Yes, I agree! Problem is a lot of the time mom and dad are text junkies too. Fine examples they set for their children.
You might even be able to squeeze in the cost of the new SUV to get you there too. I also get more milage out of my canoe than a cell phone.
Well… cell phones are a NEED for my parents and i think I’m in the WANT category…:oops: but im not spoiled!
My mom 's job requires networking which requires her to call and receive calls almost 24/7 counseling all of her clients and such…
My dad works @ a wholesale warehouse for car stereo & accessories so he’s constantly on the move taking orders & doing deliveries in and about the warehouse.
They need it for business.
For me, I never asked for a phone but my parents got me my phone to keep in touch with each other. Because they were always out of the house, coming home really late, not being able to have a meal together for almost everyday of the year excluding major holidays even if we lived under the same roof. Saturdays they worked and I had to help manage school clubs. Sundays they rested and I went to church. During the weekdays, I had AP classes everyday for 4 years during high school @ 7am so i had to wake up @ 5:30 and get out of the house by 6am to catch the bus to school. My parents always thought bad of themselves for not being able to take care of me but i realized early what they were going through for me and always thanked them when ever i could. When i got into college with my first commute car and before I got sick, I use to do all the house chores, errands for my parents ,mostly delivering stuff around town & banking, dropping&picking up my sister to&from school which to me having a cell phone is more convenient but not necessarily a NEED but not necessarily a WANT either. SO now I’ve come to realize that it really depends on what you use your phone for which then determines your Need VS Want. Am i making any sense here?.. It’s 6:13am here and i’m half asleep so sorry for the long blah that i just wrote here.
and just saying… please don’t judge my parents parenting. Just because they think and do things different doesn’t mean that they are bad parents nor just spoiling their kids. Why did i say that? :lol: I’ll be going to bed now.
The world does seem to be changing. Most of the time when I was growing up we didn’t even have a phone at home. Now, a lot of folks consider a cell phone for kids in high school ( or even grade school ) a need. Teachers have to deal with kids using phones during class. I’m pretty sure ( naw, I’m darned sure ) that wouldn’t have been tolerated 50 years ago !
OK so i couldn’t sleep after reading everyone’s comments.
YES i graduated high school a year ago and that is totally true. my classes mates always got in trouble for texting in class and they were ALWAYS the same students… sometimes i really wanted to bring back paddling(is that what its called? spanking with that wooden thing) for those individuals…
daughter has a cell phone and it is for emergencies and she is FORBIDDEN from wasting her minutes with texting.
My daughter is a comunication person for a large corp. She came up with a poster that is being used thru the mid west.
DONT TEXT AND DRIVE With red they cross of the R and V
DONT TEXT AND DIE
Like other technologies, texting is a tool. I use it at work when a couple of us are at different locations. It is a great way to get a message across without having to call. I do not use texting for much else. I won’t waste the time. When someone sends me a text I will read it when I get a chance and usually that will be when I am doing nothing else. If at work and the text is from a fellow worker and about something we are currently working on that is different but that is the only time I will answer back quickly. If there is nothing important in a text message it will get read, deleted and likely no reply.
If I am talking with someone and they interupt our conversation to read a text message on thier phone, the conversation is over at that point and I will walk away. I find it extremely rude to stop in the middle of a conversation to text. If you do it to me. We are done. Same with a cell phone call. To me the most important conversation I am having is with the person in front of me. Period.
A bit off topic, but cell related; This past spring I had a little issue with a cop cutting me off in traffic… He literally turned across my lane from the left lane into a driveway and he was literally broadside to me crossing my lane. I was shocked I did not hit him. It was a close thing.
He was talking on his cellphone and looking at his computer!
He was not in uniform and was headed to the bakery at the grocery store!
We had words inside the bakery… VERY loud words.
Then we had words in his boss’s office and then we had words in his boss’s boss’s office.
At that point I realized we were not making progress and the basic concepts were being overlooked in favor of first trying to intimidate me and then trying to placate me and get me to leave.
Between the incident and the sessions with the bosses I had contacted the Mayor’s office and had that number stored in my cellphone. When I dialed the Mayor’s office and got someone instantly that knew what I was talking about the bosses folded their cards without another word of defense and we started making progress on what was wrong and what they were going to do about it.
Witnessed a car accident once where the young female driver was on her cell for quite some time prior to the wreck and was still on when the wreck happened. Her first words after jumping out of her car were “I was not on my cell!” She clearly was…
art
I USED to think the same thing.
It’s a LOT easier than trying to fill dead space in a conversation over the phone.
Also, you can text in rooms where talking isn’t ‘kosher’.
I’ve become a fan of texting but I don’t do the “wassup”… “nm” BS.
As I start this post, there have been THIRTY contributions to this thread.
Seems to me, the Bulletin Board is a form of TEXTING, or should I say forum for texting.
I had a cell phone ( sans texting capability ) for a short while during our move from SE Idaho. It was extremely valuable during that time. Once we got settled in here, we went back to a land line only. That’s just my personal preference.
As I sit here writing this, I notice I have a bold 1 showing for Your Notifications. Guess I’d better go see who is texting me via the PM system this morning.
To each his / her own, without judgement, with or without understanding.
John
P.S. This should in no way be construed to mean that I am in favor of texting while driving or at any other time when such activity would endanger others or their property.
I suppose some day an anthropologist or psychologist will do a long article on this.
I guess the constant texts with apparently “useless” notes like “Im at the laundry” help some keep contact.
I don’t text, but I do us e-mail. Then again, if the e-mail is going to be more than a couple of paragraphs, I’ll call instead.
At home, the two blackberries don’t even have text message plans. We both use them to know when e-mails come in. Its faster to browse through messages than opening up the lap top(s).
As for the “need” of cell phones, we use them when we’re on the road and they are less expensive than the landline here. (the cell phones connect to the wifi at home so calls are unlimited and don’t use any minutes or long distance. (UMA)
It’s just a tool. Then again, even a screw driver can be dangerous in the hands of an idiot!
In Montreal the other day, I was stuck behind a BIG suv, … I could see the driver texting behind the wheel. The AMBULANCE behind me was kinda in a hurry and couldn’t get around us. (even with full lights and siren going!). I simply nudged my bumper up against him and PUSHED him through the intersection.
The first responders in the ambulance gave me a nod as they finally managed to make their way around us, … then I wrote up a citizen’s citation for the idiot in the Caddy! We’ll see him in court in a month.
Not sure why your sister’s plan is so much… but my crackberry is $84.99 after taxes per month. That is for unlimited data & texting. I would guess she also has the plan to use her crackberry as a computer connection to the Internet. (That would make sense there for a price of $150… as that plan is $60/month…)
Me personally… I don’t have issues with young kids having cell phones any more. In fact, more than one school incident has been prevented/stopped with less loss because kids did have a phone.
In fact most months… my cell phone is used for voice about 15-20 minutes. But texting, I’m over 200, (since I’m in IT at a school, many of my messages are server status updates, etc.), and roughly a Gig for data transfer. (Email, web surfing… etc.)
My wife is the Public Information Coordinator for the local college here plus she teaches classes when the college needs it in Journalism and Media writing. Several years ago, after 9/11, she expressed a desire to have a cell phone with her in case of an emergency. The college has 3 other branches and she was on the road a lot and was concerned about being by herself on the road. I began the search for an affordable cell phone that could handle her needs and not “break the bank”. I could not see having 2 phone bills per month.(a monthly land line and a monthly cell phone) She explained to me that all she needed was a way to contact me, the police or someone in case of an emergency. She was not interested in having conversations on the phone about everyday “nothings”. I ended up purchasing a TracPhone for her. No monthly bills. The cost of the phone around $50 or less. She carries the phone with her in her purse and it is usually not on, but, if she needs to make a call, she will turn it on and make the call. With a TracPhone you purchase your minutes from many different discount stores and you load them into the phone. The phone lets you know how many minutes you have. When the minutes get low, just purchase another card and load it. Her TracPhone has worked very well over all these years. She even purchased me one and it is usually off unless I am fishing. I will carry it with me and if she had a need to contact me, she can and vise versa. If we are at home the cell phones are not on. If she is at work and I need to talk to her, I call her office number. If work puts her on the road, she will call me and tell me where she is headed and to let me know her cell phone will be on just in case. The TracPhones have worked great for us and we only have one phone bill per month and that is the home land line which is in a “bundle” service which provides us our high-speed internet service, cable TV and the phone part is $30 per month for unlimited calling worldwide. I guess my wife and I are getting “old” because we just have more important things to do than talking on the cell phone or texting each other. Since we will have been married 41 years this Dec. 20th, we do not have to constantly remind each other with texting to each other that we still love each other.
There are “needs” for texting, but, not the way it is being abused today. In my opinion, texting has a place in running a business, but, it has no place in a business if it is being used by an employee for non-business related conversations. Same goes for an employee using the business e-mail account for non-business related conversations. Unfortunately, we have no one interested in doing anything about the abuse because they are too busy abusing the system.
Sorry for the long post, but, I just do not understand why this generation does not understand how much of their life that is being wasted on the “latest and greatest” toys in the tech world. Put down the “toys” and look around and see the beauty that our Creator has given us and realize that there are no “toys” that can match it.
i grew up with and without phones in the home. and for me cell phones where only for the rich. heck at the time when i was a kid cell phones where huge and 9 out of 10 came in a bag that was hooked up to your car and it had horrid reception. then they started getting smaller and smaller to what they are now.
for many it is cheaper to have a cell phone then a house phone and cell phone. ect. In rhode island we have the no texting while driving law as well. and i am glad but i have never been one to text and drive.
one advantage that texting has over voce is the fact that you can send the other person what they sent you if they say thats not what i said. because i have done this many times with my girlfriend.
I do agree that in some ways that as we grow tech wise we are declining in other ways. some schools dont even teach cursive any more.
as for spelling and grammer. well thats never been my strong point but i do try. 
I teach at a college where there are many, many students stumbling along the pathways as they text their friends who are also stumbling along the pathways. I have a policy that there is no cellphone, texting, or other electronic communications in my classes. On the first day I tell them that if their phone rings/beeps/vibrates or in any other way gains attention that they are to gather their belongings, leave the room, and return another day, after apologizing to me in person. I also tell them that if they do not leave, I will leave the class. And I will provide them all with a quiz next time on what I would have covered, had I stayed. In 5 years of following this policy, I have only had to leave my classroom twice for cellphone use. Word has gotten around and peer pressure does all the work for me now.
About a year ago I was visiting my parents in Florida. My father and I were talking about Florida drivers and he told me that he believed the worst drivers to be young women. He was surprised, said he, because he didn’t remember women having always been such poor drivers. I told him that the worst drivers in Florida must be the older drivers. So we took a drive and looked around. “Look,” said he, “there’s a young woman right there, halfway out of her lane at that light. See? She’s looking down at her lap!” You guessed it, texting. We saw it several more times. When I explained to my father what he was seeing, he at first thought I was crazy. But no, we agreed over a couple of beers later, the crazies are the people driving while looking at their laps.
Good for you, Diane!
[QUOTE=Diane;334150]I teach at a college where there are many, many students stumbling along the pathways as they text their friends who are also stumbling along the pathways. I have a policy that there is no cellphone, texting, or other electronic communications in my classes. On the first day I tell them that if their phone rings/beeps/vibrates or in any other way gains attention that they are to gather their belongings, leave the room, and return another day, after apologizing to me in person. I also tell them that if they do not leave, I will leave the class. And I will provide them all with a quiz next time on what I would have covered, had I stayed. In 5 years of following this policy, I have only had to leave my classroom twice for cellphone use. Word has gotten around and peer pressure does all the work for me now.
I use my cell phone and texting but agree with both sides of this issue. Responsibility is the key and examples need to be made of those abuses. This video is extreme but brings home the point.
Why is texting so difficult to understand. Writing has been a form of communication long before the telephone was invented. You can also do things while texting you can’t with a phone call like send pictures, add links, etc. It has it place. You can have a private conversation without people listening in. I remember being a kid. The last thing I wanted or needed at times was other people being able to listen in on what I had to say.
I do agree kids and adults can over do it. They need to learn when it is appropriate to text. I don’t like people who show up at a social event and hide behind their keyboard texting away the whole time they are there. I have no issue getting in the faces of my nieces and nephews when they do it at family gatherings.
Myself I prefer to use the phone or send an email.
I like the new gadgets as much as the next guy, but my all time favorite quote is from Andy Rooney: “Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don’t need to be done.” This has never been more evident than 99% of the text messages being sent daily in the world. It’s not the fact that they’re texting, It’s the fact that most are not even saying anything. If you wouldn’t have that (text) conversation in person or on the phone, then it probably doesn’t need to be done at all.
I’ve been in the IT profession for 25 years and have forgotten more about computers than what the average IT student learns with a 4 year degree, (as I’m sure many 25-years veterans of any profession can say.)
I get the ‘new gadget’ part of it (don’t always buy into it, but I get it) it just kills me how BACKWARD the entire Technology is going and no one sees it, they just see everything new as “so cool” even though the NEW stuff is a re-birth of many many decades or even centuries old technology. And even worse History really DOES repeat itself.
Consider this history lesson:
1840 (circa) The telegraph was invented (Morse Code)
1870 (circa) The telephone invented (full duplex- 2 way conversation).
1900 (circa) 2-way Radio invented (half duplex- Only 1 can only speak at a time)
1910 (circa) Teletype invented
1973 First Cell phone introduced (Full duplex).
1993 First Cell phone with walkie talkie/push to talk (half duplex).
1995 (circa) beginning of wide spread availability for cell phone texting
So we go from telegraph with Morse code,
to the telephone,
to the 2-way radio (walkie-talkie)
to the teletype (original texting),
to the cell phone,
to the cell phone walkie talkie (first step backward). Now 2-way on a cell is rarely used.
to the cell phone with texting (second step backward) Cell phone Teletype didn’t sound high-tech.
The next BIG thing will be what? cell phones with Morse Code???
Tell me what part of all this is NEW or ADVANCED technology???