College helps students with phone call phobia
BBCA college is helping students tackle their fear of making or taking telephone calls.
Nottingham College is running coaching sessions on phone confidence and etiquette to support them in overcoming their fear, known as telephobia.
Liz Baxter, careers advisor at the college, said young people "simply don't have the confidence" to use the telephone in a formal manner, which was unfortunate as phone interviews were widely used by recruitment companies.
Nyah, 16, said she "dreads" phone calls as she uses her body language to talk so "I can't convey what I'm trying to say over the phone".
A Uswitch survey of 2,000 people found nearly 70% of people aged 18-34 prefer a text to a phone call, with 23% of the same age group saying they never pick up calls.
More than half assume an out of the blue call means bad news.
Ms Baxter, 53, said: "Phone anxiety is something we come across regularly."
She offers practical, classroom-based sessions where students practice role plays of questions commonly asked in interviews.
Attendees were also encouraged to call restaurants to ask what time they open or shops to ask if a certain item was in stock to test their boundaries in bite-sized ways, Ms Baxter added.
Student Donna, 16, said she was "mostly anxious" when the phone rang "because it's normalised for our generation to be used to text messages".
"So if there's a phone call I always think it's an emergency," she added.
She said she felt more in control when texting, because "you can think about the right way to approach someone".
Evie, 17, said she "hates" taking phone calls.
"The only people I'll call are my mum or my dad," she said. "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."
Another student, Jack Kent, 18, said he kept his phone on silent most of the time because the sound of it ringing "makes me nervous".
George Heritage, client services manager at Express Recruitment, says phone call anxiety is affecting business, so he is pleased the college is taking action.
"We've definitely seen an increase in phone anxiety in recent years," he said.
"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."
Kyle Butterworth, 28, said he faced his phone fear when he joined the business in 2022.
He added: "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."
His advice to others with the same fear is to make calls and "make yourself in charge of the situation" if you are nervous of answering them.
"Know what you're going to say before you start the call," he added.
"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."
Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.