Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill has announced cellphones will not allowed in any K-12 classroom during class this school year. Something students will hate and teachers will love. But I’ve been shocked by the reaction from parents.
Some parents are disgusted by the ruling. Some call it an over reach. They should be able to get a hold of their child at any time. In fact, I’ve spoken with some teachers who say the parents are the problem. Constantly texting or even calling their kid knowing they are in the middle of class. I’m sorry, 9 times out of 10 what you’re texting or calling about is completely pointless.
You may think your precious child needs to be accessible to you 24/7, but you’re wrong. Giving them the ability to focus on their classwork ( or anything that isn’t a phone) for even an hour is a gift. Honestly, something we don’t seem to have the power to do at home. It’s a struggle to keep kids away from devices, so let schools do it if we can’t.
(Old man yelling at cloud moment ahead). As an elder millennial, when I went to school as a kid we were largely inaccessible. If our parents needed to get a hold of us, they called the receptionist who would announce you had a call. Sometimes they would even ask our parents why they were calling to deem if it was important enough to interrupt our class time. Could you imagine that today?
So when it comes down to it, land the helicopter for a few hours a day. You don’t need to hover over your child. Give them a break. I don’t think a lot parents realize they are the problem.