Teens happier when without their phones?

I’ll never forget the moment I heard my then-teenage daughter get so upset after discovering her cellphone had been left behind after a family vacation.

We were 90 minutes into a 10-hour drive home, and my precious wanted me to turn around right now to retrieve her phone.

I said nope. We could arrange for someone to mail the phone to our home. It’d get there in a couple days. Not good enough, she said, as I continued driving and the arguing got louder. I finally caved, with pressure from my wife, and good old grumpy Gus turned the car around and headed back to the family cottage.

My daughter was pleased. I was steamed.

My wife, on the other hand, calmly reminded me to pick my battles and keep the peace because we had some driving time to make up.

So forgive me if I take some findings of a recent survey on teens and cellphones with a supersized grain of salt.

The new report from the Pew Research Center found — among other things — that nearly 75% of the teens surveyed said they feel happy or peaceful when they don’t have their cellphones with them.

Most of the nearly 1,500 teens surveyed said smartphones make it easier to be creative and pursue hobbies, while nearly half said smartphones help them do well in school.

In addition, most of the teens said the benefits of having a smartphone outweigh the harms.

However, the survey noted that 42% of the teens said smartphones make learning good social skills harder, while 30% said it makes it easier.

The survey skimmed the surface when it came to addressing cellphone happiness from a financial perspective rather than a socializing one.

In other words, who pays for the phone: parents, their teens or a combination of both?

And what is an appropriate age to slide the bill across the kitchen table to your high school or college-age kid?

I’m sure a lot of teens would be happy or feeling peaceful about not having their cellphone 24/7 if there weren’t financial strings attached.

According to a separate survey of adults by Bankrate.com, the average age that people think you should pay for your own phone is 20.

Boomers gave a slightly younger average age estimate (19), while members of Generation Z settled on age 21.

“It’s an individual decision that will vary from family to family,” said Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst with Bankrate.com.

What’s most important, he added, is for parents to “be clear about their intentions.”

By that he means “providing a glide path, as in giving them notice. Tell your child you’re going to stop paying their cellphone bill in six months or a year. Give them time to plan ahead and adjust.”

If it’s cheaper to stick together on a family plan, as is often the case, Rossman suggests telling the kids “you want them to start footing the bill by a certain age.”

You can even put your thoughts in writing, such as making up a “family contract.”

I have a 5-year-old granddaughter who is already somewhat accomplished at swiping the cellphone screen. I know it won’t be too many years before she’ll want a phone.

No doubt I’ll get another chance to test my happiness theories.