Teens and love are not new, but the combination of teens texting and love can present confounding problems for parents.
The problem can become especially difficult when teens cross the line into obsession in their relationships.
Patrick Lynch is a senior at St. Petersburg High School and says his parents have established boundaries for his phone use to prevent relationship problems.
“If it interferes with the normal process of my day such as during the school day, during sleep hours, during homework time, if it’s something that I’m getting texts so often that I can’t get the things done that I need to get done,” said Lynch.
Family therapist Robin Campbell is the President of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Florida Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.
She says parents should be aware of obsessive relationships with their teens.
“If they are spending the majority of their time texting this person or responding to their texts or afraid they’ve missed a call, you may start considering there is too much connection, too much involvement at that point,” said Campbell.
She advises parents to open the lines of communication about relationships at an early state with their children.
“I think it goes even back before that and developing the relationship with your teens before it gets to this point, where you have open dialog and have created that relationship,” said Campbell.
Toni Hoge is a school councilor in Pinellas County and teaches elementary students about internet and textng issues.
She also advises parents of danger signs to look out for in relationships that cross the line into obsession.
“If the teen is no longer spending time with other friends, they’ve been isolated from that, they spend all of their time with this person as opposed to some times with friends, some times with family, they’re always on their phone with them, school work is being neglected,” said Hoge.
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