Virginia high school teacher Joe Clement keeps track of the text messages parents have sent students sitting in his economics and government classes:—"Do you want chicken or hamburgers for dinner tonight?"Parents are distressingly aware of the distractions and the mental health issues associated with smartphones and social media. But teachers say parents might not realize how much those struggles play out at school.
Teachers emphasized: They are not saying parents are to blame for school cellphone battles, just that parents can do more to help. Tell your kids, for example, not to text home unless it is urgent. And if they do, ignore it. Some teachers say they get emails from parents right after returning graded exams, before the class is over, because kids feel the need to report grades immediately to parents.
"Often parents say, 'I want to be able to reach my child at any time,' which has nothing to do with the child's outcome. It's because of the parents' anxiety," she said. To prove just how distracting smartphones are, Clement ran an in-class experiment where he asked students to take their phones off silent and switch on notifications for two minutes.