Has the ability to make a voice phone call become a lost life skill for teens? As automation has taken over so many of our daily interactions, have our teens become more anxious and stressed when it comes to making a call? Mary Jane Copp (aka the phone lady) thinks so, and she's decided to do something about it. She works with people to teach them the basics of how to make a call, without the stress and anxious feelings that sometimes go along with reaching for the phone. She works with people and groups to teach the basics of phone skills, covering everything from how to respond to questions when you don't know the answer through to what to say at the end of a call. But do Copp's experiences overseas align with Australian teens?
Let's explore the role phones and voice calls play in the lives of teens and young adults:
Are voice calls still important for today's teens?
In many instances, the answer is probably no. Automation has taken over many of the situation where previously we would have used the phone. It is now possible to order a meal, check how close a ride share car is to a location, register for an event and check who else is coming along, all without ever using a spoken word. During the last few years, Covid has meant our skills at scanning QR codes and operating remotely have become essential tools in our daily life toolkit. Smart phones are how many people pay for items and services, enter their details and share information in their social and business lives. Today's teens rarely need to make a call to do any of the tasks that only a few years ago would have seen them dialing a number and having a conversation.
Work calls are a great chance to connect with customers
But in the world of work, phone calls do still have an important role to play, alongside other important work skills like problem solving and teamwork. Employers still expect that staff are able to use their communication skills over the phone to conduct business, answer customer queries and share information clearly and accurately. This means being able to answer a call professionally and know what to say during the conversation. It also means using appropriate work vocabulary and knowing the difference between 'teen speak' and 'work speak.' Voice phone calls help businesses connect on a personal level with customers, leading to increases in sales and conversions and better customer retention over time. They can be a highly effective way of sharing information and clarifying issues, resulting in less business being lost to poor communication and misunderstandings.
So is all this automation good for teens?
Again, the answer is probably no. While automation has made daily transactions much easier and quicker to complete, it has come at a price. Teens don't need to talk to others for incidental or transactional conversations, so in many cases they simply don't. Unfortunately this removes opportunity to practice phone skills in low risk situations, with people who are not closely connected socially. People like the person who answers the phone in a pizza shop or takes the order for a movie ticket or gives information about what you can take into the grounds at a footy match. These are all people where there is no social connection, and the conversation would once have been all about the transaction. Teens did not have to be invested in the social outcome of these type of conversations, as the social aspect does not matter in the context of the call.
Teens use text or automated processes on their phone more than voice calls
Now teens do not have these low risk conversational opportunities in their daily lives, and the impact on their phone skills is clear. Many find it challenging to introduce themselves, ask for information, make a request or complaint or end a call. Without the low risk opportunities to practice these important life skills, teens find the higher risk conversations, where they are truly invested in the interaction with the other person, are so much harder to do. They are simply out of practice at understanding how different types of phone conversations work, and over time it becomes easier to simply avoid them all together. Many teens are now far more likely to text a friend to confirm an activity than they are to call them. They sometimes struggle when they are expected to answer a phone call at work or to take a message for someone who is not available.
So where to from here?
It is definitely way too late to put the genie back in the bottle - automation is here to stay, and the pathway forward needs to see our young people learning to balance their own skills alongside automation rather than competing with it. Being able to talk on the phone will still be important in the future, in social, community and work situations. Teens need to feel confident and capable when they reach for the phone to make a call. We can help them build their skills by offering lots of low risk opportunities to practice answering the phone, using a suitable greeting, closing a conversation and taking or leaving a message. We can also highlight the importance of communication skills by phone for planning community activities, asking for directions in the community, managing friendships and being organised.
Other options for easy wins on the phone include:
playing a game at the same time as being on a video or audio call with a friend
ringing a grandparent for a chat
making a list of conversation topics to use during a social call
displaying a poster in the classroom to explain how to answer a work call
ordering a meal with a voice call instead of online
working with a teacher or trainer to practice work conversations
having a notepad on the fridge for writing phone messages
setting up a phone schedule with older people in a retirement setting
Low risk situations are great way to build phone skills
It can be useful to chat with teens after they have practiced making a voice call to encourage them to reflect on the experience. Discuss how they feel before they make a call, but importantly also check how they feel afterwards. Although anxious feelings are often high before a call, they tend to decrease after a call. The satisfaction and contentment of making a call successfully can often stay with the young person long after they have put down the phone.
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