Thursday, September 22, 2016

Put Your Damn Phone Down

Image result for parents ignore children due to cell phoneI am getting to the point where, when I see parents more interested in their digital devices than they are their children, I'm not going to be able to keep my mouth shut. Seriously people, put down your phone or whatever it is that is taking your focus off your children.

I've seen it firsthand. I've seen it in school when at parent night when a student was so excited to show his mom what he'd learn about coding on the computer. Mom couldn't take her eyes off her phone as she was texting with someone who was NOT HER KID. That child finally stopped trying to engage his mother and focused in on his coding. When mom was finished texting (this went on for a little over 20 minutes) she was ready to go. Not once had she interacted with her son. He was in 4th grade. Her message to him: the person with whom I was texting is more important than you. She's going to regret this one day. And she's going to blame their lack of communication on her son. IF she ever puts that damn phone down.

I've seen it when a mom and her three-year-old were sitting on a bench and the little girl tried, at first to engage her mom. After a few minutes, the child gave up and attempted to entertain herself. Finally, the little girl tried again, a bit more aggressive this time, and guess what mom did? She handed her daughter the phone to play with. The daughter lost interest in less than two minutes and gave the phone back to her mom who immediately went back into the phone zone.

Image result for parents ignore children due to cell phone
Dr. Jenny Radesky was so concerned with this issue that she and two other researchers spent time studying 55 different groups of parents with young children in fast-food restaurants. No, it wasn't a scientific study, but it's still interesting that they found 40 out of 55 parents were on their cell phones or tablets when having dinner with their kids. Of these, 73% were totally absorbed with their devices, ignoring everything and everyone but the screen. This is ridiculous.

If you are not willing to spend time engaging with your kids, that is exactly what they are going to learn from you. So, when they get a little older and act like other people or digital devices are more important to them than you are, know that YOU TAUGHT THEM THIS. And certainly do not complain when, as teenagers, they do not communicate with you. You taught them this too.

As Radesky states,

"...that's a big mistake, because face-to-face interactions are the primary way children learn. "They learn language, they learn about their own emotions, they learn how to regulate them," she says. "They learn by watching us how to have a conversation, how to read other people's facial expressions. And if that's not happening, children are missing out on important development milestones." 
Put your digital devices down, people. Seriously.
If kids aren't motivation enough, remember the safety issue:



Have y'all ever felt like telling someone to put down their digital device?

12 comments:

  1. Yes to your last question and I agree with your post 100%. Add to that the people who think they have to talk on the phone and/or TEXT while driving - many with their kids in the back seat. Seriously. Nothing is that important. Nothing.

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    1. Yes! I covered internet safety and digital citizenship to the level of overkill with my students and they would share instances when they saw their parents doing a lot of the things we discussed. I told them to go home and tell their parents to stop it. Texting or talking while driving were always on the 'tattle' list. :)

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  2. Yes, yes, yes! You are right, right, right!

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  3. Many need to heed this! I don't own a phone. On the computer about an hour a day.

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    1. There are times I wish I didn't own one. Then again, I'm glad my girls can get me when they need me. I've cut my computer time down tremendously. I do use the phone to take pictures of cutie pie. :) But I try to use my Canon as much as possible for pictures. There are so many pros and cons about this digital world. Most of the cons stem from our inability to turn it off.

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  4. I really love that we were able to raise our children without the interruption of the cell phones. Also stop using your phones in the car. How many people have to die because someone was on their cell phone!

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    1. I am too. Though, on the other hand, I'm glad we had them when they were driving and going off to college. It was comforting to be able to keep in touch with them during those years. And yes! No phones while driving!

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  5. The seduction of the smartphone. This is one reason I drew the line at not putting FB or twitter on my phone. Another bad habit in my opinion is giving little kids smartphones to play with. I believe little kids have the greatest imagination. Maybe (I don't know but it seems like it) one's imagination is at its peak when you are little. Part of the problem is "you don't miss it until it's gone". Older parents discover this too late but to try to convince younger parents is not easy.

    Yes be engaged with your child. They will benefit and you will too. Maybe your benefit will not be noticed until your child is not a child anymore.

    Of course it is a balancing act especially with multiple kids.

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    1. I think little kids have more imagination because they haven't been told they have limitations yet. They don't compare their creativity to the creativity of others either. It's true, you don't miss it until it's gone and that's going to bite some people in a certain place because your can't tell the younger parents a damn thing. They know it all. A balancing act for sure. :) Thanks!

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  6. OMG! That is such a HUGE pet peeve of mine! I sat and watched a couple with their son in a restaurant one night...the son had an iPad and the couple were on their phones. I don't think they said 2 words to each other the whole time. Another time, there was a girl that looked to be in middle school having dinner with her mom...who was looking at her phone the entire time. The girl looked bored out of her mind, and just kept looking around, like she was BEGGING for someone to interact with her. Soooo sad.

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    1. Mine too! Could you tell? LOL I know! It really is so sad. And people had better wake up before it's too late.

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