Text Messages Keep Teens From Sleeping
Monday April 16, 2007
This story almost has me convinced that my daughter’s cell phone belongs anywhere but in her room at night. It seems teens are now texting - sending messages to each other via cell phone - all night long. Here is what the article in the Monterey Herald had to say:
"Nearly a quarter of teens in a relationship have communicated with a boyfriend or girlfriend hourly between midnight and 5 a.m. via cell phone or texting, according to a recent online survey by Teenage Research Unlimited. One in six communicated 10 or more times an hour through the night.The article goes on to suggest ways to curb late night texting. There is one that I noticed I do already and it is probably the reason we aren’t having this problem because my daughter loves her phone. I check the bill, religiously. Got a suggestion for curbing this behavior? Leave it in the comments area."Is text-messaging contributing to sleep deprivation? Yes," said Dr. Cora Collette Breuner, a professor of adolescent medicine at the University of Washington."
Related Resources:
- Delegate a Responsibility to Your Teen - having a cell phone is a privilege, but it is also a responsibility.
- 3 Reasons Why Your Teen Needs Fair and Firm Discipline
- Teenagers and Sleep
Comments
Concerning teens with phones, I have a rule now. My 15 year old gets her phone when she leaves the house. She checks it into me when she gets home. Because of all the different calling plans her friends are on she gets her phone every night at 9:00-10:00 pm. At 10:00 she gives it back to me, I shut it off so I don’t her the constant ringing. Yes these kids are up ALL night texting. Friday night and Saturday night she gets the phone ALL night unless we have big plans the next day. It works, her friends know the rules also.
We too have a 15 year old. She had full access to her phone for awhile, and then yes…the text messaging started late into the evening. Our normal early to bed (her choice) daughter was not getting to sleep until after 1am. We pointed out the problem, now when she heads up to shower (around 9pm) she plugs her phone in to charge downstairs with ours, and she’s done until morning. She was pleasantly surprised how much more sleep she was able to get, not being a slave to the cell phone. She’s in charge now, not her friends!
I am 14, and I just want parents to take the initiative to remove the phone from their teens. I have a friend who basically doesn’t have the guts to turn off his phone at night because he doesn’t want his friends to get mad at him for not responding the next day. If his parents would remove his phone from him at night, we wouldn’t even have this problem.
I totally agree with removing cell phones at night. I have a 15 and 16 year old. Also we remove lap tops at night.
We have a charging area in our kitchen. It is a perfect excuse to have the phones elsewhere!
I am a parent and Auntie to young people who are now 20(+) year olds. At this point, they make their own decisions without intervention from their elders. However, on many occasions, I have told these young people that they should learn to turn their phones off at night. This texting phenomenon is not limited to teens. Our young adults text at all hours and are also texting behind the wheel.
We have a 13yr old daughter & had the same problem with texting all hours of the night. Our solution: Her cell phone charger lives in our bedroom now. On week nights she gets her phone at 7p & plugs it back in to charge in our bedroom at 9pm. At first she really put up a fight, but now she has no trouble getting up for school.
i am 17 yrs old. i have grad high school, i work, i live on my own and i txt 24-7. i sometimes will stay up till like 4 in the morning txting.. i dont think there is anything wrong with teens that can still have good grade and work and text 24-7… i dont have a prob with gettin up every morning at 6am…. you just got to know your sleeping habits.. know wen to go to bed and wen to stay up… your body will get immuned to it if you do it long enough