With today’s use of cell phones , children are sometimes concentrate on there friends texting them when they should be focusing on the job at hand. A lot of junior and senior high students brag about sending tens of thousands of texts per month. While students are texting , they are not paying attention to a topic being taught or instructions from the instructor . I am not trying to say that texting is a bad thing . I use texting myself. What I am saying is that we need to instruct our children when it is ok to text and a time to concentrate on the current job . Though children will insist that they are multi-tasking , most of them can not.
How can a parent know if a child is texting excessively in math ? Many cell phone companies can provide a list of dates and times when texting is occuring . Just check the list to your child’s daily schedule. It will be obvious if your child is texting during class , or waiting to text at lunch or between classes .
So, what can be done about misusing texting? First off , parents have to agree that texting is not allowed at school ( except in an emergency). Also, there needs to be an understanding on what constitutes an emergency. I have seen parents text their child in geometry class to find out what they want for dinner (I am not kidding ). This is not an acceptable text during class. Also, if you need to text about a non-emergency, have your student reply at an appropriate time. For children that refuse to stop texting during class , your cell phone carrier may have a way that allows you to determine times when texting (receiving and/or sending) is blocked on your child’s phone. This service ranges from free to about $15 per month.
How will an appropriate use of texting help the school environment? First of all , a lot schools tell teachers to confiscate cell phones that are being used during class. Often times students refuse to hand in their phones and create a major disruption in class.
It is preferable to help your student know where and when texting can occur . Otherwise, schools will take matters into their hands . This can include signal-blocking wall coatings that will block all cell phone signals from entering or leaving the classroom . As parents, let’s work to get this issue under control so extra measures will not need to be taken .
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