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

Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 252 posts

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#81

Post by yamtaddle »

coldpie wrote: post #44
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But still, it's not a thing that should be used in most classes, and it doesn't belong there. Even back in time when "snake" was the best mobile "app" around (so old nokia times), if a student used a phone in class, the teacher would take it away, and a parent would have to come and pick it up in school.

> Even back in time when "snake" was the best mobile "app" around (so old nokia times), Yeah, it's not 1998 anymore. Taking away Snake is not the same as taking away a student's entire social network. It's a hard problem, certainly, and we need to find solutions for it. But the situation has changed and the old solutions aren't acceptable anymore.

> Taking away Snake is not the same as taking away a student's entire social network.

... during the school day. When they probably have several opportunities to talk IRL with the same kids. Hardly traumatic.

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#82

Post by saiya-jin »

ethbr0 wrote: post #2

There's a phrase for something that people can't stop using -- addictive substance. We (and companies) need to ditch the equivocation and be honest about what we created. ( Edit ) > Parents have been split on the issue, with many critics insisting their children need phones in case of an emergency. Is a red herring and justification for helicopter parents to normalize their micromanaging. Someone shouldn't be texting…

I think this goes a bit deeper on a forum like this. Like it or not, many many many folks here work for companies enabling this addiction.

One thing I've noticed over my 20 years in business - many, often very bright folks need to feel they work a moral job, doing good for the world. So far so good. But then we meet reality of gray office jobs with unclear positive/negative rating, ie working in bank is bad? But which type of bank and which job? Classic retail ones don't do crises, they store money for common folks so they don't keep it under mattress, and give loans to start businesses. Or working for google, is it the great-maps-for-free or tracking-the-hell-out-of-ya one? Same for facebook etc.

I am fairly strict on this topic and agree with you - we've created unparalleled addiction devices. Don't trust me, random stranger, check almost any kid with phone, which is almost any kid. Check their habits, ask parents, ask at school. Its pretty consistent and dark picture. There are ways to lesser the problem, but problem at its core is seemingly too hard - maybe kids actually shouldn't have their phones, rationing is already dealing with addicted (=fucked up for life) situation. Fucking up entire generation isn't balanced with saving few lives, even as a parent that's a completely stupid approach from any angle. Maybe we shouldn't listen to only most vocal folks in our communities? The loudest ones often have unresolved mental issues that distort otherwise good discussions badly.

But then we go even deeper - growing up kids these days is darn hard. State doesn't help much actually, if you are far away from close family and are not one of those few family-only types who can find life fulfillment for 2 decades straight, without any meaningful break, in just parenting. So folks little by little give up on being a perfect parent, and to have some time off they allow it. And then there is peer pressure. Remember a generation ago kids spent their lives in front of TV? And our parents didn't care that much, did they (little yes, but actually going and finding a new cool hobby for their kid? rare)

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#83

Post by jtreminio »

heartbreak wrote: post #48
jtreminio wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is a red herring and justification for helicopter parents to normalize their micromanaging. We live in Plano, TX, just a few minutes south of the Allen Outlet massacre. Yesterday my son texted me at noon "Shooting threat at school" and "It’s a rumor though but a lot of people are leaving anyway". You can bet your life I was in my car and speeding down the street to get him out ASAP within 60 seconds of receiving th…

> You can bet your life I was in my car and speeding down the street to get him out ASAP within 60 seconds of receiving the text. There are multiple layers of “bad” with this. If there is a threat, you’re hindering emergency response. Regardless, you’re putting everyone at risk by “speeding down the street.”

I know the general consensus is that I did a bad thing with my reaction. I get it.

I don't trust law enforcement to do the right thing. I don't trust that grown adults sworn to serve and protect would act quickly to neutralize a threat that's not against themselves or their loved ones.

I see Uvalde playing out more than once in the future.

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#84

Post by pupppet »

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #45
jtreminio wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is a red herring and justification for helicopter parents to normalize their micromanaging. We live in Plano, TX, just a few minutes south of the Allen Outlet massacre. Yesterday my son texted me at noon "Shooting threat at school" and "It’s a rumor though but a lot of people are leaving anyway". You can bet your life I was in my car and speeding down the street to get him out ASAP within 60 seconds of receiving th…

285 children have died in US school shootings since 1764. In 2021, 50 million students were enrolled in public schools in prekindergarten to grade 12. That's a 0.00057% chance your kid dies in a school shooting. You are being hysterical.

74 have been hurt or killed in a school shooting in just 2023.

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#85

Post by throwaway22032 »

coldpie wrote: post #44
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But still, it's not a thing that should be used in most classes, and it doesn't belong there. Even back in time when "snake" was the best mobile "app" around (so old nokia times), if a student used a phone in class, the teacher would take it away, and a parent would have to come and pick it up in school.

> Even back in time when "snake" was the best mobile "app" around (so old nokia times), Yeah, it's not 1998 anymore. Taking away Snake is not the same as taking away a student's entire social network. It's a hard problem, certainly, and we need to find solutions for it. But the situation has changed and the old solutions aren't acceptable anymore.

Dude you're in class.

It's not taking away the entire social network. It's segregating work and play time.

If anything, we need to teach kids to lean in to the people around them, not wander off into Internet rabbit holes.

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#86

Post by mdgrech23 »

Octokiddie wrote: post #9

Parents have not idea whatsoever of the destruction that phones have wrought on the education system, both in the large and in the small. Students who claim otherwise are gaslighting their parents. Parents are unfortunately all too willing to believe the lies because of course their child is above average and would never completely tune out of class for another hit on the electronic crack pipe. At this point, the pro…

Let's be real - parents want their kids to have phones at school b/c of school shootings.

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#87

Post by otachack »

jtreminio wrote: post #11
ethbr0 wrote: post #2

There's a phrase for something that people can't stop using -- addictive substance. We (and companies) need to ditch the equivocation and be honest about what we created. ( Edit ) > Parents have been split on the issue, with many critics insisting their children need phones in case of an emergency. Is a red herring and justification for helicopter parents to normalize their micromanaging. Someone shouldn't be texting…

> Is a red herring and justification for helicopter parents to normalize their micromanaging. We live in Plano, TX, just a few minutes south of the Allen Outlet massacre. Yesterday my son texted me at noon "Shooting threat at school" and "It’s a rumor though but a lot of people are leaving anyway". You can bet your life I was in my car and speeding down the street to get him out ASAP within 60 seconds of receiving th…

I understand your point of being able to react to situations faster.

The key word is "react". It's disappointing and shameful that there's an apparent need for kids to have phones because of prevalent school shootings. If you aren't advocating for gun reform yet I hope you and others jump on board soon so that we can squash that fear and move on to mitigating the damage these computers in our pockets are causing to children and teens.

There was a time where school shootings weren't a primary concern and it was in my lifetime. It is possible to get back to that. We need to fight for it because it's not fair to the students that are traversing the school system, their families, and the ever climbing numbers of dead or harmed babies, children, teens, young adults, adults, and elderly and all living relatives affected by gun violence.

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#88

Post by LanceH »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #70
smolder wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're half-formed people who do often need their behavior controlled in some way. Some students or student bodies may be mature enough to be responsible for themselves, but not all.

There's a stark difference between setting boundaries and treating people like objects. I've experienced both. Some schools are really good. The private K-12 religious school I went to treated kids like people and still set boundaries. The local public high school did the same. The public grade school was a horror show. College was particularly interesting. Most of the administration did not care about students as pe…

> There's a stark difference between setting boundaries and treating people like objects.

You need to talk to work with some high schoolers then. There is a large chunk of that population that the school is in their orbit. They casually treat people like objects. They don't just tune out, but actively disrupt anything going on, ruining the days of teachers, staff and students -- for sport.

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#89

Post by ilikecakeandpie »

phyllistine wrote: post #40
ilikecakeandpie wrote: post #21

> many critics insisting their children need phones in case of an emergency The school could always call the parent, or the parent could always call the school, right? Does the minute it might take the kid to answer the phone at the teacher's desk or walk to the office make that much of a difference? The only way I see this being something that's truly time critical is if they're using "emergency" as a euphemism for…

> The only way I see this being something that's truly time critical is if they're using "emergency" as a euphemism for school shooting. Parents are regularly getting notified about school shootings several minutes before the police. I absolutely do not want a school taking my kid's phone in this increasingly common case.

I get that, and maybe I'm being incredibly naive, but can't the schools utilize existing pipelines to inform the parents immediately? When we had a snow day, they'd call with an automated message and let us all know. Isn't there something in place to do the same for emergency situations? If not, wouldn't that be something relatively simple to build?

Re: Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough

#90

Post by hypertele-Xii »

pupppet wrote: post #84
hypertele-Xii wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

285 children have died in US school shootings since 1764. In 2021, 50 million students were enrolled in public schools in prekindergarten to grade 12. That's a 0.00057% chance your kid dies in a school shooting. You are being hysterical.

74 have been hurt or killed in a school shooting in just 2023.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_th...

This list says 11 dead and 6 injured in 2023, but I concede that it omits incidents with fewer than 4 dead.

Post reply on HN