Part 4/10:
Many students describe their discomfort with phone calls as a reflection of cultural shifts. A 16-year-old mentions that her generation has normalized texting, so receiving a call often signals an emergency, making them feel more in control when communicating via text. A 17-year-old adds that she prefers avoiding calls simply because they feel overly formal and unfamiliar, having grown up in a world where chatting through messages is the default.
The phenomenon isn’t limited to teenagers. Some adults acknowledge their own childhood fears of phone calls but have managed to outgrow them through necessity. Others recount friends who couldn’t even order pizza over the phone until their 30s, illustrating how pervasive this anxiety is.