Kids, Teens, and the Phone: Creative Solutions for Your Family

I am always amazed and impressed by the creative solutions that parents and families come up with to solve problems.

This creative and elegant solution came from a family I once worked with.

Their son had his own phone and an answering machine, which they provided. They decided that whenever their son would violate his phone privileges, he would put the following on his answering machine or mobile phone that would say, “Hey, this is John. I’ve violated my phone privileges and I can’t talk to you today. So leave a message and I’ll talk to you tomorrow at school.”

This works so well that they only had to use it twice.

Another family created the solution

Another family learned only to stop calls at a certain hour of the night. After that time, no non-emergency calls to their child will be accepted. They define an emergency as something that will cause imminent physical or emotional harm.

If you’ve tried these solutions and they didn’t work, or you said to yourself, “This will never work for my family!” It could indicate a problem that requires professional help.

Some people may see the phone as a small problem. But I think it’s important to manage a small problem well. It’s good practice for the larger issues that may lie ahead.