Since when is the phone a bad thing?

When I was 11, all I wanted to do was talk to my friends on the phone. Lets face it, in the early 80s, there was no other way to communicate if you weren't in the same room. By the time I was 14, my parents agreed to let me have my own phone with my own phone number in my room. My 12 year old sister and I would share it! We were in heaven! My parents were happy because they could make and receive phone calls again without the main number to the house being busy all the time. 

Fast forward to 2014, my oldest daughter is 11. Her best friend didn't come to school yesterday and she was concerned. Here's our conversation this morning:

Me: "Did you find out why Lauren wasn't in school yesterday? Is she sick?"

Daughter: "Well, I texted and emailed her yesterday and didn't hear back from her, so I don't know what's up."

Me: "You should have called her house last night."

Daughter: "Are you kidding? You mean use the phone? No way!"

Me: "Do you not know how to use the phone?"

Daughter: "I don't want to call anyone on the phone, I'm not comfortable."

Me: "It's really easy, just dial her number and if she picks up start talking, if her mom answers the phone, just ask if you can please speak to Lauren or ask how she is."

It was a sad realization that kids are so used to texting, emailing, video chatting, and instant messaging, that they don't know how to communicate when they are in the same room with a person or need to talk over the phone. I've seen kids stand next to each other and text each other-OFTEN! As a communications professional, this saddens me beyond words. This is what our society has become. I'm thankful I was born when I was and learned how to SPEAK to people, even if it was on an 80s style push button phone.