Bench Talk - Technology & Teenagers

Will this generation of teenagers be able to communicate like we can?

Will they be able to communicate face to face or only with aid of a device?

(Carolin) I like the technology cause I can text people and I don't have to speak to them! I can get rid of the the useless chit chat and just get to the point.

I found these short cuts for texting on the Internet and thought it might help when you are trying to decipher what your teen is saying to you.

ct (Can’t talk)cyrma (Call your mother)cyrpa (Call your father)deti (Don’t even think it!)eol (End of lecture)g1 (Good one)gtgb (Got to go. Bye!)ilu (I love you)lvu (I love you)18r (Later)mu (miss you)ruok (Are you okay?)ptmm (please tell me more)sry (sorry)xoxo (Hugs and kisses)yw (You’re welcome). What about pos(parent over shoulder), and is lol-laugh out loud or lots of laughs or lots of love??? This is only confusing me even more. What's so hard about a good old fashion phone call?

I like the technology on the most part as long as it is used wisely. It drives me crazy when the teenager does not reply to my text or phone call. Attention all teens the excuse of "I didn't get it or I didn't hear it" is totally bogus cause we all know you can hear your phone vibrate when you have left it on the kitchen counter and you are up in the shower with the music cranked! I was with a teenager just yesterday and her phone text went off and she ran for the phone. Her friend who was over with her asked her why she did not text back and implied that it must be her mother texting her.

(Sunshine) I know that we have to progress but sometimes I feel as though all of this texting is driving me crazy. That seems to be how the teens communicate and yes it's fast but, I am not looking forward to texting my daughter while in school next year (high school) probably because I am not so good with the texting. I would much rather talk face to face or at least hear the persons voice.

I too am not very good at the texting, by the time I can get one sentence typed the teenager has sent me four text asking the same question and is starting to get mad at me.

(Cathy)I remember being a teen, (not so long ago :) ), and spending so much time on the telephone. Now, with my teenagers, when I ask them what's happening with their friends, they say they have to go on 'msn' or they need to 'text' them to find out! The other day our Internet was down. I told the kids they could have a friend over. They said to me that they had no way to ask them. I advised them that I had their friend's phone numbers so they could call them. That just was not an option. They refused! Is it that they can only communicate comfortably now by typing? Are they not able to 'speak' verbally to each other? My teenager gets her phone taken away from her all the time because she does not always complete her chores. When this happens her social life is non existent and she will also say I have no way of reaching them because there Numbers are on my phone. The phone book with accessible numbers is just not an option. Following along the same path is my husband who if he does not have his black Berry on his person has to ask me for his parents phone number because he doesn't know it.

I remember not to long ago having the teenager and three of her girlfriends in the car. As I was driving them to the mall you could hear a pin drop, there was no conversation. But the four girls were having a long conversation with each other texting through their phones! Yes, they text and they giggle and they text and they giggle. Well at least it's nice to see them being happy.

The Internet is a great things you can find out information instantly, and to communicate with family and friends through out the world. But with every good thing there is the element of evil. Though I can talk to my sister in Alberta, I can in theory talk to a total stranger, who does not have my best interest at heart. As frustrating as it can be, we can talk to our children till we are blue in the face about talking to strangers on the Internet but they are going to do it anyways. The advice I have been given is to stalk your child's computer regularly. Some might find that an invasion of privacy but I say "Too Bad". I regularly check the history on the computers, the recycling, the picture files, and I will dig deep into the computer files looking for any hidden files. If I find stuff I don't like we talk about it and yes she is mad but again, too bad. I will also at time just delete stuff I find questionable. What I do notice though is if you give your email address to business (like a retail store) within a day or two I start getting unsolicited emails from casinos, dating, business venture, and some very objectionable sources. The access to our children from the outside evil part of the world is very scary. I try not to think about it so much but I know that I need to monitor and be aware of what they are spending their time on.

I am also starting to become more comfortable with the Internet the more I use it. I even find myself giving out more info, ie registering on sites to get information knowing full well that the site now has access to my info, too! I keep justifying it my saying to myself there is nothing on this computer that personal. Also, I feel that those who are up to no good can get the info anyways, no matter what you do. I have visited sites for example I was looking up a berry juice that helps to detoxify and I never left any information on this site but on my e-mail the next day there was e-mails from various sites trying to sell me this very product. That was pretty creepy.

This is probably a good segue for my cousin Chris about now! He is involved with a company called 'Pre-paid Legal' and one aspect is Internet fraud and security. He would have to tell you more about it. See his blog listed on our main page, '. http://mykalsreport.blogspot.com/.

Phone texting has it's place. As much as I bug the kids about all the texting they do, this weekend my husband was in the States at the Nascar race in Michigan. He and I stayed in touch by texting, a lot! I found it both fun and convienent. (don't tell the kids!!!)

Technology is advancing so quickly these days, who knows what we will have to contend with in the not so distant future........."Scotty, two to beam up...."
My niece was over the other day and she was commenting on how much things had advanced from when her mom and I were kids and she was saying that if we had come so far, what will it be like when she has kids. I can't even imagine.