Nick VinZant, Your Kids

Recent studies show that children are increasingly communicating through text messages -- some sending as many as 18,000 a year.

A text message seems like a pretty harmless way to communicate, but licensed mental health counselor James West says communicating through a keyboard isn't always the way to go -- especially for parents.

"They are avoiding their parents often times by allowing the call to go to voicemall and then texting their parents," West said.

West said other reasons a child may avoid answering and just text is because they may be somewhere they aren't supposed to be, or because they want to avoid conflict. Either way, West, who has counseled children for some time, said texting creates more communication issues than just poor grammer.

"It can actually affect them socially because they are not having real dialogue, they are shortening down their  messages. They are not talking with someone. It's not an actual conversation," West said.

So if the texts just keep coming, what can parents do?

First, know the problem is not limited to your child. The average child sends as many as 18,000 texts a year.

Second, when you get on the phone, keep calling until you hear your child's voice, and if that doesn't work take the third step.

"They need to tell their kids if they want to keep their cell phone, they need to answer the phone and talk with their parents," West said.

West went on to say that text messages between parents and chilren aren't always bad -- just that it can become a problem if they are the only way families communicate.

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