Help Your Student Avoid Electronic Distractions in Class

There’s a name for students who try to hide their phones in their laps while they attend class- “crotchgazers”. You know how annoying it is when you’re trying to have a family meal or just speak to your child without the interruptions of constant texting or Tweeting. If you’re like me, there’s nothing more irritating than having your child half-heartedly answer your questions while he stares at the cell phone in his lap. Now, imagine how maddening it is for a professor trying to communicate with 25, 75 or 205 crotchgazers in a classroom.

One disadvantage to college students being constantly connected is that they’re well, constantly connected. That means that even while students are physically in class and honestly trying to learn, they are also incessantly being vibrated away from the work at hand. In many ways it’s not their fault, it's ours. Parents have been known to panic if we don’t hear from them for a couple of days, so they know that if they don’t reply to us with at least an “ok” or even a “k” we just might freak out and call the campus police to conduct a welfare check on them.

Today’s college students feel compelled to check and reply to texts, Tweets, Facebook posts and the like, so cell phones themselves, the very same magical device we all rely on to keep us connected are also the same devices that keep students distracted and damage their ability to fully engage in class and learning. While almost every college or certainly every individual professor has policies against the use of electronics in the classroom, the problems persist. Students know that if they’re careful enough, they can fly under the professor’s radar, but at what cost? Students who allow themselves to become distracted by every chirp or vibration of their phone are not only wasting the money they spent to be in the class, they are cheating themselves out of learning for something they can easily access during the other 20 hours every day in which the are not in a classroom. 

The best advice you can give your student on this subject is to suggest he turn off his phone while in class and catch up with friends, and you too, once he leaves the lecture hall.You can help out even more by asking him to tell you his class schedule and only contacting him when you know he is not in class. 

Electronic Distractions in the Classroom

There’s a name for students who try to hide their phones in their laps while they attend class; “crotchgazers”. You know how annoying it is when you’re trying to have a family meal or just speak to your child without the interruptions of constant texting or Tweeting. If you’re like me, there’s nothing more irritating than having your child half-heartedly answer your questions while he stares at the cell phone in his lap. Now, imagine how maddening it is for a professor trying to communicate with 25, 75 or 205 crotchgazers in a classroom.

One disadvantage to our students being constantly connected is that they’re well, constantly connected. That means that even while students are physically in class and honestly trying to learn, they are also incessantly being vibrated away from the work at hand. In many ways, it’s not their fault. We’ve been known to panic if we don’t hear from them for a couple of days, so they know that if they don’t reply to us with at least an “ok” or even a “k” we just might freak out and call the campus police to conduct a welfare check on them.

Today’s college students feel compelled to check and reply to texts, Tweets, Facebook posts and the like, so cell phones themselves, the very same, magical device we all rely on to keep us connected are also the same devices that keep students distracted and damage their ability to fully engage in class and learning. While almost every college or certainly every individual professor has policies against the use of electronics in the classroom, the problems persist.

Students know that if they’re careful enough, they can fly under the professor’s radar, but at what cost? Students who allow themselves to become distracted by every chirp or vibration of their phone are not only wasting the money they spent to be in the class, they are cheating themselves out of learning for something they can easily access during the other 20 hours every day in which the are not in a classroom. The best advice you can give your student on this subject is to advise him to turn off his phone while in class and catch up with friends once he leaves the lecture hall. 

Topics to Discuss During The Senior Summer

·      Campus Safety - Including the topics such as alcohol and drug use, personal and property safety, common illnesses including STDs, chronic illnesses that your child is managing, any other information included on the college’s website.

·      Academic Expectations – Including realistic expectations for grades, study and class preparation time and where he can go on campus for academic assistance and tutoring. Refer to the college’s website for specific information.

·      Travel plans for move-in day, holidays and breaks – Figure out if your child will move himself or if you will join him for move-in day. Also, will he return home or stay on campus for breaks, and holidays? If he’s staying on campus confirm that his residence hall is open during breaks, if it is not, some colleges offer students break housing in other halls.

·      Emotional health and well being – Including any current or on-going mental health issues, discuss medication and medication management, discuss where to go and whom to call on campus in case of an emergency. Decide if prescriptions, health care, and mental health care will be transferred to a provider near the college or if he will be able to continue with his current doctor, counselor, and pharmacy.

·      How you will communicate – Keeping the lines of communication open is absolutely crucial to college students and their parents at home. Discuss and develop a plan for daily or weekly regular communication that includes a weekly “check-up” phone call as well as expectations for returning calls, texts and emails throughout the week.

* Be sure that you will stick to this plan too. It’s poor form to expect your child to reply to calls or texts within 24 hours if you never do.