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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

#251

Post by greatwave1 »

carlosjobim wrote: post #230
greatwave1 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think my point is pretty clear: you listed a whole hierarchy of people who you think should have control over your child's behavior (with you at position #1), and haven't given any answer for where you think a child's own decision-making should fit in Did you miss my original question? > Do they get any input in what technology they derive value/enjoyment from, or is that entirely dictated by adults in their commun…

Instead of focusing on your own point, look at the answer I gave you. You seem to make up an image in your mind that I'm disregarding the child's own personality, when I haven't even touched on that aspect. Fight a real battle instead of an imaginary battle.

> look at the answer I gave you

You literally didn't give me one, what on earth are you talking about.

> You seem to make up an image in your mind that I'm disregarding the child's own personality

I don't know where you're getting that I've 'made an image up in my mind'.... I asked you a question about how you weighted your child's input / freedom when it comes to technology, and you've done nothing but deflect lmao. I'm not "fighting a battle"... I asked a straightforward question that has still received no answer.

I can't tell if I'm talking to a human or a chatbot at this point.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#252

Post by olyjohn »

sneak wrote: post #188
vacuity wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that is unfortunate, it's not an argument against mass transit in general.

It's an argument against school-aged children riding mass transit unsupervised.

We know it's an argument, it's just not a very good one.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#253

Post by pests »

derefr wrote: post #184
cubefox wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but presumably most school kids don't live in pretty centric locations.

Schools in Western countries have "catchment areas" — a Voronoi diagram, for each level of schooling, that clusters residences by which school is closest to them. If you're sending your child to public (rather than private) school in one of these countries, then your child is assigned to a school based on which catchment area your home falls into. You can't send your child to a school other than the closest one to yo…

Growing up in my area of Michigan there was a concept called school-of-choice (which a school has to opt into.) If so, any student can attend that school and not only ones within it's designated area.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#254

Post by Cthulhu_ »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #231
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.

Apple watches?

Lasts for less than a day, and are they independent these days or do they need a paired phone?

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#255

Post by Cthulhu_ »

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?

In the Netherlands, elementary, primary and secondary schools are all in walking or cycling distance (and we have good cycling infrastructure), that is, elementary schools are in For follow-up education - and this is generally from age 16 onwards - you often need to head to a near city or provincial capital, but the government offers a free public transit scheme if you need to travel for that.

Personally, my preschool was literally around the corner (a five minute walk, although I had tiny legs), primary school was a 500 meter walk, secondary school was a kilometer, tertiary education one (associate's degree) was in the next town over (5 kilometer bike ride), tertiary education two (bachelor's degree) was in the province capital (25 kilometer bus ride).

IMO this is how towns and communities should be designed.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#256

Post by tomjen3 »

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…

Phones are much easier to solve problems with, but your kid doesn’t need you to call. He can ask the workers for directions.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#257

Post by dorchadas »

emidln wrote: post #45
jweir wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smart watches too. Big distraction problem in my son’s grade school and they are used on math tests.

The path my teachers took in school, a few decades ago, was to design math tests that never required a calculator. All problems used basic arithmetic and calculators would actively slow you down. This works for a large portion of elementary, middle school, and high school math. The only downside is the teacher needs to spend a bit more time crafting the problems.

As a former secondary math teacher, you'd be surprised how many kids can't do basic arithmetic without a calculator. This doesn't even just include kids with learning disabilities or those at the lower end of the grade spectrum. I had many students who couldn't multiply or divide when they got to me (let alone understand negative numbers or such) because of the over reliance on tech and calculators when they're younger.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#258

Post by dorchadas »

ryandrake wrote: post #196
nsxwolf wrote: post #187

A family friend is a teacher and she talks about how the kids just play with their phones the whole time. They don't pay attention and she's not allowed to do anything about it. I don't understand how we got to the point where teachers have zero authority. I don't understand why phones can't be put in lockers. If you really need to use the phone for an emergency, you could get a pass. And in the past isn't that what…

I don't know how we've managed to so severely nerf teachers' authority to conduct their class and deal with troublemakers. I've got a daughter now, and the classroom is like Lord Of The Flies now vs. how it was when I was her age in the '80s. My kid reports that one or two kids act out basically all day (maybe trauma from growing up in a broken home?) and the rest of the class barely gets through classwork. So they a…

From my perspective as a former secondary teacher, it's parents. At the least sign of their kids being in trouble (or failing), many parents will come up to the school (that they often never visit otherwise) and proclaim that the teacher is wrong and shouldn't be punishing little Johnny. And schools give in because they're worried about lawsuits and having to deal with parents, so the teachers get thrown under the bus and can't punish the kids.

Thankfully the last school I worked at did back the teachers - at least to some extent - but it was so annoying having to deal with parents who never showed up to parent-teacher conferences, never contacted me (or answered my emails/calls!) come up as soon as their kids got sent to in-school suspension for misbehaving or for having too many missing assignments or getting a bad grade.

There's also an anti-punishment trend prevalent in education research. Which I truly get, but sometimes kids need to know the limits and you have to do something with the bad ones so the others can actually learn. It's a lose-lose situation (and part of the reason why I left, though I really do miss it and am considering returning, though maybe at international schools).

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#259

Post by matty22 »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #254
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple watches?

Lasts for less than a day, and are they independent these days or do they need a paired phone?

Nah...Apple Watch batteries last 2-3 days nowadays with the proper settings. There are cellular Apple Watches available that do not require the paired phone to be close to make calls, texts, etc.

Re: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

#260

Post by matt-attack »

supernewton wrote: post #189
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.)

20 or 30 years ago, there were pay phones everywhere. I might not have carried a phone in middle school, but I did carry quarters that I could use to call my parents if anything ever went seriously sideways.

I don’t let me kids have phones and I force them to be out and about in town on their own (way smaller town than NYC). I tell them I’d they ever need to get in touch with me, just find the nearest stranger and ask to make a call. Literally anyone would let a kid call their mom.

They have my number memorized.

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