Texting Guidelines for Teens

The average teen sent 60 text messages per day in 2011 and that number continues to grow, according to the Pew Research Center. Chances are that your teen is using a cell phone to communicate with her friends all day long. Before you allow your teen to use a cell phone regularly, lay down some guidelines and ground rules for safe and appropriate texting. Having a cell phone is a privilege -- if your teen can't follow the rules, you may need to take the phone away.

  1. Who

    • Caution your teen against handing her number out to just anyone. While it might seem fun to give a number out to someone she just met at a movie theater, she should reserve this information for close friends and family members whom she knows well. Teens should also avoid using text messages to communicate informally with teachers and other authority figures.

    What

    • If inappropriate, your teen's message content could be extremely dangerous to her reputation and put her in some awkward situations. Sexting, for instance, is an inappropriate practice and messages could be easily forwarded and shared. Even using an app that deletes pictures after they've been viewed won't protect your teen -- another person could have taken screenshots of them. Remind your teen that she should never send any messages, pictures or videos that she wouldn't want the entire school to see. MayoClinic.com points out that text content can be saved and even resurface years later. Sending inappropriate pictures and messages simply isn't worth it.

    Where

    • Explain to your teen where she is allowed to text. A teen should never text while driving and instead should keep her phone hidden away if it poses a temptation. Texting in class should also be forbidden -- not only is it likely against school rules, but it's distracting for your teen and those around her. By letting your teen know the locations appropriate for texting, she'll know when it's time to put the phone away.

    When

    • Common Sense Media gives an excellent piece of advice for teens: Never text when you're supposed to be concentrating on something else. At home, you can institute no-text times, for example, at the dinner table or after bedtime. But your teen should also be able to evaluate a situation and know when she should be concentrating and not looking at her phone. Whether she's talking with a friend, sitting in a movie theater or at the library studying, it's difficult to multitask, particularly when one of the activities is texting. It's also bad manners.

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