Negative Effects of Parents Using Texting to Converse

Health

• In 2009, New York Times Reporter Katie Hafner described some of the health risks associated with teen texting. Some teenagers receive more than 2,000 text messages each month, starting first thing in the morning and extending late into the night. Texting excessively can lead to anxiety, sleep deprivation and repetitive stress injury. Children can feel overwhelmed by the volume of text messages they receive from peers and parents, knowing that quick responses are expected. Parents might not be able to overly restrict their child̵7;s access to peer text messages, but they can do their part to stem the flow by limiting their own texting to occasional check-ins. Talking in person, rather than by text, can help your child avoid certain health risks.

Academic

• Texting too much with parents and peers during the school day can also distract children from their academic responsibilities. When kids' cellphones are constantly vibrating (even if they contain well-meaning expressions of love or concern) during the school day, it̵7;s harder to concentrate. In her Cisco article ̶0;Does Text Messaging Negatively Impact Student Academic Success?̶1; Educator Jacqui Murray states that children are quick to adapt. Children might have grown accustomed to regularly conversing with parents via text throughout the school day, but that doesn̵7;t mean that it̵7;s ideal for their learning potential.

Intimacy

• Especially during teenage years, adolescents need the time and distance to disentangle themselves from constant parental oversight in order to determine their own growing identities and interests. When parents text their teens too often, this can have the negative effect of violating their teen̵7;s privacy. Excessive reliance on text to converse can also hurt the intimacy between parents and their children, according to Forbes. Some conversations might be better had in person because of their intimate or sensitive nature.

Modeling

• Another negative effect of parents using texting to converse is that it models risky behaviors for children. Injuries can occur for children whose parents are preoccupied with their cellphones and texting. Parents who seem distracted by constant texting might be letting their children know that they are not priorities. Disengaged parents might also miss important observations about a child̵7;s development that could have potentially long-lasting effects that spread into adolescence or adulthood, according to the 2012 Deseret News article ̶0;Baby's Development Potentially Harmed by Parents Texting.̶1;