Middle schoolers need land-line lessons

DEAR AMY: I am a secretary at your average middle school. The other secretary and I have noticed an alarming trend: Children of the cell phone generation do not know how to use a land line phone! Students are not allowed to use their cell phones during school hours, but they are permitted to use the office phones to call home. This is what we have witnessed and are concerned about: They do not pick up the receiver before dialing the number. They do not listen for a dial tone (most don't even know what the term "dial tone" means). They do not know to dial 1 before the area code and number. They do not know their home number or the number of a parent's cell phone (because they are used to speed-dialing it from their cell phone). It is essential that parents review this with their children. There are times when their cell phone may not work, or be available, and they may have to rely on a regular phone to reach their parents.

--School Secretary

DEAR SECRETARY: I possess and use a rotary phone. There, I said it.

And if you think using a "regular" phone confuses kids, you should see the face of a typical middle schooler when faced with the mysteries of a rotary dial.

App that! I very much appreciate your cautionary suggestion, and so, parents, take a break from the other challenging parenting issues you face, i.e. the "sex talk," the "drug talk" the "online predators" talk - and show your kids how to use a land line phone, for heck's sake.

Most important, make sure the kids know and memorize all the family phone numbers to the extent that they can rattle them off in their sleep. This is vital.

After this lesson in "old school" technology, you can bring out your old typewriter and introduce them to the mysteries of the Selectric: Kids! It's a keyboard and a printer rolled into one!