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France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

theguardian.com

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Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#181

Post by xexers »

JeanMarcS wrote: post #165
avip wrote: post #29

Sounds like pure common sense to me. Schools are implicitly responsible for the overall well-being of kids. Many schools ban smoking, sugary snacks/drinks, some dressing style (or non-dressing), makeup. Many parents would love to send their kids to schools without a phone, this will empower and support them.

Why did I had to scroll that far to finally find someone talking about the parents ! (or maybe I missed it) For me I find it astonishing that state have to make laws for common sense. When did it made sense to parents to let their kids go to school with a tool known for its distraction impact ? Some years ago, would you have send your kids to school with a portable tv ? The lack of parent education and common sense i…

> Some years ago, would you have send your kids to school with a portable tv ?

That's a really good example. No, they absolutely would not have tolerated that!

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#182

Post by smokeyj »

coldtea wrote: post #162
philamonster wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They are not, generally, breaking their attention away from class for some other kind of educational outlet (for which I am already fairly lenient when appropriate). They are sending their friends snaps, plays both games, and texting. I'm all for moderation but the kids I have come across in my K-12 experience, if they're not paying attention, are generally pretty bored out of their minds with whatever else is going…

>* I'm all for moderation but the kids I have come across in my K-12 experience, if they're not paying attention, are generally pretty bored out of their minds with whatever else is going on in the classroom. Which begs the question; whose fault could that possibly be? The child's or the adult in the room?* Well, the kids are supposed to learn things, not to be entertained. Sometimes the two can coincide, and it's gr…

The kids are fed a sugar cereal diet, get no exercise, and are told to sit still and learn damnit. Meanwhile the rest of their existence is highly stimulating video games and instant gratification.

I blame the adults.

The kids who are at school because they like to learn don't need a teacher. The other kids should learn to hunt and be strong.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#184

Post by GnarfGnarf »

Fantastic! Very positive move.

We are poisoning our minds with mobile technology. Future generations will view our use of cell phones like the radium watch factories (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls) or adding heroin to babies' cough syrup (http://www.businessinsider.com/yes-bayer-promoted-heroin-for...).

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#185

Post by matte_black »

watwut wrote: post #127
dazc wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a former introverted kid, I never liked being forced into situations where I might have to actually talk to some other person, especially of the opposite sex. But, I can look back and be grateful there were no smartphones to hide behind, otherwise there are some hang-ups I might never have gotten over.

Honestly, I don't get where special hung on talking with opposite gender comes from. Never had that problem, maybe because I was never in strictly single sex peer group. But something that would allow me to hide a bit in elementary scool would be welcome. I did not learned anything about communication when forced into those situations, I was just lonely and miserable.

When talking to the opposite gender some people worry they might be sending a wrong signal and imply a romantic or prurient interest when there might not be one, especially if they don't have a previous history of talking to the opposite gender very often.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#186

Post by eigenschwarz »

The scary thing about smartphones is how they might be permanently changing adolescent and teenage brains, and not in a good way.

Checking texts and emails, surfing the internet for information, and yes - even sites like HN and reddit - cause a dopamine surge in the brain that can lead to so-called 'dopamine loops' [1]. In such a crucial part of brain development, my fear is we are turning kids into the equivalent of 'lever-pushing monkeys' [2]. Certainly there is already evidence that smartphones might be contributing to negative development [3].

[1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/why-w...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axrywDP9Ii0

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/magazine/why-are-more-ame...

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#187

Post by cat199 »

d13 wrote: post #146
Montezuma_II wrote: post #25

I think this is a mainly positive move. Mobile phones are massive distractions to children, especially in a school context. When it comes to young children, I am skeptic to the use of digital technology in education in general. School should help incorporate good habits into a child's routine, such as reading books, and nailing reliance on phones into children is not something we want to be doing in schools.

If phones are providing children with a more stimulating experience than school, the schools themselves should improve their product, rather than banning the competition.

... when you are free-market-libertarian without a cause

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#188

Post by criddell »

germinalphrase wrote: post #153

TLDR: As a high school level teacher, this would be less of a problem if teachers had stronger enforcement powers. Since we often don't - I would strongly favor a ban. If students need a computer, we have them available all day, every day. As a high school level teacher, I appreciate the attitude that there are amazing opportunities for learning and skill development with computers. I agree with this wholeheartedly.…

At my kids' school, they encourage appropriate cell phone use in the school. For example, if there is a homework assignment on the board, rather than wait for everybody to copy it down, kids are told to take a picture of the board. They also insist on the kids using some kind of calendar to track everything and most kids use their phone calendar.

There's some kind of Twitter-like service that is used for teacher-student communication and of course they use email and Google Docs a lot.

My kids have had assignments that involve making a movie and their phone is their video camera.

If the kids want to use a computer, they can (they are all issued ThinkPads that are frankly awful) but I think most kids would prefer to use their phones when they can.

Also, the school has a pretty aggressive filter on the wifi so kids that want to access the internet in the school end up using their phone to get access to the things they need.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#189

Post by bluGill »

JeanMarcS wrote: post #165
avip wrote: post #29

Sounds like pure common sense to me. Schools are implicitly responsible for the overall well-being of kids. Many schools ban smoking, sugary snacks/drinks, some dressing style (or non-dressing), makeup. Many parents would love to send their kids to schools without a phone, this will empower and support them.

Why did I had to scroll that far to finally find someone talking about the parents ! (or maybe I missed it) For me I find it astonishing that state have to make laws for common sense. When did it made sense to parents to let their kids go to school with a tool known for its distraction impact ? Some years ago, would you have send your kids to school with a portable tv ? The lack of parent education and common sense i…

Phones do have useful purposes for children. When school is in session that purposes is limited to calling 911 (the emergency number in the US). However once school is over it lets the student tell their ride (maybe their parent, maybe someone else already arranged) exactly when soccer practice is over and arrange a meeting place.

Note very carefully that the useful uses of a phone are a small percentage of all the functions a phone offers. I've considered buying my kids a phone watch with 3 buttons: call mom, call dad, call [someone else but I can't figure out who]. Of course phone watches have been in the news for serious privacy concerns, but that is unrelated to the need.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#190

Post by saint_fiasco »

seszett wrote: post #96
latch wrote: post #17

Shouldn't this be a matter for individual schools or school boards (the article says some already have this in place)? I like the policy, but as I get older, I wonder why we have so many laws that control so much of what we can and can't do. I agree this one's pretty benign, but it still seems like an excess of authority. When I was in school, if I distracted another student or played on my calculator, I'd get in tro…

> Shouldn't this be a matter for individual schools or school boards (the article says some already have this in place)? The policy for National Education in France is to have as little difference as possible between schools. Parents cannot readily choose the school their children go to, as well (unless they switch to a private school, but this is marginal, and it costs money) so it makes sense to have them all have…

But you don't know for sure what those broad needs and behaviors are. If every school is forced to implement a policy and they are wrong about the policy, it will be impossible for them to find out because there will be no way to make a comparison.
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