140 Characters or Less
We thought we were hot stuff, riding around town calling our friends and announcing that we were calling from the car.
Now, everybody has a phone; and, if a toddler doesn't own one, they know how to use one, even if they can't employ the primary function - talking.
Today, the phones are smaller and smarter with technology that intimidates those of us who are tech-tarded.
If my car and my phone didn't act like newlyweds - kissing and hooking up - whenever they got close, I would have a hard time making a call.
Then there is the thing called social media which negates the need for conversation as we old folks knew it.
Diva and her friends never use their phones to talk.
They text, take pictures, tweet, Facebook or facetime but never phone unless it's a GiGi or Poppy.
This brings me to the danger and destruction that can occur when young people incorporate that, "it can't happen to me" mentality, that most of them possess, with new age ways to communicate.
There are those who use those features to foster the ugly they wouldn't dare to display face to face - which has the potential to devastate.
I am so glad that Coach B and My Other Daughter are on top of this game and, more importantly, in charge of their family functions.
They have established an environment that facilitates feelings of worth and significance; introduced guidelines and provide guidance; cultivated the importance of self respect with an insistence of respect for others.
They parent with purpose; but, if you ask either of their progeny to name their best friend, both choose mom and dad.
Even Diva, who is at that age when teens become strange and strangers, shares her life with them - and nothing is sacred.
So, when a boy started texting some talk that wasn't respectful (How's that for PC?) she immediately shared it with her dad.
Guess who responded.
In no uncertain terms, using the terms in the text, Coach B explained a few things - in detail.
I hope boy recovers.
Parents provide chattel for their children as much and as often as they can financially fund and that typically translates into the latest and greatest gadget to date.
However, these rewards require responsibility from the parent - more so than the child.
Children need to understand that in the parent's house they have no privacy.
That is one of the things you earn when you start earning.
Sexting, cyber bullying and such would not be an issue if parents were in charge of their issue and it can be done without setting up an adversarial association with the kids.
At the age of 12, Diva stated that "everybody else was texting" so, Coach B let her use his phone (maintaining control) to text her friends; and now, even though she has her own phone, as a sophomore in HS, she still doesn't have a Facebook Page (Probably doesn't want one either, since her parents friended her friends and they read their pages together).
Things have come a long way since 3 way calling; which, during my children's day was the tool used to terrorize.
You remember, get one person on the phone, call another, then talk about the one listening.
The tricks are the same, just the tools have changed.
Well, GiGi and Poppy finally got a texting plan, just so we could communicate with the children.
But Twitter? I can't think of much that I can express in 140 characters or less.
Now, everybody has a phone; and, if a toddler doesn't own one, they know how to use one, even if they can't employ the primary function - talking.
Today, the phones are smaller and smarter with technology that intimidates those of us who are tech-tarded.
If my car and my phone didn't act like newlyweds - kissing and hooking up - whenever they got close, I would have a hard time making a call.
Then there is the thing called social media which negates the need for conversation as we old folks knew it.
Diva and her friends never use their phones to talk.
They text, take pictures, tweet, Facebook or facetime but never phone unless it's a GiGi or Poppy.
This brings me to the danger and destruction that can occur when young people incorporate that, "it can't happen to me" mentality, that most of them possess, with new age ways to communicate.
There are those who use those features to foster the ugly they wouldn't dare to display face to face - which has the potential to devastate.
I am so glad that Coach B and My Other Daughter are on top of this game and, more importantly, in charge of their family functions.
They have established an environment that facilitates feelings of worth and significance; introduced guidelines and provide guidance; cultivated the importance of self respect with an insistence of respect for others.
They parent with purpose; but, if you ask either of their progeny to name their best friend, both choose mom and dad.
Even Diva, who is at that age when teens become strange and strangers, shares her life with them - and nothing is sacred.
So, when a boy started texting some talk that wasn't respectful (How's that for PC?) she immediately shared it with her dad.
Guess who responded.
In no uncertain terms, using the terms in the text, Coach B explained a few things - in detail.
I hope boy recovers.
Parents provide chattel for their children as much and as often as they can financially fund and that typically translates into the latest and greatest gadget to date.
However, these rewards require responsibility from the parent - more so than the child.
Children need to understand that in the parent's house they have no privacy.
That is one of the things you earn when you start earning.
Sexting, cyber bullying and such would not be an issue if parents were in charge of their issue and it can be done without setting up an adversarial association with the kids.
At the age of 12, Diva stated that "everybody else was texting" so, Coach B let her use his phone (maintaining control) to text her friends; and now, even though she has her own phone, as a sophomore in HS, she still doesn't have a Facebook Page (Probably doesn't want one either, since her parents friended her friends and they read their pages together).
Things have come a long way since 3 way calling; which, during my children's day was the tool used to terrorize.
You remember, get one person on the phone, call another, then talk about the one listening.
The tricks are the same, just the tools have changed.
Well, GiGi and Poppy finally got a texting plan, just so we could communicate with the children.
But Twitter? I can't think of much that I can express in 140 characters or less.
Source...