I’ve always known my kids use
21 gear a lot. But my cellphone bill last month really
grabbed my 22 . My son
had racked up nearly 23 , and had sent
nearly as many. That means he was having more than 60
24 via text message every day. 25
, he was out of school for the summer and communicating more with
friends 26 . Nevertheless, I had to
wonder how he found time to hold down a summer job and complete a college course
in between all that 27 with his
thumb. I was even 28 to learn that my son is normal. "Teenagers with cellphones each send and
receive 29 a month on average", Nielsen
Mobile says. Some experts lament that all that keyboard jabber
is making our kids stupid unable to read nonverbal cues such as 30 , gestures, posture and other silent signals
of mood and attitude. Unlike phones, text messaging doesn’t even allow
transmission of tone of 31 .
States are cracking down on drivers who text,
32 . My son doesn’t text while driving, and we have
discussed the dangers. Beyond that, though, I’m not sure I see
33 critics of this trend. I’ve posted
before on how I initially tried to curb my kids’ texting. But over time, I have
seen my son suffer no apparent 34 , and
he reaps a big benefit, of easy, continuing contact with many friends. Also, the
time he spends texting replaces the hours teens used to spend on the phone:
35 dislike talking on the phone, and
say they really don’t need to do so to 36 and family. Does texting make kids stupid I don’t think
so. It may make them annoying, when they try to text and talk to you 37 . And it may make them distracted, when
buzzing text messages interrupt efforts to noodle out a calculus problem or
finish reading for school. But I don’t see texting 38 teens’ ability to communicate. My son is as
attuned to nonverbal cues as any older members of our family. If anything, I
have found him 39 and easier to
communicate with from afar, because he is constantly available via 40 and responds with a faithfulness and speed
that any mother would find reassuring.