How would you feel if you were in the middle of a conversation with someone and he or she pulled out a magazine and started reading it? You'd probably think it was rude. You'd probably be insulted. The person might as well have just said, "You are excruciatingly boring, so I'm going to do something else now."
But that's pretty much what you're doing when you check a text message on your phone while you're in the middle of a conversation.
One of the ways the world has changed is that we're constantly
exchanging information. If you're a teenager, you're getting bombarded
with messages in multiple formats throughout the day. So you're constantly
having to make a choice. Which is more important–what you're doing
right now, or stopping what you're doing to read and respond to that message?
The choice you make in each situation says a lot about you.
When a student types a text message during one of our
meetings, we let him know that's not OK. Turn the phone off
until we're done here. Your college applications are more important
than that text message. And I think we've got an obligation to teach kids that teachers, professors and bosses interviewing them for jobs someday won't like it either. We work with mostly good kids, so thankfully, we don't have to say that very often.
But I'll let you in on a secret–we know who's likely to do it before it ever happens.
The engaged kids who are excited about college and really seem to want our help aren't on their phones during our meetings. They're too busy talking about colleges, asking questions and making sure they understand their next steps. But the kid who always looks a little bored, who treats his college process like a chore other people are making him do, that's your likely text-er, right there.
One of the nice things about the information age is that it's easy to give someone a gift–undivided attention. If you're talking with someone you like and respect, put the phone away for two minutes. It's a gift that doesn't cost you anything and you'll get all kinds of subtle credit for doing it.
The text messages will be there when you get back. I promise.