Former Muay Thai fighter Joe Nattawut shares his personal experience on the viral trend of a teacher’s post about students.
On 7 Aug 2026 GMT+7, a viral teacher’s post said, “I’ve been a teacher since ’94. My first students are now 45+. I’ve taught their parents and even their children and grandchildren. None have been as unruly as these damn Gen Z kids again.”
This sparked widespread discussion from many perspectives, becoming a social issue. Joe Nattawut, former Muay Thai fighter with ONE, spoke out from his own experience about why this happens.
Joe Nattawut said, “Parents fully raise their kids with phones. I have to say that some kids do well using phones because their parents set clear boundaries—when to use phones, when it’s family time.”
“But I’ve seen many parents let their kids use phones all the time, which harms their brains, causes short attention spans, poor eyesight, and inability to listen. They become self-centered. From direct experience, I’ve seen at convenience stores parents shopping while kids play games on phones. When parents try to take the phones away, kids say no, refuse food, throw tantrums. Even 4- to 7-year-olds can be aggressive like this. Experts and doctors have warned about this, yet many parents still let kids use phones continuously. The cause isn’t all phones, but phones play a big part. Without phones, the kids throw tantrums.”