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New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

theguardian.com

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Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#71

Post by strawhatdev »

bsder wrote: post #58
strawhatdev wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medical devices, e.g. (some) insulin pumps like the Tandem Mobi, are managed via smartphone apps only. It's an unfortunate fact of life that life supporting technology can increasingly only be interfaced via smartphones. From my perspective, that's an unfortunate but ultimately good reason for some kids to have smartphones.

> It's an unfortunate fact of life that life supporting technology can increasingly only be interfaced via smartphones. Things like "insulin pump control" had separate, non-phone devices for a long time. Consumers flocked to the ones on the phone even when they sucked and had 1/10 the features. I'm no defender of medical companies, but the blame for your complaint falls squarely on the consumers, themselves.

I think this strikes me as a revealed preference story. Would you rather carry around an additional device, remember to charge it, etc. else be locked out of lifesaving care? I see the appeal of reducing the number of devices you have to carry around.

I also think for many smaller medical device manufacturers it can be advantageous to build on an existing platform like android/iphone. You're already solving one challenging hardware problem, why add another when you can take advantage of a mature development ecosystem that consumers 1) seem to have a preference for and 2) have already paid for, thus lowering the cost of treatment delivery.

Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#72

Post by mike_d »

ethbr1 wrote: post #61
mike_d wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because phones have become the command center for our lives. Your FreeStyle Libre pings your phone when you have low blood sugar. When your watch detects a serious fall or a heart abnormality your phone calls emergency services. You use your phone to let the dog walker in, check the camera to see if you turned off the garden hose or left it running, use it to find your lost wallet/keys/bag, etc. Childhood is where yo…

> Childhood is where you teach positive behaviors and responsibility. Just chucking phones out the window to avoid the problem teaches nothing. We specifically engineer acculturation processes to incrementally add responsibility for a reason. Nobody gives a 2 year old a loaded pistol and then tells them they can't have candy. IMHO, a smartphone with unregulated addictive apps is too much responsibility for grade-leve…

I think a much better solution is Apple just geofencing schools in the US and not allowing social media apps to be opened.

Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#73

Post by the_snooze »

ethbr1 wrote: post #61
mike_d wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because phones have become the command center for our lives. Your FreeStyle Libre pings your phone when you have low blood sugar. When your watch detects a serious fall or a heart abnormality your phone calls emergency services. You use your phone to let the dog walker in, check the camera to see if you turned off the garden hose or left it running, use it to find your lost wallet/keys/bag, etc. Childhood is where yo…

> Childhood is where you teach positive behaviors and responsibility. Just chucking phones out the window to avoid the problem teaches nothing. We specifically engineer acculturation processes to incrementally add responsibility for a reason. Nobody gives a 2 year old a loaded pistol and then tells them they can't have candy. IMHO, a smartphone with unregulated addictive apps is too much responsibility for grade-leve…

Tech focuses too much on scale and frictionless experiences. That's noise in an educational environment where children are more-or-less mandated to be in. Get rid of smartphones in school. School offices still have voice phones if students and parents need to communicate.

Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#74

Post by ryandrake »

beanjuiceII wrote: post #24
strawhatdev wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medical devices, e.g. (some) insulin pumps like the Tandem Mobi, are managed via smartphone apps only. It's an unfortunate fact of life that life supporting technology can increasingly only be interfaced via smartphones. From my perspective, that's an unfortunate but ultimately good reason for some kids to have smartphones.

my kid's phone is used for managing and monitoring t1d, and they will always have their smart phone at hand i don't care what law people think they are putting in place

What is your plan as a parent for when the kid loses the smartphone by accident? Or if it runs out of battery?Whatever that plan is, why can’t that be the procedure while in school?

Making one’s child’s health utterly dependent on a smartphone sounds like... not a well thought out idea. What did people use to manage t1d prior to smartphones? Does that no longer work?

Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#76

Post by eaurouge »

analognoise wrote: post #75

So wait, I’m supposed to just let my kids go to school, where there are how many shootings a year, with no way to contact them? Not an icebergs chance in hell I’d let that happen.

I don’t believe that’s the case. In any case, you can always move to a different state. Or you could take your case to the courts.

Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#77

Post by [deleted] »

SavageBeast wrote: post #10
dangus wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m confused about where this assumption that there is or will be a bill that mandates the purchase of a Google Watch is coming from. This whole essay you wrote is taking that conclusion jump and rolling straight into the worst case scenario.

The bill wont strictly "mandate buying a Google Kids Watch" but it will stipulate a ban on smart phones (iPhones being the dominant device) in schools. The Google Kiddie Crack watch is $200, the Apple Watch can't compete at that price point. Dumb Phones (flip phone) wont offer location tracking the parents can monitor. What option is a parent to choose I wonder? This product seems suspiciously designed for a very spe…

[deleted]

Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#78

Post by tootie »

larvaetron wrote: post #70
tootie wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your argument if "that's how it was in my day" then it's not very convincing.

I guess I just don't share the sentiment that giving every child in a classroom unfettered access to content designed to distract them while a teacher is trying to teach the class is a good thing. I'm having difficulty understanding why you'd need to be convinced that it isn't.

I have two teenagers and it doesn't sound like it's a huge problem. And attempts to stifle phone usage (yondr pouches) are just creating friction. Maybe having a phone out is very obvious but kids have been doodling, daydreaming, talking and passing paper notes forever. If the downside of phones was so overwhelmingly obvious we wouldn't have such a dearth of measurable evidence.

Re: New York governor to launch bill banning smartphones in schools

#80

Post by Jensson »

analognoise wrote: post #75

So wait, I’m supposed to just let my kids go to school, where there are how many shootings a year, with no way to contact them? Not an icebergs chance in hell I’d let that happen.

> where there are how many shootings a year

There are multiple shootings a year at your kids school? Do you live at the worst school in the country?

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