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

washingtonpost.com

101–110 of 252 posts

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

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Parents have come to the mistaken conclusion that Johnny needs a smartphone to keep in touch during the day (why exactly is a great question). My wife's had parents call their kids in class . Just to, like, chat.

This is absolutely ridiculous to me. There's no way that parent could think that's acceptable. Do they not remember being in school? If you want to see your kid, come have lunch with them one day or something like that

There has developed this consensus over the past few years (which you also see reflected here on HN quite a lot) that school is essentially pointless and waste of time. If that is what you as a parent believe, then why should you take it seriously or care about what rules or wishes the school has?

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

#102

When phone addiction gets brought up, someone usually says that phones just serve the same function newspapers used to. I don't remember being in high school and everyone in class was reading the newspaper instead of paying attention to the teacher. Or that they would carry a spare newspaper in case one of their newspapers was confiscated.

I definitely smuggled comics into class to hide inside school books though. Specifically sat in the back whenever possible so no-one could see what I was actually reading.

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

#103

Schools need to ban phones entirely, and probably parents should be strongly encouraged to not give them phones. Realistically it should be banned before 18 except basic calling. >But many students — who use their phones for listening to music, arranging rides home, checking on grades or assignments — are unhappy with the crackdowns. Some check in with parents or coaches by text. Some think the decision should be the…

Just because students don’t need something doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be allowed. That’s quite a weak argument.

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

#104

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…

I didn't get my first real phone until after high school, while everyone else had one. I graduated salutatorian. I was able to focus on my homework after school for hours without distractions. I had a computer at home, but it was pretty crappy.

Sure you're able to complete school work without a phone. You're not able to have a normal social life though and for many parents that is more important than academic success.

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

#105
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry. I've seen lot of school administration treat students as things to be controlled, not people.

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.

That’s true. But the disdain and disrespect for students was just dripping from that comment. Is that someone you’d want teaching your kids?

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

#106
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> I'm actually embarrassed on behalf of any parents that think this way. You're setting your children up for all manner of failures when they hit the real world.

I don't have hard data on this, but from what I've observed there's a class divide, going about the way you'd expect.

Fussellian middle class and lower's the experimental group, Fussellian upper-middle and higher is the control group. Painting with a wide brush, sure, but that seems to be the state of things.

Parents' behavior and attitudes seem to differ above and below those lines, as do those of the kids, including how they treat kids who don't have phones.

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

#107
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand your concern towards the difficult situation and your immediate action to look out for your family. However, your anecdotal experience is still a "false positive" (fortunately), which doesn't allow us to conclude that, in the case of an actual emergency such as a school shooting, children with phones are statistically safer than children without phones. But I'm genuinely interested in such a study, and I…

I feel like a drama queen, because we (my immediate family) have had two near misses in 3 days. We were at the Allen Outlets and left 5 minutes before the shooting happened. 2 days later there's a school shooting threat at my son's high school. Nothing physical has happened to _us_. I can't stand up and say, "I lost a family member due to gun violence!". I still feel like things are spiraling out of control and there…

I think the main challenge is that true a solution can only be reached if the society as a whole faces the issue together. Meanwhile families are left on their own to try their (suboptimal) best.

I recently saw this youtube piece that shares the Swiss perspective on the topic of Gun ownership, and apart from some intended sarcasm in it that can bother viewers with distinct political views, the content has been worth watching:

- https://youtu.be/EkuMLId8SqE

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

#108
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…

You really don't see how phones made this situation worse for everyone involved? It just seems so obvious to me.

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

#109

But many students — who use their phones for listening to music, arranging rides home, checking on grades or assignments — are unhappy with the crackdowns. Some check in with parents or coaches by text. Some think the decision should be theirs, not a school dictate. Parents have been split on the issue, with many critics insisting their children need phones in case of an emergency. What kind of emergency can’t be han…

This is American, so presumably school shootings. We should probably solve the root cause, but the 2A death cult does a fabulous job keeping people convinced that MORE guns is the solution, completely ignoring damn near every statistic shows more guns lead to worse outcomes.

I don't understand how students having a phone helps in the case of school shootings. The school will call the police and any parents of students injured/killed will also be contacted by the school.

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

#110

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…

I didn’t have a phone until college but I still didn’t pay attention in class in high school. It seems like a fantasy to think that if not for smartphones students would be happily sitting quietly listening to teachers, then go home and studiously do their homework. That’s just never been the case at any point in history.

And people can still get hurt in car accidents, so we should just get rid of seatbelts, airbags, and crumple zones and dispense with the illusion of safety.
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