Educational administrators are becoming increasingly frustrated with the expectations parents have of them to be able to resolve the complications their children get into with devices and permissions parents give them.

Highly sensitized to the potential risks to teen health caused by various forms of bullying and harassment, parents often demand that the school address every incident of teen behaviour that occurs in or out of school.

Armed with sheafs of printed texts, they clamour to the doors of principals on Monday mornings wanting something to be done.

Most administrators would love to ban cell phones from schools and most have policies to try and reduce the overt use of them during class.

Although the electronic version of passing notes is alive and well with savvy teens, most teachers have a reasonable handle on the use of phones in class.

Still, in the hallways or cafeterias or just outside any school door, full-blown cell phone use is rampant, complete with exposure to comments, pictures and both random acts of kindness and meanness.

Even while an attempt is made to limit communication during classes, there are few limits outside of class.

Studies are showing that many teens are suffering from sleep deprivation, anxiety and in some cases depression caused by incessant computer and cell phone activity.

For all the connectedness these devices have given us, they have also left teens little private time and little relief from constant social pressure.

It should come as no surprise that many of them are exhausted.

Perhaps the worse element of this continuous communication is the tendency to make mistakes that simply cannot be undone.

Once a message is written or a picture is taken and sent, it is out there forever and in a public place where it can be quickly passed to many recipients for whom it was never intended.

Given the impulsive tendencies of teens, the level of exhaustion that limits judgment and the anonymity of punching a keyboard that results in less discretion than might be exhibited in the presence of someone else, a lot of bad stuff ends up flying around. Parents and educators see only the tip of the iceberg, I am certain.

I realize I come across as some kind of Luddite when I say things like this, but whenever a parent comes to me with a sheaf of paper full of poor behaviour, I often ask if they have considered taking away their child’s phone or computer. The response is almost universally the same, “Why would we punish our child for things others are doing to them?”

Instead, they expect me to discipline a child who sent a message to another student at midnight from their own home and resulted in their child having a sleepless night.

Seriously, if this was rare I wouldn’t mention it, but I’ve had this happen to me many times and the frequency and severity seem to be increasing. This, despite a significant emphasis within the educational system to try and reduce bullying and harassment of all kinds.

I don’t think I would be far off to say that most educators feel squeezed between the time they are asked to address social issues and the time they are expected to produce Rhodes Scholars in their classes.

There is a valiant effort being made to teach students appropriate and respectful behaviour, but it is being undermined by the immediacy of poor decision-making that comes with constant communication.

I read a heart-breaking story recently about a vivacious 18-year-old girl who texted a semi-nude picture of herself to her boyfriend. A few weeks later, the relationship having ended, her picture circulated through an entire school, where she became a Facebook and MySpace target, as well as a subject for hallway whispering and laughter that ended in a serious depression and eventual suicide, all within a month.

Exposure to ridicule for 24 hours a day would break even the strongest of us.

Educators do not have a lot of tools, or even much authority to govern the activity of students outside of the school day. The best we can do is educate students in appropriate behaviour and educate parents to monitor communication behaviour and, if necessary, take away the options at home.

I remain committed to the belief that a bedroom without a cell phone or an internet connection is the only way to ensure a decent night’s sleep for teens.

Perhaps if they get more sleep, they’ll be less impulsive in what they say and do.

Graham Hookey is an educator and writer (ghookey@yahoo.com).