Mobile phones are detrimental to your DDs and DSs learning

[Newtandcucumber]

As a UK poster I concur. In fact my son studies at a secondary school in Birmingham. Phones must be switched off during lesson times, however, when I look at his phone he is texting at all times of the day.


I am struggling to make education feel interesting, as I have noted slippage in his academic performance. I have banned the PS4 until term holidays, removed the ability to download apps on his iPhone and iPad. This is more important now that he will face new style rigorous GCSEs, amongst the hardest we have had since the 50s. There is a correlation between his performance and time didn’t on such devices. Sadly, this is an issue worldwide.

[PhysicsTeacher]

It’s 12:30am, and time for my pre-bed ritual: tiptoe upstairs so as not to wake the children, brush my teeth, turn out the lights … and then catch sight of that telltale, flickering blue glow coming from under the 15-year-old’s bedroom door. I mentally prepare myself for the nightly battle, and knock on the door.

“Come on, Fred, turn your phone off – it’s nearly 1am and you’ve got school tomorrow.”
“Don’t lie, Dad. It’s not ‘nearly’ 1am. It’s only 12.30.”

“Just turn it off and get to sleep. Please. It’s only crappy videos on the internet – they’ll still be there in the morning.”

“But I’ve done nothing wrong!” (I paraphrase: this is a teenage boy we’re talking about here, so his “conversation” is littered with swearing and streetspeak, which are best left to the imagination.)

This is a part of an article from UK Guardian newspaper last week, how similar to us here in Singapore? Almost every night my wife and I have to bark at my daughter (19 years old, hopefully not my son soon!) to stop twitting, messaging, youtubing etc. The Guardian article carries a title: Are British kids so unhappy? Two words: screen time. In fact, we parents are the most unhappy lots since the advent of the mobile devices! Surely this is the biggest mega trend enabled by the historic globalisation of technology! I believe the parents of the poorest countries around the world are also facing the similar agonies. So Steve Jobs should be posthumously conferred a Nobel Prize for Peace for creating the highest level of equality amidst the increasing divides of global inequalities (wealth, food, education etc)!

[sharonkhoo]

It is really hard when teens and parents do not see eye to eye on such matters. I don’t have any solutions for parents of teens, but for those with younger children - take action earlier rather than later! Set rules and enforce them. Convince (ie brainwash) your kids to believe that unfettered use of devices is bad, teach them to enjoy activities (and sleep) which do not involve gadgets, and set a good example yourselves. As the parent of teen girls, I can vouch for the fact that prevention is much better than cure.

[BlueBells]

Our home WIFI has 2 zones - one zone that will stop functioning at 11:30pm (used to be 12am, but we brought it forward) 24 x 7 for the schooling kids; the other zone is not restricted for the parents.


The kids do not have the wifi password and (thankfully) are not savvy enough to crack it.

And then we ban phone use and story books for 2 hours at night - which is strictly for school work and revision only. Rule applies Monday to Friday. Even if they have no homework to hand in the next day, and will only stare at their text books, or lecture notes, so be it. We are sticking to our rules.

Flouting the rule means we confiscate the phone or the book. Hard battle, but the parents are gaining grounds.

[atrecord]

This problem is very real.


DD just went to sec sch., and we had resisted giving her a smartphone till now. The battle begins.

But even before this, they (DS is in P5) have been taking my parents’ phones at every opportunity to play, watch youtube and even whatsapp…

Let’s see if i can find some surefire tips here on how to control the situation - thanks!

[Funz]

Kiddos obtained their smart phones early. DD in P4 and DS P3. Thanks to their father. He enjoyed the gifting and I have to be the one to make sure kiddos manage the usage properly.


So far, both have been rather co-operative about the usage. Home, lunch & unwind for bit, by 3pm, all devices put aside, homework, revisions, read. They get to use them again after dinner. No games/videos though, only for listening to music or chatting with friends.

Now that DD is getting older, I foresee a higher attachment to that gadget. To make matters more challenging, I not only have to see how kids are managing what they have, I have to fight with DH over his setting up youtube accounts, facebook accounts, instagram accounts, and whatever social media accounts they ask for. And also giving them the lastest gadgets and gaming consoles. I am losing the fight with DH.

[janet88]

BlueBells:

Our home WIFI has 2 zones - one zone that will stop functioning at 11:30pm (used to be 12am, but we brought it forward) 24 x 7 for the schooling kids; the other zone is not restricted for the parents.


The kids do not have the wifi password and (thankfully) are not savvy enough to crack it.

And then we ban phone use and story books for 2 hours at night - which is strictly for school work and revision only. Rule applies Monday to Friday. Even if they have no homework to hand in the next day, and will only stare at their text books, or lecture notes, so be it. We are sticking to our rules.

Flouting the rule means we confiscate the phone or the book. Hard battle, but the parents are gaining grounds.

thanks...will try this. but must make sure i don't block myself in the process.

[BlueBells]

Funz:

Kiddos obtained their smart phones early. DD in P4 and DS P3. Thanks to their father. He enjoyed the gifting and I have to be the one to make sure kiddos manage the usage properly.


So far, both have been rather co-operative about the usage. Home, lunch & unwind for bit, by 3pm, all devices put aside, homework, revisions, read. They get to use them again after dinner. No games/videos though, only for listening to music or chatting with friends.

Now that DD is getting older, I foresee a higher attachment to that gadget. To make matters more challenging, I not only have to see how kids are managing what they have, I have to fight with DH over his setting up youtube accounts, facebook accounts, instagram accounts, and whatever social media accounts they ask for. And also giving them the lastest gadgets and gaming consoles. I am losing the fight with DH.

Funz,

Strike middle ground with your hubby - while you won't object to what he is doing, creating accounts and all, insist for the rights to police the use during school days and XX weeks prior to exams and such.

And then, install policing tools which will require password for youtube and the such and give no password to anyone, then hehehehe ... you can have the last laugh.

I didn't know such tools existed earlier on, but when DD2 was taking PSLE two years back, she installed the app to help herself manage time better and ask me to input the password, so now I know. And every time she wants to use youtube after completing all her work, I will have to unlock it.

FB accounts and the such - my children don't have them. They are not suppose to lie so we told them while they will young that if we catch them with a FB account, they will be in trouble, because they would have to lie on their age to have it setup, so the they will be caned :spank:

Now, some times I ask if they need instagram and the likes, they ask me, \"what for???\" Of course, underlying rules will be I must be in their circles and have certain access to it.

[Funz]

Thing is I don’t even want to have to manage all these. If he had not set them up for kiddos, there will be no need to have to manage them. He has access to their accounts and he had a shock when he checked and saw the kind of things that were posted and the language used by some of the vloggers and followers, etc. He asked me to monitor what the kids access. I told him his problem since he gave them access. Want to solve the problem, delete the accounts.


So far, removing the gadgets in the afternoons work, since remove gadgets mean no way to access all that. School term, I unplug all the gaming consoles so no access again.

Recently, DH almost bought DS his own laptop. I blew my top. I asked him why would a P5 kid need his very own laptop?!?!? That said, I think DD will need access to the comp more now that she is in Sec sch. So locking the accounts might be a way. Only available on youtube?

Thanks for the suggestion.