Not so long ago, phones were neither mobile nor smart…
I too often watch in sadness, families sitting near me at my local coffee shop each weekend… with eyes only for their phones, scanning, checking, messaging… and not engaging in conversation as a family or as a parent and child. Yes, technology is making our lives more convenient, yet something is lost if families and friends sit around the dinner table, or go out to be social, presumably together, yet are focused almost entirely on their phones.
Not so long ago, if anyone had painted a scenario of people going about their everyday lives glued to their smartphones, checking their social media feeds, constantly posting, swiping and tweeting, it would have been surreal. The art of conversation is vital in families just as it is at school and I trust that for you as parents, treasured moments with your children are not lost to the ubiquitous piece of equipment carried around in our pockets. I read recently of a father who had lost one of his children… and whose remaining child was urging her father for “just five more minutes playing together outside…”. What this father did, despite his need to return to important chores, was to grant his daughter her wish of 5 more minutes… realising how precious this time was with her and how he would never regain that time with his lost child. The tragic times experienced by families or the lives cut short through illness or domestic violence have been an horrific reminder to us all in recent weeks. I am pleading with you all to take whatever time you can to be with your children, to talk with them, to share their hopes and dreams, and hear out their fears and challenges, to hug them and love them, and tell them so.
The twenty or so years you have with your children, will never feel enough, yet I am sure you will continue to ask yourself so many questions:
- Did I teach them the right lessons?
- Did I read them enough books as a child?
- Did I spend enough time playing with them?
- How many school parties did I make them miss?
- Do they really know how much I love them?
- What could I have done better as a parent?
This brings me to the significant change we have made on campus this term. For we are now almost half a term into our new mobile phone policy. I am delighted to report that there have been relatively few phones confiscated and that the students are engaging in activities and conversation as we hoped would happen at recess and lunchtime. We saw this too at the wonderful swimming carnivals which saw such a high level of engagement amongst the students.
Yes, the art of communication is one to be cherished and gently navigated, both in the home and in social settings; it is a part of the shared roles, you and we at school, share. You have told us that you are delighted with this new policy and I shall be interested to hear how you are seeing this play out at home? Maybe you can extend the expectations we have at School, to your expectations at home?
Devices do not belong in children’s bedrooms nor at the table. And your lead, as parents, on this issue, is critical.
