Parents, it is no secret that cell phones and technology are literally the backbone of our world today. As humans we desire to connect, and through technology, we have the ability to always be connected.
But as many of us have discovered, constant connectivity is not always such a wonderful thing.
In a recent testimonial from START (Stand Together And Rethink Technology) one mom shares the nightly struggle she found herself facing with her teenage daughter.
Allison says her 16-year-old daughter is like any other teen who deals with the ups and downs of a high school social life.
Last year, Allison and her husband got their daughter a cell phone for safety purposes. But it wasn’t long before the teen was using it for much more than that.
“She was staying up late at night texting and on social media, and the beautiful daughter I know and love was, quite frankly, becoming awful to live with,” Allison says.
After looking into the hours of late night phone use, the mother from Overland Park, Kansas, decided to start keeping her daughter’s phone at night.
“I honestly had no idea how much this decision would impact her,” Allison said. “After she blew up in anger, she began sobbing and puddled on the floor. As I held her, I just listened. Listened to all the worries and fears of fitting in and keeping up, but there was something even more alarming keeping her up at night…My daughter had been counseling another teen late at night who was suicidal. Her huge heart had been on high alert. She HAD to stay up and be available at all times ‘in case’ her friend needed her.”
By implementing a system that required her daughter’s phone to be “put to bed” at night, it opened up the floodgates for healthy communication.
