Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

321–330 of 358 posts

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

#321

Post by chrisper »

pishpash wrote: post #293
chrisper wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who had unsupervised access to the internet as a child, I turned out to be just fine. But maybe beacause the internet was way different back then. (I am talking dial up era intrent). To me after all these years the "new" internet got a dystopian image. If I had a child, I'd provide them unsupervised access to the internet I remember, but certainly not to the one from today.

A network is the sum of its users. Today's internet is, if not dystopian, at least a fairly adult place.

It may be the sum of the users but it is not an equal sum. Companies like Google and Facebook make up too much of that sum.

And don't get me started on all the scummy people and sites online.

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

#322

Post by jesperlang »

110011 wrote: post #121

The way mobile phones are being used in the present day, by both children and adults alike, is unhealthy and at the very least it can be said that the potential ill effects are not very well understood. Much like how research into the ill effects of smoking were not properly understood during its heydays in the early 20th century when it was a sign of social sophistication and took many decades before a conclusive li…

> erosion of the ability to confront boredom (let alone the skill to turn it into something useful)

I think this is greatly underestimated. In those moments when you just stare, your surroundings intepret it as fading out with a blank mind, when you're actually doing things like reflection, planning, fantasizing, etc. Very pleasant mental tasks!

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

#323

Post by overcast »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #37

I think this is a bad move. When I was in school, I didn't want to carry heavy books all the time. I downloaded Shakespeare and other eBooks, and wrote my own script to convert the text into 1000-character iPod Notes. When someone forgot their book to class, I could share mine with them. Will other portable electronics be banned, or only communication devices? What about the Ti-84 calculator, which is still required…

Oh come on, that's like saying bit torrents are used for downloading legitimate software. No one uses it for those purposes, just like no kid is using their ipod/ipad/iphone/iwhatever for downloading and scripting Shakespeare for class. You are an EXTREME outlier.

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

#324

Post by dang »

setecgastronomy wrote: post #295
baldfat wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids are getting addicted. This is all happening prior to puberty. I still remember working with children and teens and found out, throu…

> Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. Why? > People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. Well advise the kids of the dangers. I and most of my friends had unsupervised internet access. We are all doing fine. > This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids a…

We've banned this account for getting involved in flamewars. If you want to comment here, you need to read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and take those rules to heart. That means being strictly civil, avoiding flamebait, and especially no personal attacks.

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

#325

Post by ornitorrincos »

aluhut wrote: post #83
pavelludiq wrote: post #45

I had a flip phone with no internet in HS, I played minesweeper on it about half a day everyday at school. It was the only way I had of staying awake during some of my classes. I literally fell asleep during class if I didn't have some stimulation. Not having that would've been a torture since falling asleep is a good way to get in trouble. Before I had my phone I drew. About 90% of my ink expenditure in school was d…

Is this HN's version of r/iamverysmart?

I find an age divider here, when I was joung a cell phone was something my parents had one, as such I took to class some magazines to read, no matter what bored pupil will find something, regardless academics, no one is special for being bored

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

#326

Post by dang »

baldfat wrote: post #312
setecgastronomy wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. Why? > People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. Well advise the kids of the dangers. I and most of my friends had unsupervised internet access. We are all doing fine. > This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids a…

LOL Techmeme River : http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2017/12/... > > Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. > Why? Your reasoning with kids. Sure when they are teenagers that's great but children need more than a reasoning parent. Children need to be protected and above everything feel safe. The internet is not a safe place for children nor just YouTube for kids without…

> Hey buddy if I could swear at you I would

It's against the rules here to get involved in flamewars and especially to get personal like this. I realize some topics are personally intense and one isn't always able to contain the intensity, but in such cases we need to take a step back and not contribute to the downward spiral.

The rules at https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html are simple and not easy, and we need everyone to stick to them.

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

#327

Post by baldfat »

chrisper wrote: post #280
baldfat wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids are getting addicted. This is all happening prior to puberty. I still remember working with children and teens and found out, throu…

As someone who had unsupervised access to the internet as a child, I turned out to be just fine. But maybe beacause the internet was way different back then. (I am talking dial up era intrent). To me after all these years the "new" internet got a dystopian image. If I had a child, I'd provide them unsupervised access to the internet I remember, but certainly not to the one from today.

Another Reason to keep a close eye on your children's phones and need adult supervision.

"Users are swarming young girls and asking them to do inappropriate things. And the live-streaming app hasn't been able to stop them."

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2017/12/...

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

#328

Post by bluGill »

JeanMarcS wrote: post #292
bluGill wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 f…

I understand your point of view but parents managed to do without cell phones for decades and it was not a problem. Apart from the 911 example, it seems to me that parents are buying them a convenience (not sure of this word) in not having to wait 5mn more if the practice is not over when they show up. In fact, it’s like letting the tv rise your kids because it’s easier and give you time back. On a last point, I agre…

You are correct. Convenience is the reason. So is most everything else - unless you sleep in a cave and cook over and open fire...

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

#329

Post by ACow_Adonis »

baldfat wrote: post #278
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.

Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids are getting addicted. This is all happening prior to puberty. I still remember working with children and teens and found out, throu…

I'm torn on the issue.

On the one hand, I view the early internet as saving me/raising me. I detested school, still do. Sure there were dangers back then too, but that's why we learnt to be skeptics, anonymous, question people's motives, and actually understand the technology.

On the other hand, social networks weren't around, videos weren't really around, advertising wasn't around, nothing was monetized, there was no such thing as a Webcam, no such thing as a mobile. By the stage of the internet, I was well and truly addicted to reading.

If I had children, I'd probably want to restrict them from phones and social media, at least until they learnt to love reading, learnt to concentrate without distractions, and skepticism/pushing back against social messages.

Simultaneously, I feel my current life would have been worse off without early access to the internet...

Edit: in case it's not clear, I think this is generally a good thing. It may do us good to remember this isn't the first time technology has tried to insert itself into the classroom. Television was supposed to revolutionize teaching, but most of us now would be hard pressed to believe that TV in the classroom is generally a good thing (the teacher generally used them when they were lazy or needed some time off). Let's not kid ourselves, the MAIN purpose/use, like TV, of phones and tablets are currently media consumption and social communication, not learning.

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

#330

Post by aperrien »

baldfat wrote: post #327
chrisper wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who had unsupervised access to the internet as a child, I turned out to be just fine. But maybe beacause the internet was way different back then. (I am talking dial up era intrent). To me after all these years the "new" internet got a dystopian image. If I had a child, I'd provide them unsupervised access to the internet I remember, but certainly not to the one from today.

Another Reason to keep a close eye on your children's phones and need adult supervision. "Users are swarming young girls and asking them to do inappropriate things. And the live-streaming app hasn't been able to stop them." http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2017/12/...

You know it bugs me, but why can't we find the people abusing chat services to do these things? Are there that many of them? I'd like to hope that the percentage of men who are scum is not that high, but recent events have shaken that theory.
Post reply on HN