Kids & phones, am I getting old?

[John Brown]

Sorry, what's a msg?

Monosodium glutamate.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

The abbreviations are only a part of it.

One question is "why give young kids a phone at all?". Before the iPhone burst on the scene and we were introduced to a multifunction-internet-connected-device, there were phones which were really quite basic and all they did ... strangely ... was send/receive a call or send a text. Anxious parents purchased them to enable their children to make contact in emergencies.

Today phones have progressed to the point they are communication centres and the kids do not use them as phones, certainly do not call their parents. They are about video games, watching YouTube and videos. Not only are they the most addicting devices, or sources to addiction (I treat these children), but language is impaired, partly because spelling and vocabulary are abbreviated, and social skills are blocked since communication no longer takes place face-to-face. Plus the fantasy, imagination and representational play of children have been replaced by a device that stimulates by thinking for one. Don't get me started on emotional stunting ...

Why give an 11 year old a bloody phone?! You are asking for trouble.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[PetePontoValentino]

To be honest (TBH) "K" sounds pretty good to me!

My son is 17, has had phones for years and is 6 months into a technology apprenticeship. As far as technology goes he is pretty tooled up (own iPhone XS Max, own Apple Watch, own iPad, work iPad Pro, work Macbook pro) so I know that when I message him his whole world rings and vibrates (so I kind of know he might have been informed.

What do I get back, nothing, nada, niente, nichts... not even a "k". WTF!!! (I guess you know that one?)

IMHO you're lucky! Be happy whilst you have it.

 

[Benchwayze]

Billw
Should of? Doancha meen shud 'ave?
Lol!
John

 

[JSW]

Pretty impressed it still boots up, though with no sim card I can't get any further into the menus etc.

Fairly certain this was the phone I took to Cyprus for a mates wedding about 20 years ago, can't recall exactly but there were some hoops to jump through to get it to work abroad, and as someone else noted, there was a cost involved with any texts sent and received. Still a fair bit cheaper than phoning of course.

The day before the wedding, the mate I'd travelled with and I were having a couple of drinks by the Hotel pool, the families of the bride and groom were all gathered in a fairly large group a few yards away.

And then I saw something that has troubled me ever since, the conversation was almost dead except for every single one of them interacting with each other with intermittent bursts of "Ohhh! Our Richard says it's raining now!" Followed by lots of laughter and "Rain? what rain??" type remarks, then back to heads down texting followed by another exclamation of what the nearest and dearest back home were up to. The lulls, the quiet spots between replies coming through was one of the most unnerving experiences I've ever had, very surreal.

I looked at my mate, who admittedly was a bit of a technophobe, and asked him if he 'got' what was going on, he just shook his head and replied "No ****ing idea"

I knew there and then it was the beginning of something new, something bad, very bad indeed.

 

[Andy Kev.]

The abbreviations are only a part of it.

One question is "why give young kids a phone at all?". Before the iPhone burst on the scene and we were introduced to a multifunction-internet-connected-device, there were phones which were really quite basic and all they did ... strangely ... was send/receive a call or send a text. Anxious parents purchased them to enable their children to make contact in emergencies.

Today phones have progressed to the point they are communication centres and the kids do not use them as phones, certainly do not call their parents. They are about video games, watching YouTube and videos. Not only are they the most addicting devices, or sources to addiction (I treat these children), but language is impaired, partly because spelling and vocabulary are abbreviated, and social skills are blocked since communication no longer takes place face-to-face. Plus the fantasy, imagination and representational play of children have been replaced by a device that stimulates by thinking for one. Don't get me started on emotional stunting ...

Why give an 11 year old a bloody phone?! You are asking for trouble.

Regards from Perth

Derek

What you're saying there is deeply disturbing. My best guess of the current situation is this:

There are many people, probably mostly under 35, whose waking hours are dominated by smart phone useage but who due to educational or family backgrounds are probably still capable of functioning in real life.

There are some (how many?) children with low quality parents who will probably be written off as functioning human beings for the rest of their lives due to their media addiction.

There is a lucky but necessarily shrinking generation which can award smart phones a sensible place in their lives. FWIW my operating concept is that the damned thing is a pocket sized phone box i.e. when I need to call or text someone, I use it. The other chief use is to keep up with the news via a newspaper subscription when I'm out of the house and to dip into websites like this (although I do that more often while seated in front of a computer as at the moment). The worst thing I have is WhatsApp: I'm a member of a smallish group of otherwise sensible adults who meet once a week in the real world who descend into being inane idiots with their utterly trivial messages when on WhatsApp. Those of us with more than two brain cells to rub together have hived off seperately so that we can use the app when we have something which actually needs saying.

What we all probably sometimes forget is that the internet is in its infancy and societies have yet to find/allocate a place to digital media.

On the one hand, I don't think governments should be allowed to take control of it. On the other hand, I think that needs very much to be the case with regards to children. I think that under 18 year olds should only be allowed the most basic of phones i.e. non-smart for communications. Perhaps biometrics (e.g. fingerprint signing in) would enable this. At least they'd have a chance to develop their personalities in a normal way.

 

[AJB Temple]

I once fell out a bit with a truly stupendous girlfriend (several years ago) because she insisted texting whilst driving along. As a motorcyclist (and former advanced examiner for a charity - so triply anal) I was upset because inattentive drivers are the bane of biker's lives. Trouble is she smiles so beautifully it is hard to be cross for long.

 

[bussy]

Totally agree with all of the above comments, hate text speak but have you noticed how when they do speak they even shorten the spoken word, tots amaz, is one that springs to mind. Whats App, work for one of the big six, now we can't call help desks, tech support or HR any more, we can only contact them via whats app and now they're starting to use yammer, glad i,ve just been made redundant, best off out of it.

 

[treeturner123]

Hi All

Perhaps some of you remember Telegrams paid for by the word so in my opinion this started off the 'Text Speak'.

Phil

 

[lurker]

JSW, I am having a clear out and found a shoe box full of old phones.
my son has e bayed them . That particular model went for £15

 

[novocaine]

OMG. How dare the next generation attempt to adjust what came before, it's disgraceful, don't they know that all of those over the age of 50 and still alive invented everything.

Oh, wait, no, that's not right is it, you took what came before and adjusted it. Only it isn't the same is it, because when you did it, it was the right thing to do. If the next generation doesn't make changes we as a society stagnate, we become a dead end in evolutionary terms and we slowly die out as a species. Just because those changes don't make sense to you, doesn't mean they aren't worth happening. Yes we are seeing stunted development in some cases, but it is just in some cases, it is not the norm. when TV became mass media, there were cries of stunted development, of how it would ruin lives and devolve the ability to communicate. you all turned out ok, or at least ok enough to moan about it now.

Put it back in it's box and move on, you don't have to understand it, you just have to accept it as human nature.

Yours faithfully
Disgruntled person in the middle of the generational gap. TTFN

 

[Droogs]

I can't remember who it was but one Sci-Fi author I'm sure postulated that the more advance the society technologically the less sophisticated it's communications norms. He used the fire extinguisher as an example by comparing the 500 word instruction paragraph of a 1920's extinguisher to the 15 word and 8 picture set from a modern one. He argued that the more complex the technology the less people would understand the mechanics of it's workings and therefore need much simpler instuctions

 

[doctor Bob]

Doug, do you moan about the cost of things these days, policemen look like boys, can't understand modern music, haircuts and fashion, if so ...................... it's you.

 

[clogs]

whats's text......hahaha........
just a wind up.......
I cam into this modern era kicking and screaming but found it quite useful overall.....

My youngest daughter came home and asked why my Nokia phone didn't have a camera...not that long ago I might add......
who needs a camera in a phone I'd say.....
Now running fairly new IPhones, sadly have to admit she was right......dohhhhhh....

dont u hate it when the young'uns are right......hahaha.....

I must say if ur phone or comp doesn't work properly u only need to ask a 4 year old to sort the prob out.....
and anyway I like STEAM......hahaha......

 

[Andy Kev.]

OMG. How dare the next generation attempt to adjust what came before, it's disgraceful, don't they know that all of those over the age of 50 and still alive invented everything.

Oh, wait, no, that's not right is it, you took what came before and adjusted it. Only it isn't the same is it, because when you did it, it was the right thing to do. If the next generation doesn't make changes we as a society stagnate, we become a dead end in evolutionary terms and we slowly die out as a species. Just because those changes don't make sense to you, doesn't mean they aren't worth happening. Yes we are seeing stunted development in some cases, but it is just in some cases, it is not the norm. when TV became mass media, there were cries of stunted development, of how it would ruin lives and devolve the ability to communicate. you all turned out ok, or at least ok enough to moan about it now.

Put it back in it's box and move on, you don't have to understand it, you just have to accept it as human nature.

Yours faithfully
Disgruntled person in the middle of the generational gap. TTFN

I think that on the whole, those who were pessimistic of the effects of television have been proven right. I'm sure that we'd all live more in the "real" world if there were only two TV channels and if they shut down at 10:30 pm every weekday. The reason that will never happen is firstly because there is too much money to be made out of it and secondly because many of those who would complain would simply not know that real, active life is better for us than life passively lived.

 

[Bm101]

I'm not sure what came first, text speak or horrendous spelling and grammar skills. Me and my friends should of looked it up.

My friends and I should have looked it up.

Tsk Tsk Bill.

 

[kinverkid]

I recently read the story of an elderly lady receiving a text from the daughter of her old friend saying that her mother had passed on. The lady replied that she was sorry to hear that and she will be praying for her. LOL. It was explained to her by her own daughter that LOL no longer means Lots Of Love. It now means Laugh Out Loud.

 

[Vono]

It still amazes me all that a phone can do, I do find them handy but I can't quite get the obsession.
Having said that I can remember when to use the phone involved walking to this big red box at the corner of the street with coins. Or later the dial type one my mate had at his house that his mum had put a big lock on to stop him using & all that did was just work as a phone !

 

[PetePontoValentino]

<SNIP>
There are some (how many?) children with low quality parents who will probably be written off as functioning human beings for the rest of their lives due to their media addiction.
</SNIP>

Nice comment about low quality parents here. My personal context here: Here in Switzerland kids are expected to travel to school alone from the age of 4 years old. Not being Swiss I found packing my 4 year old off to walk alone pretty horrific. In hindsight it was perfectly okay.

When this involved walking around the corner and meeting friends on the way it was kind of okay, however, when, at the age of 9, this became a bus ride to the neighbouring village we bought him a phone so we could keep in contact if needed. This gave security at both ends of calls / messages. I do not see this as low quality parenting!

As this has become the norm, classes now have hangers over the doors where kids are expected to leave their phones during lessons. That's also not bad as they are expected to focus on the job in hand.

 

[PetePontoValentino]

Hi All

Perhaps some of you remember Telegrams paid for by the word so in my opinion this started off the 'Text Speak'.

Phil

Phil,
I think you're close but not quite there. It is certainly all about cost though. When SMS (Short Messaging Service) was invented the message size was limited to 160 bytes (I am not sure if users actually got the full 160 characters), Initially messages were limited to this size, later longer messages would be sent as multiple SMS's (each being charged for by the network operator).

Best
Pete