Q: My high school daughter's cell phone was taken away for text messaging in class. She said all of her friends text message each other when the teacher isn’t looking, she just happened to get caught. Cell phones are permitted on campus, but must be turned off during class. The temptation to text message is always there, but part of growing into a responsible young adult is being allowed the freedom to make the right choices. As a parent, how can I monitor this situation so it doesn’t happen again without taking the privilege away completely?
A: I applaud the school's policy and their confiscation of your daughter's phone. Although kids are aware it may be distracting, they believe there is no real harm in text messaging each other during class. When their minds should be focused on learning, a student’s attention can easily be diverted to cautiously sending a text message to a friend before the teacher catches them. If you think about it, multi-tasking is impossible for the human mind to accomplish, especially when one’s trying to learn. Graham Hookey, Headmaster of Marywood-Palm Valley School said, "Research has shown that multi-tasking is really just doing a lot of things simultaneously with mediocre results. Is that what we want to teach young students?" Parents have to set clear limits to keep electronic media from hindering their child’s development. Give your daughter a warning and monitor your cellular bill. It documents the day and time of each message and call made. If she abuses the privilege again, then the phone gets taken away for good. That’s one message she wont miss.
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