How to Prevent Kids From Excessive Texting

Texting has a strong appeal for kids. In 2009, 75 percent of all teenagers sent text messages and 63 percent claimed to text every day, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center report. Because texting popularity seems to be rising every year, your children may be using this form of communication excessively. If this is the case, institute firm limits.

Instructions

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      Talk to your child about her texting activities. Ask your child to estimate how much she̵7;s texting during an average day. Try to get a feel about how invested or reliant she is on texting as a means of communication.

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      Mention some of your concerns about texting, suggests physician Dr. Claire McCarthy on the pediatric health blog for Boston Children̵7;s Hospital. You might mention your concerns about an excessive amount of daily texting, texting during sleeping hours, texting during driving, texting during school or homework time and texting inappropriate messages for the purposes of harassing others or "sexting."

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      Institute limits to prevent her from sending and receiving an excessive number of text messages, advises social worker James Lehman with the Empowering Parents website. Your limits might include specific times of the day when she may not send or receive texts, for example, during school hours, dinner time, homework time and sleeping hours. You might also institute a specific number of texts that your child can send every day.

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      Arrange your cell phone plan to support the limits you̵7;ve placed on your child, recommends Scott Counseling, an online counseling service created by a licensed school counselor. Many service plans enable you to institute limits on the number of text messages a user can send each day.

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      Enforce your texting limits. Ask your child to place her phone in a specific place during the ̶0;no texting times̶1; and tell her she can have it back when the restricted time ends.

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      Implement consequences if your child does not follow the texting limits. A logical consequence would be that your child would lose use of her cell phone completely for a specific amount of time. Institute these consequences swiftly and consistently, if necessary, to teach your child that she must follow your rules.

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