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What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

theguardian.com

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Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#11

Post by schnitzelstoat »

Podgajski wrote: post #6

I mean, I agree that cell phones can cause interruptions in schools, but doing this at a place like Buxton compared to some of the public schools I’ve taught in, well, that’s a whole different story. “Buxton School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory, boarding and day school for grades 9–12 located in Williamstown, Massachusetts.“ I mean, it’s one thing to take away a kid, cell phone and offer them nothi…

Yeah, it seems like you'd basically always get good outcomes in a school like this.

If the students become disruptive instead of just wasting time on their phone it could have a negative impact in many schools.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#12

Post by Firmwarrior »

forinti wrote: post #3
teeray wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm out of the loop... smartphones are allowed in the first place? When did that happen? In my high school, cell phones and ipods (at the time) were to be in lockers and turned off during the day. It was an insta-detention if you were seen using one.

You wouldn't believe what an issue this can turn into. Some parents will fight for their kid's right to use cellphones.

Pretty wild.. what's the point in even making them go to school if you're just going to let them goof off on their phone all day? Just let them sit around at home watching TikTok until they turn 18 and have to get a minimum wage job

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#13

Post by tallowen »

In talking to my teacher friends, one thing that I hadn't understood is how being the parent of a child has changed due to mobile devices since I was a child.

Parents obviously worry about their children. Parents exist in a community of other parents that uses phones belonging to children to keep track of their children. It was very hard for me to wrap my head around how strongly parents expect to be able to reach their children at any point in time. Most solutions (e.g. Yonder Pouches) end up shutting down location services not to mention the ability of students to say "yes I'm find". This leads to way more resistance to these policies that I ever would have expected!

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#14

Post by ghaff »

dataflow wrote: post #9
shannifin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around here, unfortunately yes. The general argument I've heard is that kids need to be able to contact parents in an emergency, or something.

It's amazing how these arguments come about. Were parents freaking out about emergencies at school when they were kids?

A lot of people have become very adept at conjuring up edge cases for why being out of instant communication is just not acceptable any longer.

I am somewhat sympathetic to arguments that lots of things we took for granted growing up really are not especially acceptable today but there are limits.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#15

Post by egeozcan »

shannifin wrote: post #5
teeray wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm out of the loop... smartphones are allowed in the first place? When did that happen? In my high school, cell phones and ipods (at the time) were to be in lockers and turned off during the day. It was an insta-detention if you were seen using one.

Around here, unfortunately yes. The general argument I've heard is that kids need to be able to contact parents in an emergency, or something.

It's as if the school doesn't have any phones they could use in an emergency.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#16

Post by nyc111 »

Those phones contain all the knowledge the school pretends to teach the students. Techers are worried because they see telephones as competition.

This would be a nice experiment: Divide the students into two groups and let one group come to school without phones and let the other group stay home and learn the same material from their phones. If the material to be learned is well-defined I believe that students staying at home with their phones will learn the material much faster.

The only good thing about the school is that you get to hang out with your peers. The education system is not good for teaching.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#17

Post by wharvle »

forinti wrote: post #3
teeray wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm out of the loop... smartphones are allowed in the first place? When did that happen? In my high school, cell phones and ipods (at the time) were to be in lockers and turned off during the day. It was an insta-detention if you were seen using one.

You wouldn't believe what an issue this can turn into. Some parents will fight for their kid's right to use cellphones.

This right here. Parents ultimately run schools, and a surprising proportion of them get really pissy if their kids can't have phones in class. Schools aren't letting kids have phones because they want to.

My wife used to teach and had multiple parents, over a handful of years, who'd semi-frequently call their kids while they were in class. Just to, like, chat. A lot more would text with them, again, usually just to shoot the shit. Lots of parents are... let's be kind I guess and go with really fucking weird.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#19

Post by zeta0134 »

dataflow wrote: post #9
shannifin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around here, unfortunately yes. The general argument I've heard is that kids need to be able to contact parents in an emergency, or something.

It's amazing how these arguments come about. Were parents freaking out about emergencies at school when they were kids?

During every school I attended growing up (and I graduated in 2007 so this isn't that ancient history) my parents would just call the school office if something urgent came up, and the faculty would use the intercom system to page the room I was in. The teacher paused their lesson, acknowledged the request, and asked me to pack my things and head up to the front office, no questions asked. It was infrequent, but very well understood and executed efficiently.

I'm not sure smartphones have improved on this? If a kid gets a call in class the teacher's almost immediate reaction is annoyance, because there was no chain of authority that led to that distracting element. Now the kid's on the defensive and has to explain that it's their parent, and the whole class gets to wait while the kid awkwardly has this conversation while simultaneously communicating with the teacher that it's a legitimate request, etc. And that's for legitimate emergencies, to say nothing of the troublemakers that will intentionally coordinate fake calls to get out of class and hang out with their friends.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#20

Post by jt2190 »

Podgajski wrote: post #6

I mean, I agree that cell phones can cause interruptions in schools, but doing this at a place like Buxton compared to some of the public schools I’ve taught in, well, that’s a whole different story. “Buxton School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory, boarding and day school for grades 9–12 located in Williamstown, Massachusetts.“ I mean, it’s one thing to take away a kid, cell phone and offer them nothi…

> Tuition for the 2023-2024 academic year is USD 62 000 for a boarding student and USD 33 000 for a day student. The fee covers room, board, academic study, basic materials for courses, lab fees, field trips, tickets to cultural events, athletics (including ski passes) and programs and activities held on campus.
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