In the midst of an educational controversy over prohibiting or allowing cell phones in classrooms, many specialists agree that the problem is not so much at school but at home. Psychologists, disseminators and school directors They encourage fathers and mothers to face reality and instill good use of technology in their sons and daughters. In his opinion, all educational responsibilities should not be delegated to schools and institutes. How to deal with the Miura bull that screens represent? There are basic theoretical recipes, but the reality is that “each family does what it can.”
Coordination between schools and families
Rosa Martin, mother of a 12-year-old student who is starting school this year, affirms that “common sense” It dictates that you delay the first mobile as much as possible. “He doesn’t need it”he insists. Luckily, his daughter’s best friends don’t have it either, which has made things easier for her. Rosa, however, does not understand that the institute – located in Madrid – bans personal cell phones and, yet, there are teachers who encourage their use. “The physical education teacher asked them on the first day how many of them had a smartphone. All but about eight raised their hands. He uses a application to record physical activity of the kids. I do not understand that the school management prohibits telephones and, on the other hand, there are teachers who demand them for a use that, furthermore, I do not believe is the most appropriate. Do you really have to have an application to know the number of sit-ups you do?” laments Rosa, who calls for greater collaboration between families and the institute.
Try new formulas
Raquel March, who is also the mother of a girl who this year has started 1st year of ESO in Catalonia, recognizes that the “unwritten family mandate” that all children start secondary school with a mobile phone that they own “it is cracking”. His daughter doesn’t have it, as do a generous number of her classmates. The situation is radically different from what she experienced with her eldest son, who is now 17 years old. “When he started high school, he was the only kid without a cell phone. I refused to give it to him, but it was unsustainable. I lost the battle and after three months I bought it from him. I tried to manage it and failed. I found myself very alone. The entire society, from governments to institutions, opens the door to technology and leaves us families quite stranded. The entire environment is rabidly favorable to technology and, during all this time, there is no doubt that the cell phone has become the main conflict at home.” Now, years later, Raquel is trying a new formula that does not involve the isolation of the girl nor that she has her own smartphone. Thus, for example, the girl can use her mobile phone -or the home computer- to have chats with your gang and use some appsalways under your supervision.
Guidelines and public policies
Lidón Gasulldirector of Affac (Associacions Federades de Famílies d’Alumnes de Catalunya), emphasizes that all fathers and mothers try to do the best for their sons and daughters, including everything that has to do with technology. “We do what we can. Many times they criticize us, but either we don’t know how or we can’t do better,” explains Gasull, who asks the administrations public policies aimed at the family in the field of digitalization. The person in charge of Affac also demands that the authorities, with the EU at the helm, put limits to big technology.
Clear limits and delaying the first smartphone
Diego Hidalgo, author of the revealing essay ‘Anesthetized. ‘Humanity under the rule of technology’, recommends to parents to delay “to the maximum” the first mobile of the children. The communicator invites families to mark clear boundaries, depending on the age of the children. One of those red lines is do not allow them to use alone in their bedroom the device, as well asimitate time slots digital connection. It is also important type of activity. “Playing a violent video game or watching videos one after another is not the same as using a creative program on a computer to compose music, or playing chess with a friend online,” he explains.
Roger Ballesca, a psychologist specialized in child and adolescent mental health, asks families not to wait until adolescence arrives to start setting limits on technology. You have to talk, treat and manage the issue at home since childhood. While, Aitor Uriondodirector of the Axular Lizeoa ikastola (San Sebastián), recommends parents lead by example and make good use of the screens. Especially when they are with their sons and daughters. The person in charge of the ikastola considers it essential that the work is done as a team: families, schools, kids and the entire society. In their center, for example, they work side by side with a technopedagogue, who guides parents, students and teachers in talks and workshops throughout the course. And the same thing happens with bullying: “when a problem is detected, it is not hidden. It is solved.”