The life of a teenager in 2012 is radically different than it was in 1985.
I don't remember even having call waiting on the phone that attached to the wall
until I was in high school
. My daughters can't understand the idea of having to talk to their friends in the family room where everyone could hear you {gasp}. And there was
one line. If someone was talking on the phone, it rang busy to wherever might be calling.
Frustrated by hormonal teenage daughters, my mother attempted a schedule of who could be on when. That didn't work. A time limit was imposed but we would press her, "Is that per call or per evening? What if we needed to talk to someone about homework and we are beyond our time allotment?"
These were important issues.
Today, we are a group of people more readily accessible at any given moment than at any time in history. In my family, we have a house phone system that places a phone in almost every room with call waiting. We all have cell phones that call, text, e-mail, FaceTime, and Skype. Not only can we talk to each other but we can see each other while we talk.
We each have a computer that can do all those things along with access the internet.
Googling is now a verb.
While these things are not necessarily bad, I do mourn the simplicity of my youth. Having technology at the tip of my fingers day or night can become too much. Where do you draw the line for yourself? For your children?
All this being said, it was pretty cool that my girl could Skype her peep, who missed school due to an illness and fill her in on notes and homework.
I also know they probably giggled and laughed and goofed around more than they talked about school.
And I'm ok with that.
Posted with Blogsy
