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When my last cell phone statement revealed that my 12-going-on-18-year-old daughter had run up nearly $20 in unallotted texting charges, I immediately phoned my wireless company and canceled her texting privileges.

I was at work several hours later when my daughter, who's in California with her mother for most of the summer, called on her cell phone with an impassioned plea to restart her texting service because it was the only possible way she could reach her friends.

"Not until you cover the $20."

"Oh, wow, $20!"

To which I responded, "End of conversation," and hung up.

Our father-daughter exchange triggered a lively follow-up conversation among my colleagues in the newsroom, some of whom said I should just bite the texting bullet and get my daughter the unlimited monthly plan for an additional $10. This would be on top of the $10 a month I'm already paying for her unlimited in-network and 500 out-of-network messages.

"It's the same as when we were teenagers and wanted to use the phone all the time," one colleague said. "It's just part of their generation. Accept it."

Nah-ah. First of all, no one in my parents' home, including my two sisters, would have dreamed of using the phone as a form of idle entertainment with friends. (That was the exclusive prerogative of our mother.)

Secondly, I am opposed to any argument that smacks of "generational relativism." By that, I mean the notion among many baby boomers that there is an ever-widening generation gap that excuses every succeeding generation from time-tested standards of behavior, discipline and health.

Generational relativism accounts for school lunch programs these days that offer mostly greasy finger foods and fast food knock-offs. Why? Because this generation, the argument goes, has different tastes and won't eat decent home-cooked meals. Yes, I know, kids will just throw good food into the garbage. But I'll bet if you eliminated all access to sodas, snack foods and sweets (as our own mothers would have) throughout the school day, you might just see less food being discarded.

Generational relativism feeds into our corporate-driven consumer lifestyle. Today's generational norms dictate that parents fork out hundreds of dollars for their kids on whatever brand-name clothing items have been the most successfully marketed to their peers, hundreds more just for prom night attire and accessories, and perhaps thousands of dollars per year on a full array of electronic "necessities," from personal computers to cell phones to iPods to video games, starting at about age 2.

After all, you wouldn't want little Jason or Ashley to lag behind his/her peers and end up on the wrong side of the digital divide, would you, Mom and Dad?

What kids need, and really want, from their parents hasn't changed with the generations. They need time, attention, sensible limits, healthful nutrition and the ability to entertain themselves and their friends without the crutch of electronic toys — like text messaging.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2437 or jdebrosse@DaytonDaily News.com.