Is your child texting too much? That’s a question on many parents’ minds, especially as kids settle into a new school year. This year, many schools are enforcing new cell phone bans to prevent texting in class, but it might surprise parents to know that it isn’t always kids who are causing the problem. Instead, it’s sometimes the endless texts from parents that are distracting children and sending teachers over the edge.
The Wall Street Journal reports that school officials are finally getting honest about the problems created by texts from parents. Cell phone bans that require students to lock their phones up while they’re in class have been enacted at multiple schools, including La Cañada High School in Southern California, where principal Jarrett Gold said too many kids were being inundated with non-essential messages from Mom and Dad.
Gold told The Wall Street Journal that when his school banned cell phones, they encouraged parents to call the school office if they needed to contact their children; however, calls to the office have not increased. Instead, he explained, they learned that most parents had been texting their kids throughout the day about family plans they had outside of school, asking what grade they received on assignments or just checking in for no reason.
These kinds of messages can usually wait until after school, and research shows that there’s a good reason why they should. A 2017 study of college students found that students in classrooms that allowed cell phones and other electronic devices performed worse on exams than students who weren’t allowed to use devices in class. The study was only the first to find a direct link between in-class use of electronic devices and lower test scores, but it points to a potentially harmful consequence of kids texting in class.
The classroom isn’t the only place where communication from parents could have negative consequences. In 2014, a study by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that 53% of teens reported being distracted while driving by calls from their parents, and 18 percent said they had texted with their parents while behind the wheel.
It’s not hard to understand why parents want to be in touch with their kids at all times. Last-minute schedule changes come up, kids forget things at home and parents like knowing that their children are safe and happy. As The Wall Street Journal notes, parents also have anxiety about things like bullying and school shootings. Cell phones make it easier than ever to check in with children and teens, and it makes sense that parents would want to take advantage of that.
Unfortunately, parents also have to be careful about the example they’re setting for their children. If moms and dads are sending dozens of texts during the school day, they could also be unintentionally normalizing the idea that it is OK to text during class or during other important events. And while no one can blame parents for worrying about their kids (it is a part of the job, after all), it is difficult to expect kids to resist the temptation of the phone when the grown-ups are the ones buzzing in every 20 minutes during a lecture.
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