The topic of confiscating cell phones at youth activities has been on my mind and heart a lot lately. Especially this morning… because when I woke up, I had no cell phone coverage. I had a Dr AP this morning at an office I had never been to before. I drove around for an hour trying to remember how to get to my Dr. I had no -luck. This situation made me think about a situation at hand that involves my 2 girls. I am not sure any of you are aware, but I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am a huge rule follower and not a rule breaker. If it says something in the handbook then I follow it. If it is against the standards that the Lord sets then I won’t do it. Why? Because I believe that this is God’s true church. I also believe that God does speak to a prophet. This prophet then speaks for the Lord. So, if the Prophet says it then I obey. You’ll notice that I say the Prophet. One thing I will not do is follow rules based purely on opinions. I also don’t believe in adding unnecessary rules in my own home. It’s hard enough to follow the commandments. Plus, the standards that the Lord sets without making more. Now, I am not saying that I am perfect at all these things, I am just saying that I will follow the prophet. So the issue that is at hand is that my girls are supposed to be going to Young Women Girls Camp. I am a huge supporter of this. The girls meet and make new friends in a good environment. This also helps them to grow closer to Jesus Christ and how to make new friends or to bond with ones they already have. Now I have never been an outdoor kind of gal. Personally don’t like bugs, feeling dirty, outhouses, and questionable utilities. I also don’t like lakes that I can’t see into. LOL 🙂 My girls LOVE it. A couple of weeks ago we had a girls’ camp kick-off. My girls were not allowed to attend unless I went to the beginning meeting. I thought that was kind of weird…. but whatever. We went and stood in a dirty little barn while they told us what the plan was for the upcoming Girls’ camp. I didn’t appreciate how they presented it but that wasn’t my main concern. My main concern was the cell phone rule! I immediately looked at my husband and we both knew what the other was thinking. It was too far. The rule was absolutely NO cell phones. If they bring one, then they must give it to an assigned leader and then get permission to use it. I immediately thought what happens if they can’t get a hold of me? What if they get sick and they can’t call me?! What if something bad happens and I don’t know where they are? Then I was immediately thinking about pictures, videos, and the gospel library. Because cell phones are all these things, right? They are my Scripture, Family History, GPS, Planner, Journal, Camera, etc. I raised my hand and made a scene. I was like how they take pictures…. they said oh we will be documenting. I was like well that sounds lame. I hate pics taken by other people that mean nothing to me. Some of the best pictures are taken in your cabin. Afterward, my husband and I went up to the leaders and expressed our concerns. They claimed it was because that if some girl was bearing her testimony. Then someone videotaped her crying and posted it on social media. It would be bad. This is why they can’t have them. I was like you can do the same thing with a digital camera. They said, “Well I guess there is always a way to get around the rules”. They also claimed that it would help them to be more spiritually minded…. I’m sorry but taking away a child’s phone will not change their mindset. I promise this will not make a difference in the slightest. They must want to listen. This is just too far for me. Why is it that sometimes we focus on the negative things about cell phones…. instead of realizing the blessings that come from them? So today as I was driving home with NO cell service, NO internet, and NO GPS my mind wandered back to this situation. With NO cell phone, I felt lost, scared, and uncomfortable. Not because I wanted to get on and do something inappropriate. It was because it had the tools I needed to get around and achieve my goals. Even earlier this morning I used my cell to listen to my scriptures. What would happen if we were having an adult version of camp? What if we as adults were made to put out phones in the care of a leader? They told us that they were taking our phones from us because we weren’t allowed to take photos of people. They also said that we weren’t allowed to post our photos on social media. What if they also went on to tell us that it was for our own spirituality? That they were doing it to keep us safe and to help us draw closer to our Savior. I can promise you that none of us would do it. We would leave the camp and let them know that they were controlling us. That they had gone too far. We would also let them know that they are taking away our agency. The same goes for the youth of the church. We are to teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves. Sometimes we forget that Satan planned to make us all good so that we could live with God. He would make sure that we all made it back to our Savior. This was the opposite of Christ’s plan. I mean it sounds good and safe, but it is not. It would be controlling NOT loving. We would all be miserable. I also thought about FSY and how wonderful of an experience this is. When you sign a Youth up for FSY it asks if you permit your child as their parent to let them have their cell phone. Of course, I allow it or I would not have bought them one. This brought up parental rights thoughts to me as well. What right does a leader have to take away my child’s cell phone? If I have given my child one and have allowed them to carry it around? So, by taking my child’s cell phone, you are claiming that you know what is best for my child. I am not saying that we do not take precautions with our child’s phone. I know that the internet has some awful stuff on there. I have things on my children’s phones that let me see everything they have been on and done. It tells me where they are always and how long they spent on each app etc. But very rarely do I have to look at history. I only look when I know something is not right and then they get into trouble. But that is my parental right. I have no problem if you want them to leave them in their bunks during lessons to maintain some control. However, I do not think that leaders should have the right to override a parent. Absolutely not! Will my girls be going to Girl’s camp, probably but this still does not resolve the issue that is at hand.