By Pres Harris
Your heart rate increases. You’ve just received a new text message, hoping it came from that special someone or even a friend. The message is lit up and you open it. Disappointingly, your parents are wondering where you are.
Whether they are limited to the “where are you?” text, or if they are prone to long conversations, there is no denying that parents text their kids. Unfortunately for parents, their texting habits may be viewed as awkward and unorthodox.
“…it’s weird” said Jarvis Cleveland, Div. 274. “I don’t like having long conversations with [my mom].”
In light of the conversation being “weird,” Cleveland refuses to use common texting lingo with his mother.
“I don’t send her any ‘LOL’s’ even if it is funny” Cleveland said. “I basically text her to find out what we’re eating.”
While Cleveland refuses to use “LOL”, Tyler Smith, Div.568, receives “LOL’s” from his parents regularly.
“They text me ‘LOL’ and they laugh at their own jokes” Smith said. “They tell stupid knock-knock jokes!”
Along with knock-knock jokes, it can also be amusing to see an older person who is very technologically savvy, or so they think. N’deyiah Corneh, Div. 576, commented on her mother’s texting mishaps.
“I spell out all my words. She, on the other hand, thinks she knows acronyms and texting lingo so she abbreviates every other word; it’s irritating,” Corneh said, “She abbreviates ‘love’ with ‘lv’- nobody does that.”
Although technology is progressing, not every parent is accustomed to texting. Simon Negash, Div. 556, regrets helping his parents become more familiar with their phones.
“They never knew how to text, I taught them how to text, and now they want to text all the time.” Negash said. “They text me and when I don’t text back, they constantly text me…they know where I am.”
Negash’s parents even use nicknames when addressing him.
“They try to act like they’re cool,” Negash said. “They text me like ‘hey buddy’, and I’m like ‘what?!’”
Nina Hudson, Div. 473, is addressed by her father in a similar fashion.
“To start off the conversation, he texted me and said ‘what’s up bootsy loosey’,” Hudson said, “I was like ‘I can’t find my iPod’ and he was like ‘you’re [out of luck]. Lmao I’m tweakin right now’.”
Hudson sternly added that she “didn’t want to talk to him.”
While some find it unpleasant, not everyone finds texting their parents bothersome. According to Colin Winkelman, Div. 285, texting his dad is similar to texting his friends.
“He’ll text me and be like ‘what’s up dawg,’” Winkelman said, “I text him like I text the rest of my bros.”
For some students, texting their parents is no big deal. But for others, spending time “LOL”-ing at their parent’s messages could easily pass as a hobby.
