A UK college has begun offering lessons on how to make phone calls to support young students with "telephobia", the fear of placing or receiving phone calls.
Nottingham College is offering students sessions on how to make phone calls and other tips on phone etiquette to help them gain more confidence in their ability to engage in phone calls, reported BBC.
Young people today "simply don't have the confidence" to engage in formal phone conversations, Liz Baxter, a careers advisor at the college, told the outlet.
"Phone anxiety is something we come across regularly," Baxter said.
70% of young people (those aged 18-34) prefer to communicate via text instead of a phone call, according to a study conducted by Uswitch. 23% of respondents within the age group said they never answer phone calls.
"It's normalized for our generation to be used to text messages," 16-year-old student Donna told the BBC, sharing that she felt "mostly anxious" every time her phone rang.
"So if there's a phone call I always think it's an emergency," she continued.
Texting, on the other hand, helped her feel more in control of her interactions because "you can think about the right way to approach someone".
"The only people I'll call are my mum or my dad," shared 17-year-old Evie. "But anyone else, I don't want them to call me because it feels quite formal, and that's not something I'm used to."
"It's unknown to our generation, we've grown up texting each other," she continued.
"We've definitely seen an increase in phone anxiety in recent years," said George Heritage, a client services manager at Express Recruitment. "Particularly post-Covid, there's been a definite trend.
"Both when we're recruiting for ourselves internally, along with recruitment for our clients as well," he continued.
28-year-old Kyle Butterworth, who practiced engaging in phone calls, stated that they got easier the more he made them.
He stated that after a few calls, "you realize it's just another human being on the other end."
"I think initially, it's because a lot of things that didn't used to be online are now online – you can book a GP appointment online, you can order food online – everything has gone non-verbal," said Butterworth.
He advises other young people who are nervous about answering phone calls to "make yourself in charge of the situation."
"Know what you're going to say before you start the call," he said. "And after a while you'll get to a point where you know what to say before you even say it, and it'll naturally begin to flow."
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