To Text or Not to Text...

The whole phenomenon of teen texting has us in a conundrum.  Ideally, or maybe idealistically, we would like to tell Caroline she absolutely can't have texting for all kinds of reasons, period, end of discussion.  But the big problem with that is that for her this is truly her "lifeline" to the world outside of her home, to friends on her lacrosse teams or the pool, or at whatever classes she might be taking.   Because she has so few social options at this point, her interactions with peers are limited to phone conversations and texting, primarily texting.  She has asked for a Facebook page but I don't know if we are ready to open up that can of worms now.  But then again Facebook allows us to see immediately and quite conveniently what she is posting and what others are posting on her page every day.  Texting is harder for us to follow, as messages can be erased quickly and it is harder for us to get her phone away from her to read everything.  This world of techno savvy teens can't just be ignored.  She will be electronically connected to people but we have to help her figure out how to do that and still maintain integrity and good judgement.  Our oldest daughter, while enormously trustworthy on many fronts, has even had some Facebook postings and pics that prompted our criticism, not always because of what she posted, but because of what other people who had lesser standards posted.   The pitfalls for a bipolar teen are even more abundant.  Sigh.  I wish we lived in a simpler world.  But then again we wouldn't have all of the medical resources we have right now, so I would still take the 21st century over another time.   We do know that we will not allow Caroline to have her cell phone in school next year.  The school is tiny and if there is an emergency, I know we can be reached. We just cannot risk another mania-inspired inappropriate text resulting in her getting the boot.  I am ready for the loud protestations.  Our youngest Mae will be under the same rules if and when she gets a phone.