By Joshua Campbell
Tech Geek & Youth Pastor

In my interview with Linda Goldfarb on her LivePowerfullyNow radio show, we discussed the topic of teens and their texting and we brought up some of the figures and statistics.
About 80% 12-17 year olds own a cell phone. 11% of non cell phone owning 12-17 year olds “borrow” a cell phone from a friend. In 2008, 38% teens text. In 2009, 54-60%. Average number of texts sent a month is 2,000-3,000.

While cell phones can provide a list of good uses for teens, there are also some down falls we are seeing more and more as technology enhances and becomes more widely spread. We see an increase is texting or cell phone related auto accidents, there is a growing trend of “text talk” in schools verbally and even worse, in academic writing. There is the ever growing issue of “sexting” or sending of sexually explicit texts or pictures. But I think one of the biggest issues with teens and cell phones is the idea that their life may not go on if they do not have their cell phone.

Because of this quick form of communication, albeit a very impersonal quick form of communication, our teens are becoming more connected into the virtual world than the physical world around them. Why call a friend when they can just shoot them a text message? Text messages are outnumbering voice calls almost 50 to 1 in teens. But not only do we see this disconnection in texting, but with the rise in social networking websites, teens are using more technology to replace physical friends with virtual “friends”. I put the quotes around “friends” because a “friend” now-a-days is someone who you click accept friend request for or if you choose to, ignore. Teens are beginning to lose the definition of a friend and the personal, physical requirements it takes to maintain friendships! Now, hear me, I’m not saying that this is every teen, every case, but rather this age group as a whole. They are being raised in a society where they can search a name, click add, and talk to people they might have gone to kindergarten with in a different state. This idea wasn’t even thought of even 10 years ago. If you wanted to talk to someone, you either looked them up in the phone book or you would see if you had their address and you would write them a letter or even a, then, technologically advanced e-mail. This is not a bad thing though. It is great that we have the tools to reconnect and find people and revamp old friendships, but some teens use this form of communication as their primary. Their life is on facebook or myspace. And they are constantly connected.

Texting has also gave way to sexting which is starting to become a larger problem than it needs to be. 20% of teens have sent a nude or semi-nude picture of themselves while 39% of teens have sent a sexually explicit text to someone else. Here is a more daunting number, 48% of teens have received a sext from someone else. This means that more teens are receiving sexts than are sending them. Sexting is major problem and has historically lead to consequences for those who have sent them. In 2008, an 18 yr old girl committed suicide after a nude photo, which she sent to her boyfriend, was passed around to other students. This is something teens don’t necessarily think about, consequences for their actions. Not only is sex meant for marriage but the idea of sexual purity is supposed to be kept until the wedding day as well. The line between what is right and wrong has been blurred in today’s culture and teens are trying to push the limits on what they can do “sexually” without getting into trouble. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says to “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.” Our body is a temple and should be kept pure for the Lord. In the case of the 18yr old committing suicide, she didn’t realize what sending that picture of herself could do to her own life.

So what can we do? As parents, you have every right to check your students phone. I would recommend you do that. Just randomly check their texts, pictures, e-mails, and web activity to make sure they are staying out of trouble. Sit them down and tell them the boundaries and rules. Make sure they know that having a phone is a privilege and that you have the authority to take it up if they break the rules. You don’t need their permission to check the phone and their usage… so do it! HOWEVER! Know that in cases like this, the best defense is a good offense. Don’t wait until they are already involved in sexting to talk to them about it, and if you notice that your teen is starting to use more text lingo (for example, LOL OMG, TMI, etc…) in their day to day conversations and especially in their school work, talk to them about that as well. Make sure they know the difference between texting and writing an essay. Don’t let teens DE-educate themselves.

If you have any questions about this topic or if you have any other topics you want to talk about, e-mail me or facebook me! I’d love to know and be able to tackle specific issues!

LTY articles will cover reviews of technology and how to protect and equip our students in this technological age. Please send us e-mails and questions you may have about anything dealing with technology and youth and we will be happy to answer and help you out in your quest for knowledge!  Contact Josh through http://youthandtechnology.wordpress.com/