WITH exams time upon us, many parents are becoming vigilant over their kids to ensure that they are all smiles on the delivery of the school report.

While time management, focus and dedication may be the tools to ensure that one guarantees themselves a pass when the results are announced, the truth is there are many distractions that may prevent your kids from studying.

Could your kids do without some gadgets that may be hindering their concentration? And what are other factors that can distract your child?

Sowetan spoke to Tebello Mvelase, a high school teacher from St Teresa Combined School in Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape, who lists, in her experience, critical distraction traps that scholars fall for, which tend to have dire consequences.

"Firstly, most scholars don't study enough. We always tend to say this to no avail, but the recommended study time for scholars is everyday.

So with all the distraction available nowadays, the results can be catastrophic.

"When your child is being taught something in school, it's imperative that they go back home and revise what we discussed in class that day.

This is to avoid cramming towards exams time. So the first thing I would say for parents is to ensure that everyday, your child has a period at home when their head is in those books," she says.

Mvelase says that in her opinion, the biggest distractions that prevent this studying pattern from happening are the following:

lSocial Networks

Mvelase says this has to be the biggest distraction by far.

"BBM, Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp have taken over. These kids are forever chatting and neglecting their books in the meantime, forgetting that being active on social networks will not bear anything fruitful for them," she says.

Lindiwe Motaung, a mother to a high scholar currently on matric in Ennerdale, Johannesburg, agrees.

"I made sure my child deleted Whatsapp. It is such a craze, and a total distraction from her studies.

I even log into my Whatsapp daily just to check if [it is] still deactivated," she says.

Motaung says that her daughter was understanding and did not protest when she asked her to get off social networks.

lTelevision and Laptops

Mvelase says being addicted to programmes on TV or movie sharing on computers and laptops are also a major problem.

"The first thing most kids do when they get home is to tune into VUZU! It's not even educational programmes they are engrossed with but series and movies.

"They even procrastinate doing homework or studying, and always say 'I'll go after Isibaya'. After Isibaya there's something else. Gradually, the mind gets lazy and they end up not doing any work," she says.

lRomance

While not a gadget per say, romantic relationships can completely distract your child, says Mvelase. "Your child being in this relationship tends to be a complete time consumer. Time that could have been spent studying.

They get home, and at some point they get a call to come outside and see their lover, or they need to speak to him before they sleep - and end up talking away on the phone. All a total waste of precious time."

l Alcohol and Partying

The abuse of alcohol is a reality for most school kids, according to Mvelase.

"I've seen monstrosities of kids loitering around town and around taverns, blind drunk, and not giving a hoot about their studies. Most kids give in to peer pressure."

lMusic Apps

While there is no question that most school kids with an access to a compatible cellphone have music on it, some kids have made the claim that listening to music helps them with their studying, a fact Dr Matilda Molefe, a clinical psychologist, says she is skeptical about.

"I don't understand how teens can claim listening to music helps with their studying, especially when the music has lyrics.

If it was soothing, calming music, I'd understand.

But for the most part, those claiming to be studying while listening to songs aren't studying at all."

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