then fine, but too much more then that and I start to lose patientce. Plus I hate recieveing texts that are just smiley faces or "ok", or "cool". It's like 25c a word.
On an interesting sidenote, studies have shown that texting actually improves kids literacy. Go figure. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126965.300-texting-can-b-gd-4-ur-kids.html
andrew
Tuesday 31st March 2009 | 03:52 PMmy 2 could not live without texting or their mobiles, when they are both home it is either one of their phones going off, another text coming thru. and i get the occasional one..lol sometimes it seems a never ending beep and blurt of their mobile phones with messages travelling thru cyber space and ending at thier phones.
and i would have thoght with the shortening of words for texting it would have made some difference with literacy...
Sam
Tuesday 31st March 2009 | 10:49 PMI think texting is a great way of communication especially to contact people in business so as not to interupt them and also to contact overseas folk with little cost involved and without taking time differences into account. My kids are 18 and over and wouldn't be able to live without texting, in fact my daughter has an unlimited text only phone account! With the internet basically controlling business and social worlds and live messaging becoming second nature to everyone, text messaging is just a normal way of communication, how can you stop it?! I say Long Live Texting!!
Gail
Wednesday 1st April 2009 | 12:48 AMI could live w/o texting, but being a person who really hates talking on the phone, sending maybe half a dozen texts or so a day makes my life a little easier.
Jake Farr-Wharton
Thursday 2nd April 2009 | 09:34 AMI don't really care for texting, I only use it when I don't feel like talking, need a record that information was given (for work etc.) or when giving details or of course when a text is easier than a call.
My daughter, on the other hand, Miss 11, really only uses her phone for texting... and she does a fair bit of it... even though the phone is only supposed to be there for 'emergencies'. I do however pay her phone bill and would smash the thing into a trillion plastic bits if she were sending more than a couple a day.
This guy is a bit of a goose though, Miss 11 knows that if her phone bill goes above $30 a month, then she will be slaving outside, picking weeds out of my veggie patch until her debt is paid off... in her mind, that is a fate worse than death!
Dave VB
Saturday 4th April 2009 | 04:29 PMPersonally, I'm not a texter, and when I do receive a text, half the time I have no Idea what language it's written in. I obviously missed out on the new urban dictionary when it came out. But most people know that if they send me a text, don't expect a reply. I prefer to talk, even if it does cost more. I found that in my teens, I was texting a lot more. But so many times were messages taken out of context that I would have to make a call just to settle the waters. Verbal communication can portray a lot more in th way of emotion than just written words. If it was up to me, I'd reduce the amount of characters to 15. At least then you can still send; "Get Milk" or "On my way home". I also think that it can be socially isolating and reduces verbal skills. If reading comments on some news sites has anything to say about the literacy of youth, then I personally couldn't support the findings that it increases literacy. How brb & lmao etc increases literacy is beyond me.
And if you want to see an example of the down side of texting, go no further than Shane Warne.
Just my opinion anyway.
Laiste
Saturday 4th April 2009 | 04:59 PM...in response to this comment by Dave VB. I think its because you have to know the language in the first place in order to abbreviate it. That and the line of thinking that any reading is good reading.
john
Tuesday 7th April 2009 | 11:52 AMall you ppl nt txtn you need 2 cuz itz much eaiser than talken and it also depends wat plan ur on.
Shamen67
Tuesday 7th April 2009 | 03:54 PMOne of my customers is deaf and uses her mobile phone primarily for texting.
Texting does have it`s advantages.
Alexis
Wednesday 28th October 2009 | 04:47 AMI wish I could get rid of texting altogether, I'm a teenager myself and I hate it with a passion. Unfortunately, my friends freak out when I tell them I hate it. I can comprehend 99.9% of the texts I'm getting, and I have a phone perfect for texting, but I never got whats so great about it. Its nice when I'm getting directions to a friends place, and that's about it for me. But, I'm also what most people call a 'defect teenager', I dislike most of the stuff my peers like anyway.
Gong
Tuesday 31st March 2009 | 08:28 AMas long as they use correct spelling