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
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
Bekah…for someone who’s getting good grades and getting enough sleep your grammar and spelling is very poor. Turn off the phone at night. And thank you for making a perfect example for everyone on this subject.
I agree with you, Ken.
But I believe, as another 17 year old’s perspective, that we should be allowed to make our own decisions; if we don’t end up getting enough sleep, or if our grades start slipping, that would be our own faults, so we should be alowed to accept the consequences.
I /do/ believe that it is possible to balance out the usage of our cellphones and our lives, in the way that we see fit.
It’s not just about when to text, it’s also about what for. Is it really neccessary to bother your friend at any time? How can someone concentate, learn or do any serious work checking the messages all the time? I call it abuse of language. If there’s noything important to say, keep quiet. Silence is golden. Save money and energy and make better use of your time. You might find more free time to chat with friends “alive”,personally. This is the best choice you can make.
ok here are my thoughts, I’m a 16 year old boy who is typing this message off of my phone and it is 2:23 here. Now I have to get up and drive for 2 hours tomorrow starting at 8 o clock, I will be fine, and will get up without issue…it really does depend on the person, my mom hates me having my phone in my room at night but she sort of caved. I hate to be that rebellious kid, but I think parents are jealous of how many friends their kids have. Well I’m going to go to sleep, g’night!
mane my baby gurl be txting all da time at nite it be at least 12 in da mornin an all u here is ha lafin an gigglin
I’m 17 and I agree with most of the comments but I think it is unfair to have a perscriptive attitude towards text messaging. Texting does not only provide quick communication but it’s also helpful in an emergancy. If your’re worried that your child isn’t getting enough sleep because of texting, then of course do something about it. However confiscating their phones is unfair and removing their right to freedom of speech!
Verizon has a nice service. You can have the phone automatically not work between whatever hours you chose. My 16yo daughter’s phone is down Sunday-Thursday nights from 10:30 pm till 7 am. You can also allow safe numbers such as parents to be able to call anytime and she could call us any time. You can also block any phone numbers that you do not allow for sending and receiving. This service cost an extra $5 a month.
I agree with Timothy. Sometimes we get jealous as parents. Our kids have more friends, know more stuff and are a smarter digital generation. So I get involved with their stuff i.e.social networking, blogs etc. Don’t have a cellphone problem – our 15 yrs old doesn’t have one or want one. He prefers Skype and Facebook. And he does switch off his laptop at night, although there was a time when I had to remove it. We have to trust our kids. We have to help them come to a mature understanding of what they are doing. It works for me (as Hunter used to say..google this!)
This goes beyond texting on a phone. My oldest traded his ipod (15 yr olds) to someone at school that already had the free texting/email cabability. Sexting all night with people, some of whom he did not even know, just met online… Of course he was finally found out because he would not get out of bed and upon one occasion of trying to get him up for school, it was in his hands… with 1000’s of explicit texts he had not deleted just from the past few weeks.
What no one has said yet is that, while there are real concerns for a teens sleep, grades, etc., the parents are still responsible for their children. And many times parents’ decisions are at odds with what the kids/teens want. I’m the stepdad to a wonderful 13 year old girl (and have been for 7 years now), though she carry’s on every night when reminded that she needs to bring her phone and laptop into our bedroom at 9:30 so she can go to bed. It’s unfortunate that this current generation of kids seems so much more argumentative that in the late 70s and 80s. If more parents would simple “grow a pair” and not be afraid of doing the right thing, the kids will eventually see the benefits of their parent’s decisions.