Cell Phones and Texting

GIRLFRIENDS, March 2010, by Jenifer Merifield

Cell Phones
Texting and IM'ing
Very cool, very convenient... very rude?
TAKE THE QUIZ!

texting

KK, time 4 ur blog about txt msg + cell phones. Read it with ur BFFs, if u can! lol, ttyl8r, cya, and byee! <3

Did anyone catch that? If you have a cell phone or an instant message account then you most likely did! TRANSLATION: Okay, time for your blog about text messaging and cell phones. Read it with your best friends, if you can! Laugh out loud, talk to you later, see ya, and bye! (heart)

Text abbreviations, better known as ‘Texting’ is the language of the 21st century. I have a question for you, or should I say: “?4u”... How addicted are you!? Take the quiz!

Text and Cell Phone Addiction Quiz

Question #1
Say you’re out with your buds, sitting at the park, or in your room, or maybe at the mall. You get a text.
[Diana: yo, WU? (what’s up)] What do you do?
A) Without saying a word to anyone, you immediately text back to let her know what you are doing.
B) You anxiously wait until the conversation lulls and then you text Diana back.
C) You ignore the text and plan to text her back when you leave your friends.

Question #2
Another friend who doesn’t have a text plan calls you on your phone while you’re out with your friends.
A) You answer the call as soon as it rings, regardless of whether you’re in a conversation or not and talk for a while.
B) You take the call and tell her you can’t talk right now.
C) You turn off the ringer so you don’t interrupt your time with the people you’re with.

Question #3
You’re at school. There are NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED. During class:
A) You secretly send text messages to your friends when the teacher isn’t looking.
B) You receive a text when you forgot to turn off your phone, so you answer it quickly and tell the person to text you when class is over.
C) You leave your cell phone in your locker, off, so you don’t take a chance to get in trouble.

Question #4
You’re watching a movie with your family at home. Your friends text you:
A) You text back. You tell them what scenes are happening in the movie all the way through.
B) You text back that you’re watching a movie and you’ll call them later.
C) You don’t even know they called because you turned off your cell before you started watching the movie. Nothing is so important that they can’t wait for a couple hours to hear back from you.

Question #5
You’re at a family event like a wedding or a party.
A) You have your cell phone on you and you respond to texts the whole time.
B) You check to see if you have any texts occasionally, and you go in the bathroom to secretly text back so you don’t look rude at the party.
C) You don’t bring or turn on your cell phone. You’re at a party; you’re there for the fun. You know you can tell your friends about it when you get home.

Question #6
You get your monthly cell phone bill.
A) You sent and received over 1000 texts.
B) You sent and received less than 1000 texts, but much closer to 500.
C) You sent and received less than 250 texts… most of them were to your mom.

ANSWERS

Mostly C’s
Either you don’t have a cell phone yet and so you have the BEST of intentions for when you get one, or you have one and you also have a LIFE! You respect your friends and the people you are with by not interrupting them by taking or making calls or texts. You’re pretty serious about your education because you don’t want to jeopardize your success by getting in trouble for talking to someone who you can see after class. You are tuned in to the world around you, the real LIVE world and you aren’t lost in cyber space. Yay for you!

Mostly B’s
You’re doing pretty good too. You may struggle with peer pressure a bit because you want to fit in and not miss anything. But for the most part you are all about BALANCE. You stay in touch and you stay present in the real world. Be sure to keep doing what you’re doing by prioritizing what’s important in your life and what will get you closer to your goals. Text-addiction looms close by… beware!

Mostly A’s
You could text in your sleep! You are the queen of keeping in touch! But is that such a good thing? Repeat after me, “Hi, my name is (fill in the blank), and I am addicted to texting”. It might be a good idea to lift your head, rest your weary thumbs and check out the world around you… but REALLY. Be present! When you are WITH people, be WITH them. Why be with people when you are texting or calling others? Think about the quality of the conversations you’re texting… “just made a PB sandwich”, “nothing is on TV”, “just texted Keera”, “oooh, a cute cat is outside”… seriously, who cares? Try reading a juicy book, play a sport, dance, hang out with your family. You must be a fabulous gal if you have a bunch of buds who are always texting you, so now go out and DO STUFF YOU LOVE!!!

What's your opinion about all this? Add your private comments below!

~ Jenifer

Comment

Mira , 17 , EG

I am addicted to texting .. but i don't miss anything .. texting take just a Minuit .. it dosent make you miss all the fun .. its good to keep in touch with our bff all the time .. and enjoy the peple you with too

Sarah, age 13

All of my 6 friends can text or have a cell phone but I don't. Sometimes when we hang out or are at sleepovers they will be texting to each other or when they get a message and tune out for a bit, even during a conversation. I watch this and it gets a little annoying. I agree that cell phones are really great and handy to have, but when you are around others don't let it take your attention away from them. Turn it off just for that time or only answer your parents if you need to. Spend more time with others and with whats going on around you than with screens! Learn to balance your life and your cell.

Tianna

Great! You have a cell! But it doesn't take over your life! You have friends. And family. And things to do. Life doesn't belong in a cell phone! Try not using your cell for a while. Obviously use it for issues! But not everything!