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Teen texting: Help your teen avoid the risks
Teen texting can carry risks for your child. Monitoring your teen's texting habits and setting appropriate limits can help prevent problems down the road.
By Mayo Clinic staffText messaging can be a fun way for adolescents to communicate — but teen texting carries risks, too. To help your teen avoid texting problems, consider these important teen-texting tips.
How should I talk about teen texting with my child?
Your teen may be more digitally savvy than you are, but a lack of maturity can easily get him or her into trouble when using technology. That's why it's important to talk to your teen early about texting and proper use of cell phones. Before you start a conversation, get to know the technology firsthand. Then ask your teen:
- What features do you use on your cell phone? Can you show me how to use them?
- Has anyone you don't know ever sent you a text message? If so, what did you do about it? How did he or she get your number?
- How many numbers do you have stored in your phone? Do you personally know all of these people?
- Has anyone ever taken an embarrassing picture of you without your permission? Have you ever taken an embarrassing picture of someone else? What did you do with it?
- Who would you tell if someone sent you a text or picture that was inappropriate?
- Have you ever communicated with someone you met online through your cell phone?
What are the risks of teen texting?
Teen texting can pose potentially serious physical and emotional risks. Talk to your teen about:
- Texting while driving. Research suggests that distractions such as texting may be an even greater threat to teens than to other drivers. Peer influence also may play a role. The more passengers in the car, the more likely young drivers are to use cell phones while driving. Talk to your teen about the consequences of texting while driving. Monitor your teen's driving behavior, and set clear rules and consequences — such as revoking driving privileges if your teen texts while driving.
- Disrupted sleep. Many adolescents send and receive text messages after turning out their lights and going to bed, which can interfere with a good night's sleep. Even moderate nighttime texting can greatly increase the risk of long-term fatigue. Consider keeping your teen's cell phone out of his or her room at night.
- Sexting. Sexting refers to sending a text message with sexually explicit content or a sexually explicit picture. This type of texting can cause emotional pain for the person in the picture, as well as the sender and receiver. Explain to your teen that text messages shouldn't contain pictures of people without their clothes on or kissing or touching each other. Make sure your teen understands that sending this type of text message is considered a crime in some areas and that the consequences could involve the police and suspension from school.
- Cyberbullying. Cyberbullying refers to sending harassing texts, emails or instant messages, as well as posting intimidating or threatening Web sites or blogs. Receiving bullying text messages can make a teen feel unsafe and lead to school absences. Discuss cyberbullying with your teen. Encourage your teen to talk to you or another trusted adult if he or she receives harassing text messages and to consider options such as rejecting texts from unknown numbers. Explain to your teen that it isn't appropriate to send harassing text messages to others.
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References
- Broughton DD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 8, 2009.
- Talking to kids and teens about social media and sexting. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/june09socialmedia.htm. Accessed Sept. 22, 2009.
- Teen drivers — Parents & teens. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.cd18639c9dadbabbbf30811060008a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=4427b997caacf504a8bdba101891ef9a_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_4427b997caacf504a8bdba101891ef9a_viewID=detail_view&itemID=a13c21bef58fd110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD&viewType=standard. Accessed Sept. 22, 2009.
- Breakthrough research on real-world driver behavior released. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.416f74e8613992381601031046108a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=4427b997caacf504a8bdba101891ef9a_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_4427b997caacf504a8bdba101891ef9a_viewID=detail_view&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=token&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=token&itemID=71052f9b8559a010VgnVCM1000002c567798RCRD&viewType=standard. Accessed Sept. 22, 2009.
- Van den Bulck J. Text messaging as a cause of sleep interruption in adolescents, evidence from a cross-sectional study. Journal of Sleep Research. 2003;12:263.
- Van den Bulck J. Adolescent use of mobile phones for calling and for sending text messages after lights out: Results from a prospective cohort study with a one-year follow-up. Sleep. 2007;30:1220.
- Marsh L, et al. Brief report: Text bullying and traditional bullying among New Zealand secondary school students. Journal of Adolescence. In press. Accessed Sept. 22, 2009.
- Ginsburg KR, et al. Associations between parenting styles and teen driving, safety-related behaviors and attitudes. Pediatrics. 2009;124:1040.
- Smith PK, et al. Cyberbullying: Its nature and impact in secondary school pupils. The Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry. 2008;4:376.
- Broughton DD. Keeping kids safe in cyberspace. AAP News. 2005;26:11.
- What you should know about technology. National Safety Council. http://downloads.nsc.org/pdf/7-9500Technology.pdf. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 24, 2009.
- Policy statement on sexting. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=4130. Accessed Sept. 24, 2009.
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