Cell Phone Dos and Donts For Teens!

There are certain things people just shouldn't do with cell phones! Like talking in the grocery store line while trying to pay for your groceries, talking in church (like nobody will notice!), talking while driving and eating and talking to the people in the car or talking in the middle of class!

Hey - I love my cell phone as much as anybody else, but people are starting to go overboard! You can't have a conversation with a person before their cell phone rings and then they get text messages and then they have to surf the web and then their voice mail goes off because the phone was too busy to receive any actual calls. Come on! Enough is enough.

And, in that spirit, following is an official lists of Cell Phone Do's and Don't's (please don't take this list personally - but if you do, then you know that problem applies to you!):

Don't:

1. Talk on your cell phone at church

2. Talk on your cell phone in class (you're disturbing us, too!)

3. Talk about your mother when there are mothers around you.

4. Talk about your kids when there are kids around you.

5. Talk and eat.

6. Talk when there is a home phone less than 1 foot away from you.

7. Talk on the bus at the top of your lungs (we all have to ride with you at least a few more stops - have pity on us!)

8. Talk to your old boyfriend when your new boyfriend is around.

9. Talk to your old girlfriend when your new girlfriend is around.

10. Talk to your parents and then pretend to lose the connection so you don't have to talk to them anymore!

Do:

1. Text message whenever possible.

2. Learn how to text message with normal capitalization - not ALL CAPS.

3. Surf the web on your own time - not in the middle of a conversation.

4. Turn your cell phone to silent/vibrate when you are in church.

5. Turn your cell phone off when you are at the movies (or at least don't check the messages - we can all see that screen light up!).

6. Figure out how to turn your cell phone to silent/vibrate (nobody wants to hear 'My Boo' or 'Drop it Like It's Hot' because you can't operate your phone).

7. Ask people if they want their picture taken.

8. Show people the pictures you took - don't post them as your wallpaper because they look so 'crazy'.

9. Offer your cell phone to people who are lost, whose car is broken down or who need you to call their cell phone so they can locate.

10. Transfer your phone book to your new phone - stop calling everybody every time you get a new phone because their phone number is in the 'old' phone.

Help your teenager practice good cell phone etiquette today and make the world a better place!

Sonya C. Triggs is a contributing author to Urban Christianz Ministries. Visit this website to get more great articles and advice for Christian teens!