Seriously!!! PUT DOWN THE PHONE!

I've never had too much of an issue with my kids phone usage and I guess I never really paid much attention to how much time they spent on them, until recently. My daughter is dating (scary I know) and I noticed that every time he boy friend is over she not only is on her phone, but his as well and visa versa. They play games, facebook, and do all the other things teens do on their phones. I would say they maybe spend ten minutes all together with actual conversation. What's with that? When I was dating her father we would spend hours together (phone-less) and then we would talk for at least another hour on the phone at night. When I say talk I mean with actual words!

The other thing I notice is when teen girls spend the night they do the same thing. 5 girls, one room, all of them on their phones. What's the point? That would have been like me spending the night at my friends house and talking to someone else on the phone all night...RUDE! We would stay up late, watch tv, steal parents beer, and play games. Okay, so I'm glad no one's stealing my beer, but still.

PUT DOWN THE PHONE!!!!

I often wonder if these kids who claim to be BFF's (Best friends forever) can even tell me the color of their friends eyes without looking at a profile picture on facebook (Because yes, they take pictures of just their eyes. I don't get it, but it's better than boobs).

Sometimes I think the only time Sara uses her voice is to yell at me. I love to talk. I talk way to much about anything I think of. I sometimes think I have ADHD. How did I raise kids with no communication skills outside of pushing buttons on a phone or keyboard?

Parents we need to start a revolution against this travesty against speech. I'm thinking of putting a box by my front door to have all phones deposited in upon arrival. How do you think that would go over? I bet Sara would find her voice real quick in protest. Or maybe that's the answer a vocal communication class in school that teaches things like: Hello, how are you. What's your sign. Do you want to hang out? ETC ETC.

Who's with me? Do you have any ideas to teach kids to uses their voises instead of fingers and to learn to speak to one another?