Kit Roberts
A mum has defended her child's nursery after seeing a very blunt sign on display.
The unnamed day care centre in Texas had put up a notice telling parents to stay off their phones while picking their children up.
She spotted the sign while collecting her child, and after sharing a picture of it online, it quickly went viral.
The sign read: “You are picking up your child! GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!!!
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“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 own child. It is appalling.”
But despite its confrontational nature, mum Juliana Farris Mazurkewicz has defended the nursery.
She told CNN: “I was a bit shocked, but I didn’t feel any negativity towards the day care.
“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.”
Mazurkewicz posted the image to Facebook on Friday (7 July), where it has been shared some 1.3 million times.
The reactions to the sign were mixed. One person vehemently disagreed with it, saying: "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 or anything else that’s none of their business.”
However, others appeared to be more sympathetic to the sign's message.
One user wrote: “You can’t take a minute to greet your child and ask how their day went? Sad.”
The sign is pretty understandable if you have ever been in a conversation with someone who has been solely focussed on their phone.
It turns out that there is actually a proper term for this now as well. It's called 'phubbing', which is a portmanteau of 'phone' and 'snubbing'.
There has been some investigation into the impact of phubbing on a romantic relationship, though less so with parental roles.
One survey looking at the impact of the practice said: "The phenomenon of phubbing, which hits individuals’ social interactions, is an important risk factor for romantic relationships.
"In other words, partners’ being too busy with their smartphones during their romantic relationships harms relationship satisfaction and perceived romantic relationship quality.
"For this reason, it is very important to raise awareness of couples about the use of smartphones during their romantic relationships.”