I was going to place this entry under the category of American Culture. Then I thought it happens not just in America but in China, too. It is not the matter of culture but one of parenting.

I read a piece of news on 4/8/09 on the wonder of new technology or the abuse of this wonder. A 13-year-old Wyoming girl sent 10,000 text messages and received about the same — all while her family’s cell phone plan did not include texting, thus costing her parents $4,756.25 in one month!

She did most of the texting at school, in class, causing her grades plunging from A & B to solid F . “Hours after the enormous bill arrived,” the dad finished her daughter’s cell phone with a hammer. Action surely speaks louder than any of the 10K messages. So much for the texting.

Upon learning this, the words that immediately rushed to my head were abuse, extravagance, spoiled teenager, no self-control and responsibility, of course, the act itself being the highest level of stupidity. The dad is very wise in his hammer reaction. He would be wiser if he could be pro-active. Obviously he showed a lack of wisdom when he trusted his daughter’s discretion. Boy, he must be really mad. Who wouldn’t? Still, never too late to fix the fence.

When the 10-year-old nephew was here with me, he asked for a cell phone, saying he had one in China and all his classmates had it. He only gets my phone number. To be sure, we all love our children, even to the point of yielding to their demand, reasonable or not. My son got his cell phone during his 4th year of high school, more because he started driving on his own. My daughter has been asking for it but has not been given one so far, even though I know most of her classmates have cell phones.

Alas, let other parents spoil their children and let other kids happily texting, I cannot afford this luxury and I will not allow mine to go that path. The damage is too great to ignore — not just financial damage but also this — those stupid gossip texting takes away their precious time from their study. When precious time is thus wasted and seeing their grades loudly thump, oh, it hurts so much! Yes, I care and so should any responsible parents. Not a laughing matter!