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The academic performance of students is not only influenced by the quality of teachers and the schools. Previous studies show that the participation of parents is a key element in the academic performance of their children (Rabiu et al., 2016). Given the challenges associated with the academic use of smartphones, the level of parental involvement is key to ensuring the effectiveness of the device as a learning tool. The students raised three areas in which parental involvement has been observed in support of their children’s use of smartphones for learning purposes. These include monitoring, financial support, and, to some extent, technical support.

5.3.1.1 Monitoring

The issue of monitoring the use of smartphone has been echoed by almost all the students, and while the teachers take the monitoring role at school, the parents are required to fill in the gap and monitor children as they use the devices at home. Therefore, the need for parental monitoring, to ensure that there is no abuse of the smartphone, cannot be overemphasised. Students whose parents monitor them expressed their appreciation of the role they are playing. They guide them, children, away from abusing the technology, protecting them from subsequent effects of smartphone overuse, such as addiction. I noted with concern that many students use passwords to restrict access to their phones by other people. However, there are indications that their parents have been granted access to those passwords to allow them to check on their children. Other students advocate not using passwords on their phones, to allow free access by their parents at any time. Students reported that their parents occasionally view their phones to check ongoing

activities as a way of monitoring, to avoid abuse. The student MK indicated that he does not read newspapers on the phone because his parents do not support this. This shows that some parents dictate what their children can and cannot do on their smartphones. Some parents, as a control measure, give their children a timetable of when they may use the smartphone. However, the effectiveness of each monitoring strategy depends on the consistency of the parent, and the willingness of the child to be assisted. Other students, such as Denzel, claim that they have gained the trust of their parents; Denzel’s parents know that he is responsible, so they do not normally monitor his use of the phone.

Most of the participating parents have demonstrated that they are conscious of their role in monitoring smartphone use by their children. Some indicated that they have resorted to spot checking or random checks on the activities on their child’s phone for any signs of abuse. Others have drawn up a timetable for use by the child so that he or she knows when to use the device. However, some children feel that their parents are not doing enough to support them. I have noted with concern that parents should not ignore their role of teaching and be cautioning their children about the dos and don’ts of using the smartphone. It is the duty of the parent to educate and advise children on what they expect from them when they use these smartphones bought for them as learning tools. The problem is that parents seem to be too busy to check on what their children are doing, who they relate with, and the content they are exposed to.

5.3.1.2 Financial support

The participating students in this study all rely on the financial support of their parents to purchase the smartphone, buy data bundles, and service the devices. On purchasing the devices, students emphasised the need for parents to consider an appropriate phone with specifications that allow the device to handle large volumes of data. It must have applications to enable them to use the device as a learning tool, rather than a highly sophisticated phone which may not be durable. Teachers also concurred with the students on the need for parents to support their children through the purchasing of appropriate devices for academic use. Besides purchasing of the smartphones, parents also have a responsibility of paying for data bundles to allow the children to access the Internet from home. The only challenge may be that some parents lack the financial capability of purchasing the device for the children. This may be the reason for some students at Harare High School still not using smartphones for academic purposes; this despite the school having played its part in encouraging students to use this technology for learning purposes.

5.3.1.3 Technical support

Some students have indicated that their parents assist them by guiding them on how to use the smartphone and the Internet for research. It should be noted that, while most students enjoy the support of their parents on the use of the smartphone, there are others who complain of lack of support. Students like Casino lament the lack of support from his father but appreciate the role played by his mother. Some parents also indicated that they have to teach their children how to use the Internet for research without abusing it. It may be noted from the findings of this study that parental involvement among the students varies from one student or parent to the other. Researchers support this by asserting that the level of parental participation may differ among parents (Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003). For example, if a mother is a parent of young children, her involvement level may be different from that of the mother of a secondary school child. On the other hand, the father’s involvement level with children’s learning activities differs from that of the mother in a family set-up. Levels of involvement with their children’s education also differ from educated vis-à-vis uneducated parents.

In this context, the level of education of a parent determines the extent to which he or she can assist a child on technical issues of smartphone utilisation. The family’s economic status, family background, and social environment also dictate the level of the parents’ involvement in all issues to do with the academic use of smartphones. Some parents still have negative perceptions of the academic use of the smartphone: they still view it as an abomination, according to one parent’s submission. Such parents will unfortunately not offer any support to their children when it comes to the academic use of this technology. There is, therefore, a need to deal with the attitudes and perceptions of such parents in order for its use to be effective in education.

5.4 Recommendations given by students for the improvement or precautions to consider for effective