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Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

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Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#51

Post by n_ary »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #43
WalterBright wrote: post #40

[flagged]

> more effective to just install a cell phone jammer in the schools It would be very difficult to engineer this to not jam cell phones just beyond school property. (You’d also need federal approval. Banning is easier.)

Here in Germany, most stores have effective zero cell reception immediately once you enter in the store and everything is normal once you are near the exit. In stores where people can order online, they offer free wifi(sometimes). I can see a similar approach in schools.

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#52

Post by sweeter »

chrisamiller wrote: post #49

Our middle school has banned phones during school hours, and it's been great. Even though most kids own phones and have them in their backpacks, they aren't seen. There are less problems during classes and kids have to talk to each other during lunch instead of going head down in their phones. Parental pushback has been really minimal - most parents love it, and it's good for the kids. Making no phones a blanket poli…

it's all good until that thing that happens at American schools, happens... That is my one hang up here. It would be idealistic to believe that the Police would protect kids, but in reality there are far too many cases of them being grossly negligent in this exact circumstance... in many of those cases, having a phone played a pivotal role in security. I don't want to get too far into details on HN for the sake of keeping things civil, but I hope you catch my drift.

Im sure there is some happy medium solution here, like putting your phone in a basket or cubby or something like that, at the very least. But I think this is something that has to be seriously addressed and considered. Phones are obviously bad for all of us, more so for children whose minds are far more elastic and far more prone to social alienation. The endless stream of notifications is almost at a gambling / casino level. I think you have to address the root cause of that as well

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#53

Post by hindsightbias »

RealityVoid wrote: post #33
NotACop182 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got a solution for you then. Any kid caught using their phone in school is expelled. We shall put personal responsibility and consequences as the primary objective. Does this solve your issue.

This is absurd! How would you feel if your workplace implemented such a rule? Why don't you propose you just shoot them on the spot instead, that will teach them that actions have consequences and will scare them straight!

A workplace where coworkers weren’t fidgiting with their phones in every meeting? Slacking and texting non-stop?

Sounds like an absolute paradise.

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#54

Post by miki123211 »

haswell wrote: post #21

I forget who originally suggested this so I can’t take credit. But what if device manufacturers worked with schools to implement some kind of “School Mode” on these devices? Students could retain their access in exchange for schools setting policies on what’s allowed, e.g. you can keep wearing your watch, but it’s effectively in collection-only mode during the school day. Nothing intrusive to the students; more like…

How would you enforce this without invasive surveillance?

How could a teacher check that school mode is on without gaining control of the device? How could they ensure that the mode isn't turned off when they aren't looking?

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#55

Post by mixmastamyk »

troyvit wrote: post #50

My daughter's school gives all the kids ipads and she got a new one this year. The IT guy gave it to her before locking it down so she installed all the dumb apps she wanted on it before handing it back over. The point, aside from how proud I am of my daughter, is that kids are going to find a way to get what they want. This is an arms race. It'll be interesting to watch.

Local morons gave ours an ipad with its own data plan, free access to youtube, and screentime disabled. I had zero control but to physically take it. Bet you can’t wait to find out what happened next!

Many months later we got a stern letter that yt had to be blocked because students weren’t using it for assignments. Who could have predicted such a thing? :-P

It all started during covid too so I had very limited ability to say no.

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#56

Post by Loughla »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #24

There is a striking divide between how the rich and FAANG employed treat technology around their kids versus everyone else. The single most potent difference I’ve seen as a result is their kids’ ability to maintain eye contact during conversation.

Everyone in our life has spoken about how impressed they are by our kids' ability to have conversations. My friend group asks us what the secret is.

Secret: very limited phone and tablet time. Like how life was for millennia before smartphones.

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#57

Post by Jolter »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #24

There is a striking divide between how the rich and FAANG employed treat technology around their kids versus everyone else. The single most potent difference I’ve seen as a result is their kids’ ability to maintain eye contact during conversation.

Joke’s on you, I’ve never been able to maintain eye contact with anyone and I grew up long before smartphones were a thing.

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#59

Post by trte9343r4 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #47
trte9343r4 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other commenter posted some data. My point is that lighter attacks (scratches, jumping, sniffing, licking...) are so common, they can not even be reported. If students have no cameras, many more teachers would bring their "pets" into school.

> lighter attacks (scratches, jumping, sniffing, licking...) Sniffing and licking are not “attacks”. If they are, a car honking or braking suddenly is a crash. > If students have no cameras, many more teachers would bring their "pets" into school How many teachers brought pets to school before the 2000s? How many people brought pets to the office? (If anything, there are more pets at the workplace now than ever befor…

[flagged]

Re: Greenwich schools to ban most cellphones, Apple Watches, Fitbits and more

#60

Post by nytesky »

sweeter wrote: post #52
chrisamiller wrote: post #49

Our middle school has banned phones during school hours, and it's been great. Even though most kids own phones and have them in their backpacks, they aren't seen. There are less problems during classes and kids have to talk to each other during lunch instead of going head down in their phones. Parental pushback has been really minimal - most parents love it, and it's good for the kids. Making no phones a blanket poli…

it's all good until that thing that happens at American schools, happens... That is my one hang up here. It would be idealistic to believe that the Police would protect kids, but in reality there are far too many cases of them being grossly negligent in this exact circumstance... in many of those cases, having a phone played a pivotal role in security. I don't want to get too far into details on HN for the sake of ke…

Between teachers phones, intercoms, cameras, and hardline phones there should be plenty of communication equipment available for a crisis. If anything having a phone could put someone in jeopardy by making noise and giving away position or distracting owner. What is the scenario that it has helped? Have police coordinated response based upon students phoned in reports and telemetry?
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