Kids on phones

When to Disconnect

Getting the Most From Your Immersion Program

Tags: Tip

Thanks to smartphones and widespread Wifi, your teen can pretty much take all their friends and family along on their immersion program! There’s only one problem: sharing selfies and recounting every detail via social media or messaging can actually inhibit the opportunities for true immersion and growth. There is no doubt that cell phones can be a useful tool while traveling, and many parents like the reassurance of connectedness that they offer, but when do you encourage your student to disconnect?

As teachers prepare their students for their upcoming trip abroad, many of them will be talking about guidelines regarding cell phones. Mauri Deer, a French teacher from Minnesota, has traveled with students for over ten years. She prepares students for the challenge of disconnecting simply by reminding them that this trip is an investment. “You could look at France through your cell phone or put a down payment on a car and look at our trip photos on the internet” she argues, or they can disconnect. Disconnecting and truly being present for the experience will allow them will notice more about their surroundings and be more intentional in their observations.

Perhaps the hardest obstacle in disconnecting comes during the family stay, when students are feeling a higher intensity of culture shock and homesickness. It’s all too easy to pick up that phone and message home to vent or despair. As a parent, it is impossible to disregard your child’s declarations, but how can you tell the difference between discomfort and a serious problem? Mauri Deer asserts that the best way to prevent this dilemma is to establish a level of trust between the student and the group leaders before the trip so that the trip participants feel empowered to call their teacher if there is a true problem. Before departure, she meets with students to prepare them for discomfort, but also to help them recognize what is discomfort and what should elicit a call, for example:

If you are frightened because you’ve seen a large spider in the bathroom…..DON’T CALL

If you hate tomatoes and your family serves them at every meal….DON’T CALL.

If you are left home alone all day…CALL!

If you are bored…DON’T CALL.

(taken from Xperitas' Call/Don't Call document)

She also empowers students to figure out how to be proactive in a challenging situation:

Is this something I can handle by expressing my concern with my family without my teacher’s help? Can I tell them that I don’t like avocado or that I would love to watch soccer, or that I’m really interested in going for a walk in the town center?

If you’re wondering how you, as a parent, can help with this process, talk to your son or daughter’s world language teachers and ask what their standards are for cell phone and social media use and how they are helping prepare students for this challenge. Have a conversation with your son or daughter about the Call/Don’t Call document and see how they feel as they anticipate the family stay. Empower them to disconnect, but reassure them that their teachers are the most capable people to help during their trip. Encourage them to complain to their journal when they are frustrated; their feelings are real and they can learn from them and grow. And remember, the real learning won’t happen until they are ready to step outside their comfort zone!