{"id":1745,"date":"2018-03-01T05:15:52","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T05:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tagcounseling.com\/?p=1745"},"modified":"2018-03-01T05:15:52","modified_gmt":"2018-03-01T05:15:52","slug":"digital-etiquette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2hy.40f.mywebsitetransfer.com\/wp\/digital-etiquette\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Etiquette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Digit<\/p>\n

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Etiquette is a word people typically associate with formal events or something their grandparents would have lectured about. However, with the rise of digital devices etiquette needs to be discussed more openly – namely digital etiquette. Screenagers focused on this very issue – how we can better employ digital etiquette around others and how we can teach our children the same skills. For their tips, please read below:<\/p>\n

Our kids learn a lot about how to behave with other people by watching us. They see us listen instead of interrupt someone, smile at a cashier, embrace a friend. When we are often out in the social world with a cell phone in our hand, what are we teaching them about digital etiquette? For now, I am not talking about online interactions but rather person-to-person.<\/p>\n

Etiquette sounds so prim and proper. If I could clarify more, it would be \u201cnurturing relationships in the face of mobile technology.\u201d But that is a bit long. How do we respect and give undivided attention to the people we are with when dopamine pumps (i.e. smartphones, tablets, etc.) are in our hands? It\u2019s not easy, but I have some ideas to share.<\/p>\n

When Everyone Has a Phone But You Don\u2019t<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week I gave a talk for a school district in Coppell, Texas. A girl about 12-years-old came to the microphone during the Q and A and said, \u201cAt my middle school kids can use their phone. We only get one break, and that is lunch. Well, all my friends are on their phones. I don\u2019t have one, and I wish they would talk with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

My heart sank a bit but I smiled, and I asked her what she had tried. She didn\u2019t have an answer so we brainstormed some ideas including asking her friends if they could try to put their phones away perhaps one day a week or for a time at the end of lunch.<\/p>\n

I encourage parents to teach their children to put phones away when they are in a group of kids who do not have a phone. Maybe they won\u2019t do it, but they are hearing from us what we think is a kind thing to do.<\/p>\n

Give a Heads Up<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are with someone and you decide you need to check your phone, a digital etiquette I love is to say something like \u201cMy apologies, (or heads up), but I have to check my phone for a second.” Or, something like \u201cCan you excuse me, I just have to do this one thing quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years ago I worked with my family to establish this etiquette so that when we are out together and someone has to check their phone, which we try not to do, we would give a quick heads up beforehand. I had a strong motivation to do this because when someone would turn to a phone, I never knew if they were planning on disappearing into their phone or if it was just for a quick thing. Not knowing meant I often snapped at them\u2014and they didn\u2019t like when I did that\u2014and I didn’t like when I did that either.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014we are not some family in the Jane Eyre<\/em> novel constantly asking for permission, apologizing and sipping tea. We often don\u2019t give warnings, but we are all aware of it, and we try to.<\/p>\n

Keep Devices Off and Away for Meals<\/strong><\/p>\n

My family does not have devices out when we eat a meal together. The visual reminder of the device on the table can create pressure and desire to check messages and notifications and take our attention away from those right in front of us.<\/p>\n

I have made sure to teach my teens about the benefits of putting phones away when they are at a table eating with friends. For example, they know how the presence of a phone at the table increases the chances that conversations will be more superficial. So now when they are with their friends, they can joke around about that study and in a subtle way impart this knowledge to their friends. I am not sure of the outcome, but I hope that this all results in more phones off tables and in pockets.<\/p>\n

That said, a couple months ago my son told me that he and his friends had all put their phones in the middle of the table at dinner and if anyone checked their phone they would have to cover the bill. \u00a0He got this strategy from a teenager in Screenagers. \u00a0It was fun to know he put it into practice.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s invite your family or students to talk about digital etiquette. Digital etiquette continues to be a new landscape, and often kids see things that we don\u2019t consider. There can even be etiquette about sharing video game controllers. So many interactions happen around tech all the time. Here are some questions to get the conversation started:<\/p>\n