Cell Phone Etiquette

When not at work, my cell phone is always on and with me. I am somewhat impulsive and often act before I think, so when my phone rings I usually answer it no matter where I am. I feel compelled to answer the phone because I am a mother and grandma and the phone call might be very important.

Yet I still try to exert some control over when and where I answer my phone. The bathroom stall is not an ideal place to answer the phone so I won’t. I am surprised how many people do answer their phone in the bathroom. Surely this is one rule we need to teach kids when they get their first cell phone. Do not answer your phone in the bathroom.

I read an article Teaching Kids Cell Phone Etiquette by Jan Faull, MEd. She outlined talking points for parents who want to teach their children cell phone etiquette. Her list included:

• Not in libraries, movies, elevators, museums, cemeteries, theaters, dentist or doctor waiting rooms, places of worship, auditoriums, hospital emergency rooms, or public transportation.
• Never during meetings or in restaurants.
• Never when shopping, banking, waiting in line, or when conducting other personal business.
• Never when driving.
• Never talking when less than 10 feet from others present.
• No annoying ring tones.

Oddly, public restrooms or bathrooms of any kind did not make her list. Maybe she intended them to be encompassed in her general phrase “never when conducting other personal business”.