Joe Clement, a high school teacher in Virginia, monitors the text messages that parents have sent to students in his economics and government classes.

“What was your score on the test?”

“Did you manage to have the field trip form signed?”

“Would you prefer chicken or hamburgers for dinner this evening?”

Clement is urging parents to refrain from texting their children during school hours.

Parents are acutely cognizant of the disruptions and psychological problems linked to smartphones and social media. However, educators assert that parents may not be fully aware of the extent to which these challenges impact their children’s academic performance.

One contributing factor is parents themselves, who ask a constant stream of questions that disrupt and distract from the learning environment. Even when schools have rules against cellphones, it can be difficult for teachers to enforce them. The continuous buzzing of watches and phones is also taking up valuable mental capacity, even if students are just taking a quick glance.

Implementing a few adjustments to parental behavior can aid in reducing the distraction of phones at school. Here are the recommendations from educators and specialists.

Many parents stay in touch with their child by texting, but school is a place for focusing on learning and developing independence. Teachers say you can still reach your child if you have a change in plans or a family emergency: Just contact the front office.

If the message is not time-sensitive, it can likely be postponed.

Central Virginia school counselor Erin Rettig explained that if a parent were to request that their child be excused from calculus for a non-important reason, the school would reject the request.

Educators emphasized that parents are not being blamed for conflicts over cellphone usage in schools. However, they believe that parents can play a more active role in addressing the issue. For instance, parents can advise their children not to use their phones unless it is necessary. In the event that they do receive a text, they should ignore it.

“If your kids are sending you non-urgent messages, like ‘Can I go to Brett’s house in five days?’, do not reply,” advised Sabine Polak, a co-founder of the Phone-Free Schools Movement along with two other mothers. “It’s important to discontinue your involvement as that only perpetuates the issue.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents became accustomed to staying in frequent communication while their children attended online school from home. Even as life has resumed a sense of normalcy, parents have maintained their level of communication.

According to Clement, it is known as the digital lifeline that parents struggle to release and must learn to do so.

Although parents may not anticipate immediate responses from their children through texts (even though some do), once students begin to use their phones for replies, it creates opportunities for other social media distractions.

During workshops for parents, Rettig, a school counselor from Virginia, advises against constantly monitoring and controlling children’s activities, as it can contribute to their feelings of anxiety and hinder their ability to develop independence at school.

According to certain educators, they receive messages from parents as soon as they hand back graded tests, even before the class has ended. This could be because students feel obligated or have been instructed to inform their parents of their grades immediately.

Dr. Libby Milkovich, a pediatrician specializing in child development and behavior at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, suggests that parents consider the repercussions of their constant presence during school hours on their child’s experiences.

According to Milkovich, when a child communicates through texting with a parent, they are not able to develop crucial skills such as self-control and problem-solving. While texting may seem convenient, not having access to a phone forces the child to either approach a teacher or find their own ways to resolve issues.

Some students who disagree with prohibiting cellphones in school believe it can be beneficial to contact their parents when they are feeling anxious or concerned. For those with severe anxiety who are used to texting their parents for support, Milkovich recommends gradually implementing restrictions so they can learn to be more independent. She encourages parents to question themselves: Why does my child constantly require a phone?

“Many times, parents express their desire to always be able to contact their child, even though it may not directly impact the child’s results. This is often due to the parents’ own anxiousness,” she explained.

Beth Black, an educator teaching English at a high school in the San Francisco Bay Area, advises parents to think about taking away their child’s outdated cell phones.

The school has a policy that students must place their phones in a designated holder upon entering the classroom. However, she has witnessed some students hiding their functional phones and using the holder for their old, non-functional devices.

Similar to numerous educators, she expresses concerns about the use of phones in class. Another issue she raises is the presence of earbuds.

According to Black, 40% of my students enter class with an earbud in. They will place their phone in a holder to listen to music in one earbud during class.

Parents’ reining in their texts will only go so far. So work with your kids to turn off some or all of their attention-stealing notifications.

Clement conducted an experiment in class to demonstrate the level of distraction caused by smartphones. He instructed students to turn off silent mode and enable notifications for a duration of two minutes.

“The noise resembled that of a classic arcade game, with constant bizzing, buzzing, and dinging for a duration of two minutes,” he described.

Numerous research has shown that students often look at their phones multiple times during class. According to a 2019 report from Common Sense Media, teenagers receive an overwhelming amount of 237 notifications per day. Roughly 25% of these notifications appear during school hours, primarily from acquaintances on social media platforms.

According to Seattle-based consultant and former teacher, Emily Cherkin, every time our concentration is disrupted, it requires a significant amount of mental effort and exertion to regain focus on the task at hand.

Educators suggest that the most effective cellphone policy in schools involves physically separating the phone from the student. Otherwise, it can be challenging to keep students engaged.

According to Randy Freiman, a high school chemistry teacher in upstate New York, when a phone vibrates in someone’s pocket, their attention immediately goes to their pocket. They may start thinking about how to take the phone out and check it, rather than paying attention to the task at hand. As a result, when asked a question, they may not even hear it, as their mind is preoccupied with their phone.

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