Live data from Hacker News

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

washingtonpost.com

121–130 of 252 posts

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

#121
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a parent of two school aged kids, one of whom attends school 10 minutes away. In a state that's had multiple school shootings as well. I still accept that if something happens, it's going to play out before I rambo in and fix things. I have firearms in the house and am trained in their use, but I'm not a professional. In a chaotic, lethal situation, even my presence as a transporter is only going to increase conf…

(4) preventing crazy people from acquiring firearms in the first place.

Never going to happen in the US, because it's antithetical to the current interpretation of the Constitution and because half the country doesn't trust the government to define "crazy" (or uses distrust as an excuse because they actually don't care / NRA).

Sadly, I think statistically it would help a lot. Obviously wouldn't completely solve the problem, but you have to have something pretty wrong with you to want to murder a lot of people at your school. And that likely shows up in other behavior.

But then, to me, "temporarily take guns away from a small segment of the population who has demonstrated, serious mental health issues" doesn't seem like a slippery slope. So I guess I'm on the "other side" of the issue. :/

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

#122
post #35

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…

So how in heavens did your country manage to survive the 300 years prior to 2008?

Muzzle loading firearms?

It makes mass shootings a lot harder.

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

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have their "internet social networks" before and after class, just not during. If they still use it during, being without until a parent can pick it up is an apropriate punishment. Also, the kids are _in school_, their social networks are sitting in chairs, walking down the halls and eating in the cafeterias all around them. 45 minutes without checking instagram won't kill anyone.

> Also, the kids are _in school_, their social networks are sitting in chairs, walking down the halls and eating in the cafeterias all around them. In my experience, not really. Many young people these days are extremely online, chatting with people from all over the country & world, in addition to their local friend group. It's pretty wild. > 45 minutes without checking instagram won't kill anyone. Hey, see, we're a…

That's a gross misinterpretation of what I said and I suspect that you know it.

Phones if used in class would be confiscated for the whole day.

That doesn't mean that they couldn't be used during breaks under normal circumstances.

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

#124
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

What did these people not learn in school?

I know there are autodidactic folks, but I would know substantially less basic math, biology, chemistry, English, and history if I hadn't gone to grade school.

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

#125

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.

IMHO, there's a big difference between doodling, making paper airplanes, trying to wordlessly communicate with friends, etc. vs cell phones.

At minimum, the previous boredom regime taught you how to (a) be okay with nothing happening & (b) use your creativity to amuse yourself using the materials and capabilities at hand.

Both of those skills seem to have atrophied in post-smartphone generations.

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

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

jtreminio says:"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."

Your decision, were it properly weighed, would have to also assume that you could do better somehow but that is impossible (even if you were John Wick or Jason Bourne).

The hubris you display is enormous! Imagine that the American embassy had dropped an Chinese-American citizen into the middle of the square during the Tiananmen Massacre and demanded that he rescue the man under the tank!

Emotions got the better of you - you're in denial. There are a few more steps before you'll admit that retrieving your child was a futile and risky act for you, him and everyone else.

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

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How old are your kids? What do you think of their current level of cell phone usage?

Eldest is 10. No phones yet. We're getting them a dumb phone to share for certain situations, soon. They can get a smartphone when they can buy it and pay for the plan on their own. No taking it to school. [EDIT] My main concern over the next few years is social pressure of the "you have no phone, so your family must be poor" sort. We've had a 2nd grader teased for being poor because she "only has one backpack". LOL.…

Yes, I think that will be a challenging approach to take :) I do wish more people were as thoughtful about it as you are. Setting good phone & Internet habits is really, really hard for everybody, students & adults included. Hopefully setting some good examples early will help them with that later.

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

#128

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.

We WERE at the Allen Outlets on Saturday. We left 5 minutes before the shooting began. If I had purchased one more item from a store we would have been right there. Tell me again how I am being hysterical. This country is going down in flames and not everyone can see the fire.

You are hysterical, possibly b/c your interpretation is pessimistic. But most people interpret such an occurrence as a sign they are lucky.

I recommend you adopt such an attitude b/c it is healthier and b/c, when your story is retold, people will often want to touch you (so that the "good luck" rubs off on them)!

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

#129
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…

>active shooter situation I feel like active shooters shouldn't be a situation in a school in the first place.

Sure it shouldn't be but it's the America we have and it's constitutionally difficult to do anything about it with the current interpretation of our second amendment in the Supreme Court.

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

#130

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.

You've computed, incorrectly but that's not relevant here, P(his kid dies in a school shooting).

What you should have computed is P(his kid dies in a school shooting|rumor of shooting threat at school that enough people believe that they are leaving the school).

Post reply on HN