WORKFAM_Texting

Maryland - September 06, 2015: Clockwise from right, Amy Kassoff Smith, her husband Mitch Smith, and their sons Noah Smith, 13, and Max Smith, 16, have a no phones at the table policy, but normally use text messaging to communicate while occupying different parts of their home.
Too much screen time puts a dent in family togetherness. One form of digital communication can actually improve communication between parents and teens, however: the text message. More parents are texting teens when they’re at home together, calling them to dinner from upstairs bedrooms or texting reminders or love notes. Many are finding to their surprise that texting actually improves parent-child communication, enabling teens to dial down volatile emotions and say how they feel more clearly. Parents say texting helps them understand their teens better and cuts down on yelling. Texting shouldn’t replace tough conversations about difficult issues, but it can help by giving adolescents alternative ways to communicate, experts say.

CREDIT: Matt Roth for The Wall Street Journal

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Filename: 150906_Texting_Family_045.jpg
Copyright: 2015, Matt Roth
Image Size: 7360x4912 / 8.2MB; mattrothphoto.com; 2015 Maryland communication digital communication dinner time family family togetherness house iphone modern no phone zone smart phone technology texting working
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Maryland - September 06, 2015: Clockwise from right, Amy Kassoff Smith, her husband Mitch Smith, and their sons Noah Smith, 13, and Max Smith, 16, have a no phones at the table policy, but normally use text messaging to communicate while occupying different parts of their home.<br />
Too much screen time puts a dent in family togetherness. One form of digital communication can actually improve communication between parents and teens, however: the text message. More parents are texting teens when they’re at home together, calling them to dinner from upstairs bedrooms or texting reminders or love notes. Many are finding to their surprise that texting actually improves parent-child communication, enabling teens to dial down volatile emotions and say how they feel more clearly. Parents say texting helps them understand their teens better and cuts down on yelling. Texting shouldn’t replace tough conversations about difficult issues, but it can help by giving adolescents alternative ways to communicate, experts say.<br />
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CREDIT: Matt Roth for The Wall Street Journal