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Text, Text, Text: Parental Nagging Evolves Electronically
Jacky Longwell of McLean, with daughter Hanna, 17, says texting allows her to dispense the usual parental reminders "without that noodgy voice."
(By Tracy A. Woodward -- The Washington Post)
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Malloy's daughter understands that this means her mother wants to know where she is, who she is with and what her plans are.
When the teen responds, her mother texts back:
Roger.
"My friends always ask me, 'Who is Roger?' " says Nikki Malloy, 17.
At Gaithersburg High School, Principal Christine Handy-Collins says so many parents text students during school hours that she made a point of discouraging the practice at a recent freshman orientation.
When students are caught receiving text messages in violation of school policies, an increasing number, she says, have offered the same defense: "Look, I swear to God -- it was my mom."
In lots of families, dads are in on the nagging, too.
Reginald Black, 46, a Woodbridge father of three sons, checks online grade reports every morning during the school year. "That's the first thing I do when I turn the computer on," he says. "Some days it can make you feel good. Some days it can wreck your whole day."
Black says his sons hear about it when there is a problem. With technology, he concludes, "you nag more, and you are a little bit more precise with your nagging."
E-mail alerts about just-posted grades often go out before dawn in Montgomery County, where Elham Tabassi, 39, finds herself bringing up her middle schooler's latest scores at the breakfast table. A good student, her son mostly receives praise. But when an assignment is missing or a grade is low, the Potomac mother troubleshoots as he eats his Raisin Bran Crunch.
"What happened?" she will ask. Sometimes Tabassi lectures him on how each grade counts, about the importance of turning in every piece of homework.
"Can we talk about it at dinner instead of breakfast?" her son will groan.
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