A nursery has sparked debate online after putting up a sign urging parents to ‘put away their phones’ when picking up their kids.
Many parents were left shocked after the day care centre in Texas not so subtlety instructed parents to pay more attention to their children at home time. The controversial sign read, ‘You are picking up your child! GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!!’
‘We have seen children trying to hand their parents their work they completed and the parent is on the phone.’
‘We have heard a child say “Mommy, mommy, mommy…” and the parent is paying more attention to their phone than their child. It is appalling.’
Ultimately, the sign has left parents divided – with many arguing itraises an important question about the role mobile phones are playing in our social relationships. To anyone who has ever been in a conversation with someone focused entirely on their phone (which, let’s be honest, has been all of us at some point), the sign is pretty understandable.
In fact, there’s an actual term for this kind of interaction dubbed ‘Phubbing’ – a mix of the world ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’. The term defines when a person turns their attention to their smartphone during a face-to-face interaction, with the nursery’s sign calling out a specific branch called ‘parental phubbing.’
The sign quickly went viral on social media – and naturally, parents across the world had some choice words to say.
Many accused the nursery of ‘disrespecting’ parents, with one Facebook user arguing, ‘This is ridiculous. Who is anyone to tell a child’s parent not to use their phone? They might be working or have an emergency.'
Another wrote, ‘I’m a qualified educator, and although I agree that parents shouldn’t be on their phone whilst picking up kids, I would never write such a disrespectful poster.’
A third user criticised the nursery for their ‘judgement’ over parents, writing ‘It’s not the day centres place to tell the parents how to behave. Many people run their businesses from their phones and that is what enables them to pay for day care and whatever else the child might need.’
However, plenty of parents disagreed - instead embracing the sign's message. One parent hit back, ‘You can’t take a minute to greet your child and ask how their day went? Sad.'
One wrote, ‘This should be in every daycare or school where kids are being picked up,' as another agreed, ‘You can get a phone anywhere, but a child is a miracle. Pay attention to your miracle, not something you can get in a shop.’
But one user noted that whilst the content of the sign may be a nice reminder for parents to live in the moment, it might have been better received without the influx of capital letters and exclaimation marks...
They wrote, ‘The sign would be more effective if it just said ‘please don’t use your phone in here’ or something. The sign makes people defensive if they have used their phones in the past because they feel like they are being judged and told they are a bad parent. You can tell people not to use their phone without offending them.’
A picture of the sign was posted to Facebook on Friday 7th July by Juliana Farris Mazurkewicz - a mum whose child attends the nursery. The post has now been shared over one million times, with views still growing.
But after the post gained attention, Juliana spoke to CNN to defend the unnamed daycare centre. Opening up about the sign, she explained 'I was a bit shocked, but I didn't feel any negativity towards the daycare centre.'
‘I know that the staff has the best interests of the children in mind, even to the point where they are willing to offend the parent.’