TIPS For Families

Written by: Maureen Burson, Extension Educator
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension

Families are much more connected to teens as a result of the greatly increased use of cellular phones the past five years.  Parents and grandparents find much peace of mind knowing that their children are a quick phone call away, regardless of where they are. 

Cellular phones are invaluable during times of emergency.

Grandparents enjoy routine calls from grandchildren. Mobile cell phones provide more flexibility in establishing routine times. For example, calling grandparents during morning carpools is a great way to start everyone’s day.

According to the National Institute on Media and the Family, approximately 200 million people own cell phones in the United States. Almost three-quarters of American households have at least one, and many have three to five. About half of teens aged 13 to 16 have one.

Teens are more likely to make good choices if family rules are established related to cell phone usage.

Many parents expect teens to turn cellular phones off during meal time and have a specific time at which phones are turned off at night. Some parents recharge children’s phones during the night as a subtle way of eliminating nighttime social calls. Know, support and talk to your kids about following their school's rules on cell phones and text messaging.

Text messaging is one of the most common cell phone activities among young people -- more than 73 percent of teens use it regularly. Parents should consider the following:

• Text messaging can be very expensive and take up lots of time. Set limits and encourage your kids to communicate with their friends in other ways too.
• Some kids use their phones to spread mean messages or to intimidate other kids. Talk to your kids about cyber bullying.  Encourage your teens to spread positive messages.
• Text messages can become pretty lewd and inappropriate because the medium has fewer social constraints.  Talk to kids about text etiquette and manners.
• Text messaging while driving causes accidents.

For more TIPS for Families, go to unlforfamilies.unl.edu. Let us know how you used this information by clicking on the TIPS Feedback Form at the bottom of this page.