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Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

theguardian.com

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Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#231

Post by thatfrenchguy »

adhesive_wombat wrote: post #145
bgribble wrote: post #42

My kid just graduated from a NYC high school that had a complete ban on phones in school. The kids checked in their phones at the front desk on the way in and got them back when leaving. It was by no means watertight -- many (most?) kids had a "burner" phone that was dead or broken or whatever that they turned in (because nobody would believe a highschooler who said they didn't have their phone with them lol) and the…

For an emergency lifeline phone, a non-smartphone would be more robust, be far cheaper and have longer battery life.

Apple watches?

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#232

Post by ParetoOptimal »

BeetleB wrote: post #141
dotnet00 wrote: post #50

Going against HN's usual anti-smartphone thing, I think this is incredibly dumb. Luckily no one really cares much about what UNESCO calls for. Outright bans on smartphones in schools are no different from the video game, TV screen time, "kids will only play games on computers" and other related superstitions that were in vogue back in the early 2000s. All they did was make parents feel validated (without having to pu…

I think the problem is more about social media than smartphones. A recent study did a survey[1] of parents who had allowed their teenage kids to use social media. The results were pretty significant. Every parent in the survey said it was a big mistake in retrospect. Lots of problems, from addiction to depression. [1] I don't recall what the N was.

Is it possible to disallow mobile internet (without blocking actual phone usage) and force students to use school WiFi that blocks social media?

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#233

Post by ant6n »

retrac wrote: post #66
bgribble wrote: post #42

My kid just graduated from a NYC high school that had a complete ban on phones in school. The kids checked in their phones at the front desk on the way in and got them back when leaving. It was by no means watertight -- many (most?) kids had a "burner" phone that was dead or broken or whatever that they turned in (because nobody would believe a highschooler who said they didn't have their phone with them lol) and the…

> My 12 year old can take the subway to school by himself, but ONLY if he has a phone in case he ends up in some wackadoodle situation where his train has gone express or is on another train line and he needs to call his lifeline (me!) to figure out how to work it out. I was taking the subway to school by myself at 12 in Toronto (maybe a slightly less intense city, to be fair). I'm not sure about NYC but in Toronto i…

In Berlin, at that age I didnt need anybody to explain the system to me anymore. Just use a map.

The NYC subway is on a whole 'nother level. Things like local trains suddenly running express because of crowding, or temporary service patterns like „the J-train is now running on the F-line between 22nd and 58th“ (u have to know from context thats Manhattan, not Brooklyn). And of course these announcements ate barely discernible, the loudspeakers require 15 years of training to understand.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#234

Post by sunflowerfly »

rainclouds wrote: post #79
retrac wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My 12 year old can take the subway to school by himself, but ONLY if he has a phone in case he ends up in some wackadoodle situation where his train has gone express or is on another train line and he needs to call his lifeline (me!) to figure out how to work it out. I was taking the subway to school by myself at 12 in Toronto (maybe a slightly less intense city, to be fair). I'm not sure about NYC but in Toronto i…

Turning red is accurate /verified. The only place I’ve personally witnessed wide spread mass transit use for youth in school is Japan. Totally normal and feels safe.

I have seen a few young kids in school uniforms on the tube in London. Most, but not all, seem to have a chaperone. Two or three young kids traveling together is not unusual. We only noticed it because it is becoming unusual to see kids walking to school even here in rural America. They all get dropped off until they are old enough to drive (14/15 here). It probably does not help that community schools are getting replaced with massive schools on the outskirts (where large parcels of land are still available) of town.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#235

Post by callalex »

cubefox wrote: post #144

There is a massive increase in teen depression since around 2012: https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/teen-d... This is totally unprecedented. It is likely that the addictive quality of smartphones and social media are the cause. They are replacing physical contacts with virtual ones. There is a serious argument to be made to outright ban teenagers from owning smartphones until the age of 16, simila…

Climate change and the anxiety it causes is another factor to be considered here.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#236

Post by AnnikaL »

Beldur wrote: post #8

Not sure about you guys, but I plan to not give my kids a phone until they reach at least the age of 14 (7 and 3 atm) Is this realistic? Any experiences?

This sounds similar to the goals of the "Wait until 8th" group: https://www.waituntil8th.org/

(In the US, kids typically turn 14 before or during 8th grade.)

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#237

Post by LorenzoGood »

seydor wrote: post #72
dotnet00 wrote: post #50

Going against HN's usual anti-smartphone thing, I think this is incredibly dumb. Luckily no one really cares much about what UNESCO calls for. Outright bans on smartphones in schools are no different from the video game, TV screen time, "kids will only play games on computers" and other related superstitions that were in vogue back in the early 2000s. All they did was make parents feel validated (without having to pu…

you most likely worked alone on your PC , learning stuff. Phones are validation addiction machines now. If they take away attention from the classroom then it makes sense to ban them ? Perhaps you have not experienced how tech-illiterate smartphone kids are today? They d most likely struggle to navigate HN because it lacks notifications and likes. I think we should be making a distinction between phones and computers…

Zoomer Here, Born in 2006, here on a smartphone.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#238

Post by adhesive_wombat »

merb wrote: post #211
adhesive_wombat wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For an emergency lifeline phone, a non-smartphone would be more robust, be far cheaper and have longer battery life.

for diabetes sensors you need to have a phone with android or ios to use the app which sends data to parents/doctors (stuff like dexcom)

If the other 99% of kids want their parents to gift them smartphones too, I suppose deliberately cultivating diabetes does show dedication to the cause.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#239

Post by mtalantikite »

mtalantikite wrote: post #146
verve_rat wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did 12 year olds take the subway to school 20, 30 years ago? (Genuinely asking, never lived in a place with a subway, but took the bus all the time at that age.)

Of course, all the time. I didn't grow up in NYC, but all my friends that went to school here took the subway or bus to middle or high school on their own. I've been in the city for a decent amount of time now (16-ish years) and I've always seen lots of young kids on public transit after school lets out. I grew up just outside of Boston and my parents let me take the commuter rail to north station and the T over to C…

Very much unclear why I got down-voted for a pretty uncontroversial comment? I guess people didn't like that I took the train as a kid in the 90s before smartphones?

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#240

Post by monomers »

cubefox wrote: post #100
obscurette wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't tell about NYC, but they certainly did in Europe and still do. It's probably not too common though, most of kids have school close to their home.

What does close mean? So close that they can walk there instead of using the subway?

From own experience, yes. When I switched to 8th grade it was a bit further, so I biked there.
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