August 29, 2006
Survey Indicates that text messaging improves parent-child communication
Sixty-three percent of parents who use text messaging believe that it improves their communication with their children, according to a recent Cingular Survey (pdf)on text messaging and parents conducted by Mediathink. [via Press release]
"... Parents who text message say they communicate more frequently with their children when they are away from home and 64 percent say that texting made their kids easier to reach.
As a result, Cingular has teamed with clinical psychologist and parenting expert Dr. Ruth Peters to develop "TXT2CONNECT - A Parent's Text Tutorial." The tutorial provides parents with tips from Dr. Peters on how to better communicate with their kids via text messaging and to understand popular text messaging lingo.
According to Dr. Ruth (Peters) text messaging is a great option for parents and kids to stay in touch: I disagree on many points - as the premise here seems to be that teenager/parenting relationships are somewhat contrived.
Agree with:
-- Texting vs. calling gives kids more space but allows parents to keep in touch as often as necessary.
-- Text messaging can also be used to strengthen parent-child bonds, and let kids know that their parents are thinking of them.
Disagree with:
-- Parents get a quick answer to their questions. When their children's phone is not ignored or turned off
-- Kids are more apt to respond to text messages when they are with their friends. Not necessarily if their busy. They'll answer if it's urgent or necessary.
-- Texting allows you to enter your child's world. No it doesn't, it only enables you to reach him in his world
-- You, or they, don't have to worry about tone of voice. Parenting is not about acting
-- Text messaging allows parents to compose and edit a message before pressing send. Only when they're not adept at text messaging. Hopepfully if a parent has something important to say, it's not by SMS
Some interesting related studies:
-- Parenting by cell phone - Using the telephone to parent is part of a larger societal change of more ongoing conversations between parents and children, says Steven Mintz, a history professor at the University of Houston.
-- Colleges try to deal with hovering parents - Heightened parental involvement is one of the biggest changes on college campuses in the last decade, experts say. One major reason is the tight bond between Baby Boomer parents and their children, reports the Globegazette.com, fueled by cell phones.
-- New grads face a world of difference - ... one of every five students on that school's honor roll reports calling his or her parents an average of three times a day. Psychology Today magazine calls cell phones "the eternal umbilicus."
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