Telephone Etiquette For Kids

Everybody has a different idea about what the proper etiquette is for children and telephones, and as a parent it is your job to teach your child the proper etiquette for using the telephone. Luckily even with the various ideas around about proper telephone etiquette for kids, this job is not as hard as it seems. By simply following a few common rules and using common sense and good manners, you can teach your child the important skill of using the telephone. And the best thing is that these skills are going to be used for the rest of their life, which is one of the reasons why it is so important to teach your child proper telephone etiquette.

Here are some basic rules on telephone etiquette for kids.

Rule one:
The first rule of thumb for proper telephone etiquette is to always use good manners. Children should never answer the phone saying things like “Who is this” or “What”. Rather they should be taught to answer the phone with a simple “Hello” and after the person responds they should kindly ask “Who is this please” or “May I ask who is calling”. Remember the best way to teach your children good manners for the phone is to set a good example.

Rule two:
Children should always be taught about when it is okay to call somebody. You should never allow your children to make or accept calls during dinner or other family meal times. You should also teach your child about not making telephone calls after a certain time.

Rule three:
Another important thing involving telephone etiquette is to never allow your children to call other parents’ cell phones if their friends are not at home. Nobody wants to answer their cell phone to find out that it is a friend calling for help on an XBox game or something else that you might consider trivial.

Rule four:
Another thing that you need to be concerned about when it comes to proper telephone etiquette is to teach your child about 911. You want to be sure that your child is fully aware of the emergency number and how to use it, but you also want to make sure that it is not a number to be dialed for no reason. You also want to explain to your child if they do accidentally dial 911 that the worst thing they can do is hang up because the operators have to call back to ensure that everything is fine, which can end up preventing people who have a real emergency getting through to an operator as fast as possible.

Rule five:
Your child should also be taught what kind of information, if any, should be given out to the person who is on the other end of the telephone. If it is a stranger calling, you do not want to have your child give out any information; rather you should teach them to tell strangers that you are busy at the moment and could they please take a message or something similar to that. And even if it is a person that they know, there is certain information that is not intended to be shared with anybody, such as “My mom is wiping my brother’s bottom can she call you back?” Simply teach your child to say “My mom is busy can she call you back?”

Rule six:
Another thing that you need to remember is to not allow children to answer the phone unsupervised if they are not old enough to take a message. Following this will help to ensure that all messages are being delivered and that you don’t miss an important phone call.

But just remember that the best way to teach your child proper telephone etiquette is to allow them to practice their skills as much as possible, but preferably on family members rather than business calls.