After reading Rachel Campbell’s article, “Teenage Girls and Cellular Phones: Discourse of Independence, Safety, and ‘Rebellion’,” I began to reflect on my own personal use of the mobile telephone and the meaning the mobile telephone has in my life.
Campbell mentions, “cell phones : The electronic fun leash for teens… Parents envision it as an expansion of their protective eye. Can’t locate the wandering teen? Just dial. But teenagers see the cell phone as a gift of freedom, a device that instantly connects them to their friends, parties and latest gossip” (196). I complete agree with this statement. Why?
I received my mobile telephone from my mother at the age of 16 as a security measure because this is the age I was allowed to drive by myself. I am a younger person of my class, and was one of the last people to obtain my driver’s license. It was normal in my high school for a teen to receive a mobile telephone along with the privileges of driving. Mobile telephones were considered “cool,” and if you did not have one, you were out of the loop when it came to knowing about social functions. This was mentioned in Campbell’s article when she states, “the cellular phone is desirable because it is cool and exciting” (202). Therefore, I was excited about being able to drive because I thought with driving comes the freedom of going to places I wanted to go and seeing who I wanted to see when I wanted all planned through the use of the mobile telephone. This was all true to an extent.
My mother intended the use of my mobile telephone to be a safety and security measure, but at the same time as way to keep up with her daughter’s approaching freedom. Little did my mother know how the mobile telephone would become more than a security measure…
I never thought of the mobile telephone as being a “digital leash,” something that was mentioned in one of our readings for class and in Campbell’s article. Now that I think about it, my mother gave me the mobile telephone as a way to keep up with my busy schedule and be nosy.
Shortly after receiving my mobile telephone, my mother made rules such as call me to let me know your plans, and let me know when you are leaving. This seem like a fair thing at first, but then it developed into situations of wanting to know where I was going and who I was with, and if my mother did not approve she demanded for my return home. There were numerous times I would try to get around my mother’s questions, but would somehow become busted, which equaled zero fun, but no need to know that much! At least after reading Campbell’s article, I am glad to know I am not the only one who did this, but thanks to Campbell, I know it was my “assertion of independence” (206).
Now that I am in college and far away, I have become more dependent on my cell phone, more than I was in high school. My mobile telephone still acts as a “digital leash” for my mother from time to time, but my mother is slowly realizing I am becoming my own person who does not need to be stalked. I do believe my mobile telephone is a way to keep connected with my social network both at home and at school. I do believe my mobile phone is a device of freedom because I can choose to do what I want with it. Unlike my younger years, I do not consider the mobile telephone as a symbol being cool.
If you are interested in how cell phones impact teens here are two interesting articles to consider: Cell Phone Addiction In Teens- The New Smoking? and She's Gotta Have It
1 comment:
I believe it is freedom. I got my phone when I was in high school as my parents would be late in picking me up and I didn't have a bus. So I would need to be by myself for about an hour. If I had something or something came up I had no way of informing them I would stay late or when I was done something (the school closed and locked down so no way to use an office phone). So a phone was a must for both of us. Of course they asked me to tell them things like where I was and such but I could easily say I was out with x and y doing whatever and even if I wasnt my parents would be hard pressed to actually know that. And because I had a phone that was enough because I could call if something came up.
I think parents see it as a way to parent without actually being there. They can give a phone and then just say "Call me" and not have to actually care about what they were doing. That is how my girlfriend's parents work. She is 16 and I'm not really that much older. So they are worried when we go out together somewhere (I have a car). But they say "call me when you leave x" and we just run off. They have little control other than us saying what we are doing. Seems like less control over us than more.
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