Keeping Teenagers Away from the Telephone and Reducing Bills

All parents get frustrated seeing their bills rise sharply at the time when their child reaches the age of adolescence. This often results in parents arguing with their teenagers that they are always occupying their telephone line. Patience! This may continue going on for a few years. This problem reaches its peak between 13 and 16 years, and then fades away when the teenagers start to go out.

It is thanks to others that we become ourselves and this is why friendship is very important. With friends, we talk, expressing feelings and create relationships. As a teenager, one discovers that it is not healthy to stay alone just like in a family. It is therefore essential for the majority of teenagers who come home from school spending hours chatting with friends or girlfriends.

Why can they not do without it?

The young person needs to keep in contact with his friends and feel connected continuously with his group of friends. For the teenage the telephone is a means of communication by which he can reach any area and makes distances seem shorter. When he encounters a difficult time it is essential for him to talk about his frustrations which he cannot keep to himself.

He needs counsel and this is done by telephone. When he needs to talk there is the phone. When he is alone he needs the phone. He finds all excuses to pick up the handset!

Privacy pledge

The phone is also a very intimate way to communicate. The youth feels perfectly at ease to talk about topics that otherwise he would not dare tackle, even with his friends. What is sometimes exchanged on the phone is sometimes intimate or private and he uses the phone to talk about this because no one sees his blushing or fear on the phone when he talk about certain subjects. It is also a way of escapism from family life while still being comfortably at home.

What can you do to reduce bill?

Teenagers often talk more over the phone to their best friend than to their parents. This attitude often frustrates parents; on one hand because they want to know what is going on and on the other hand to reduce telephone bills.

If we cannot prevent teenagers from calling their friends we should set limits and rules. Everyone must be accountable and should talk over the phone with the time limits.

Another good way is to make the teenager help with cover some of the expenses and make him realise how much his telephone calls are being a burden on the family budget. This makes him realise this and will help him reduce the amount of time spent on the telephone.

Give children a mobile phone!

If nothing works, give him a phone with a card system. He must buy a card to use his phone (with his pocket money!). This is a good way of managing the cards consumption because once the card runs out he will not be able to call. This is effective, provided that you do not give in on the use of the family telephone once the card has run out!

You must be on the lookout because sometimes a teenager who spends too much time on the phone may be doing this to draw your attention about the lack of communication at home.

Sources:

http://www.drkutner.com/parenting/articles/telephone.html