When I was in my early twenties, I had a pager. It was all the rage.
We had fancy little codes to say “I love you.” If someone paged you, you would have to then scrounge up some change and hunt for a payphone. When my kids saw a payphone a few years ago, they wondered what it was.
The good old days.
And then, a year or two later, I got my first cell phone. Still in my early twenties!
And these days? Well, the times, they are a changing.
Sample a group of 12-year-olds and see how many have their own cell phone.
Smart phone.
Tablet.
Instant access to anyone and everything in the world.
Right in their back pocket.
And something like this is right for a million reasons.
While it means they can text their friends at any hour of the day, instead of the dread of having to pass through (gasp) the house phone and having a parent answer, it also means my son can text me when he needs to be picked up from somewhere. Or if there is a problem. It has saved us from a sticky situation more than once. But it’s also used for research while doing school projects. And as a learning tool.
I will be the first to admit that my son got his first cell phone far earlier than I had planned.
The Ex and I were separated, and Nick was going to Boy Scout summer camp for a week for the first time. And although he was with some kids from his troop, he was boarding a bus with many other troops that I didn’t know, and traveling some 45-minutes away.
And he would be gone from the early hours of the morning until the end of the day.
I put him on the bus that first day and then promptly freaked out.
What if the bus broke down?
What if they were hiking and got lost in the woods?
What if he got hurt and couldn’t find his counselor?
So many what ifs.
I spent my lunch time visiting the store to get him a pre-paid phone. And that was when it all began.
The few dollars I paid was worth every bit of the peace of mind it gave me. And since then, of course, his phone has changed over the years, technology has advanced, and despite my misgivings about him getting a phone so early, I don’t regret it one bit. I feel a million times better knowing that he is just a text or call away.
And I always smile when I see his picture on my phone when he’s calling. …