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How incredibly sad. Good for that daycare center! Some of these parents need to listen to that Cats in the Cradle song and think about what signals they're sending to their child with this behavior. We're visual creatures and of course when little we're sponges soaking up stimuli. I'm appalled that it's become so acceptable to be this self-centered and "checked out" in society.
Every time I go to the hospital to pick my wife up from work, I see people coming out of the door with the phone stuck to the side of their head. They are leaving work, they are not on call! I see some texting, nearly falling down the stairs because they are focused on the phone instead of being aware of where they are.
When I drop my wife off to begin her shift, I see the same thing. These people are not on call, they are going to work!
I see people in restaurants, in apparent family groups or 4, 6 or 8 people at one table, all of them texting, no interaction between them at all. That, IMO), is sad. Well, OK, maybe they are texting each other instead of talking. That is even worse!
I agree with the daycare; put the stupid electronic gadget down! There should be more to your life than that phone!
Your children have missed you and waited for you all day. While picking them up from daycare may have become routine and boring for you, it is not that way for your kids. They are anxiously awaiting your return in most cases. To not give them your undivided attention for a few minutes at least while picking them up is pretty crappy.
It's simply a daycare owner, likely pressured by her employees, who feels her customers shouldn't be on their phone when they pick up their child. That is, she doesn't understand that her role is simply to care for those children while under her watch, not to judge what parents are doing when they arrive at the end of the day.
Those kids will spend a large part of their time under the care of those employees at the daycare, an awful lot of formative time. Daycare isn't just some place you simply park your kids while you tend to more important things, dropping them off and picking them up with no more attention than you would give your dry cleaning.
I hope that when parents pick a daycare center they do take the time to judge the center and the staff, that they pick someplace where the staff is caring and concerned about each and every child. Someplace where the staff might actually be upset and post a sign if they see a worrying trend of too many distracted parents not taking the time to reconnect with their children at the end of a long day.
No actually, it doesn't make sense, Jan. It's not a question of perspective. You know as well as I that this sign had nothing to do with "liability". If it did, it would've been written by a lawyer, who would not have phrased the message in such a way. It's simply a daycare owner, likely pressured by her employees, who feels her customers shouldn't be on their phone when they pick up their child. That is, she doesn't understand that her role is simply to care for those children while under her watch, not to judge what parents are doing when they arrive at the end of the day.
Wrong. It is a liability issue. Doesn't have to be written by a lawyer. In fact the daycare owner is trying to avoid it getting to that point.
They're on her property, she doesn't want a child running off and getting injured because their distracted parent who they have been turned over to didn't pay attention and now the child is hurt.
Yes, her role is to care for the children and that also includes that when the parents come to pick them up the parents on focusing on their kids while AGAIN they're on her property. She has no control if the parents choose to spent their time at home ignoring their kids, but she does have a right to speak up when it can come back on her.
When my kids were in daycare (a long time ago), I always had a conversation with the provider about his day. I wanted to hear all about it. If you are on the phone, obviously this is not possible.
Well, if I ran the daycare, there would be a sign on the door that says, "No Cell Phone Use Permitted Inside". You can stand outside and yack on the phone all you want, but when you walk in the door, *I* want your undivided attention -- and so does your kid. My business, my rules. If you have a problem with that, find another daycare (Hint: Given the scarcity of quality daycare around here, if you didn't like the rule, I can guarantee you I could go to the next person on the waiting list and replace you as a customer in a second.)
So I agree with the sentiment of the sign, but I also think it could be a little more tactful.
Easiest thing would be to put in a cell blocker
We can tell by the responses on the thread who's guilty of it.
I'm with the daycare. It is really sad how people cannot put their damn phones down to interact with loved ones, in social situations, anywhere. So tired of living in a ''zombie world'' where everywhere you look-in the park, on the bike path, while walking their dog, at the gym, poolside, on the beach, grocery store, etc. these people are glued to their phones. I wouldn't be surprised if funeral homes are getting requests for cell phones to be buried along with their owners. I have a cell phone and love it, but know where and when to appropriately use one. Put the damn phone down mom and dad and pay attention to your kids!
I don't blame the school one bit for putting up that sign. I see way to many parents who never look up from their phone to interact with their children.
The school is very unwise for putting that sign up. Is the parent paying for daycare for their child or for lessons in parenting? I don't see how it is any business of the daycare as long as the child is picked up.
My guess is some young daycare worker with an inflated ego who is in their first job after taking some early childcare classes at community college who thinks she knows everything and may not even have kids put the sign up.
That said, a parent shouldn't spend all their time on the phone, but these day care workers only see the 2 minutes or so when the kid is picked up. They don't see the quality of the parenting every other time.
Trust me, I see the evil of cell phones, but they appear inevitable these days.
There is a big difference between having children and being a parent. While the phone-use itself might not be too bad in isolation, it's probably indicative of a greater set of behaviors and attitudes which are more about self-absorption/validation/exhibitionism than caring for and about others. We all know some of these people.
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