Greeting Your Child

Everyday I walk my students outside at the end of the day. They wait by me until their parent, older sibling, grandparent, etc. come to pick them up. I have made a few observations as I have watched this ritual for over 28 years. Something I have noticed lately is a little disconcerting. A lot of parents are talking on their phones when their students come out of school. They do not seem to acknowledge their child at all. It does not matter if they are waiting in a car or they walked to the school to pick their child up. They just grab their child's hand and take off. I do not see the parent even smile or say hi to their child because they are so busy talking on the phone. I know that I don't see what happens after they leave the school ground but it makes me a little sad that a parent does not say anything to their child after they have been away from them for seven hours. This is not every parent but it is enough that myself and other teachers have noticed this phenomenon a lot. I didn't have a cell phone when my children were young so I might have done the same thing.  As a mother I found that if I talked to my child immediately after school or an event, they were more likely to give me more details about their day. This is just my observation and I hope that I do not come off as being judgmental but I hope it will give parents something to think about at the end of the school day.