Parenting expert tired of 'Back2School' trend online urges parents to sort out their priorities

The pressure of being on par with social media trends often gets to parents too. As children kickstart their new school year, many parents hop onto the "back to school" reels bandwagon on social media. In the process of flaunting their excitement and relief at sending their kids back to school, they fail to anticipate the repercussions of the trend. A renowned parenting expert, Jo Frost (@jofrost), who is popularly known as the "supernanny" on Instagram decided to give such parents a reality check about what they are getting their children into. 

In her post from this August, Frost reproached the parents who post "back to school" reels and emphasized how it impacts their child. "So now I'm watching 7-, 8-, or 9-year-olds doing back-to-school morning routine as posts! Parents, what on earth are you thinking? No Seriously?" the supernanny wrote in the caption. The problem with this trend, as per Frost, was the lack of family time for the kids while getting ready for school. "A time when the family connection should be at its highest, a smooth operation of a well-practiced routine of breakfast together, where life skills foster a mindset of focus and attention, and the privilege of education is fully appreciated," she explained. 

On top of the already problematic parenting practice that allows children to have screen time in the mornings, this new trend of involving children in social media trends bothered the parenting expert. She then urged parents to take responsibility. "I'm tired of hearing that, when anybody speaks the truth, they are shaming. This is not shaming. You can do so much better for your children and you must! You must," Frost insisted. Her advice to parents was to "get their priorities straight," and let children be children. "They need hugs a warm smile a morning kiss, not you with a setup camera producing or allowing it," the supernanny added. 

Frost highlighted that it's important for parents to let their kids "embrace positive energy" before starting their school day. "Nobody wants grandiose children. Do you really understand what you are breeding here in your home?" the parenting expert said. In fact, Frost had a term to for parents who involve their children in such "morning routine" performances on social media. "'Performative Pareting,' a term I coined to reflect such behavior from parents, is not it," Frost pointed out. The supernanny's post garnered over 27,000 likes and hundreds of internet users nodded in agreement with her.

"Yes! Thank you, Jo! Imagine the damage of growing up with a camera constantly in your face," said @anti_breakfast. "As a preschool teacher, you are 100% correct. Children no longer play in the class they only imitate what they see in the movie in the car. They can’t squeeze play dough because they only swipe and have very little hand strength. This a huge problem so thank you for saying this!" chimed in @ajfeldman2018. "It blows my mind that other parents have time for all of that in the morning. We are up bright and early and still don’t have time for a whole production. I just about have time for a back-to-school picture before my son runs to the bus," added @kellie_ann_83.

You can follow Jo Frost (@jofrost) on Instagram for more parenting content.