I know a nurse who is the single mother of three children – a nice woman with a big heart and the brashness of being born and bred in New Jersey.

There was a teenage girl sitting in the waiting room of her office – with her feet up on a sofa, a sour puss and lots of whining going on while she was glued to her phone oblivious to those around her.

My friend said that when her kids abused their phones and used them for the wrong purposes or withdrew from social interaction, she would call Verizon and shut their phones off.

I was shocked.  I said, “You didn’t?”.  She said, “Yes I did”.

And the repercussions were crying and more crying until her teens decided that they were going to observe and keep their mother’s rules at which point their Verizon accounts were switched back on.  (Yes, this has happened on and off for many of their teen years).

It’s not kids alone who are abusing their phones but parents who refuse to parent and enforce some guidelines.

That’s great for kids, but what about adults who are far more abusive in digging their phones out of their pockets and handbags.

That’s when we must come up big.

Either give me the same 100% focus you give your cellphone or else, move on and leave them to the lonely world of their own devices.

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