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Phone use
Arranging dates, gossiping about school and sharing best friends’ triumphs and tragedies is the heart of the preteen's social life. "Parents need to understand that the telephone is the adolescent's lifeline, the way he or she keeps in touch," says Steinberg.
However, if you have a very large family or several adolescents vying for phone time, this can be an endless battle. Setting specified time limits or phone schedules may alleviate some of the problem, as will installing a second phone line. Call waiting is another option and is available from most phone companies. So long as homework and chores are finished and kids aren't neglecting anything of importance, phone usage is usually not a big issue. Surely, allowing no phone calls through the dinner hour and late at night are reasonable policies to enforce from the start.
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