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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

#171

Post by monero-xmr »

BossingAround wrote: post #168
monero-xmr wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a gameboy with a special cartridge loaded with roms I ordered from a strange European import site that took 3 months to arrive, and this was 2002! I played video games in every class. I was a bad student. I set a bad example. Yet learning how to load roms on it, the firmware, the command line. My poor mother didn't know what to do with me - I was constantly late, skipping school, in detention, hanging out with…

And yet for every one "you", there are thousands of "them" who simply type out a few commands, load the firmware once, and then just play the games. Maybe two decades ago, there was an article going around about a person who became a commercial pilot thanks to World of Warcraft (WoW improved his English through raids). That doesn't really mean that playing WoW is a good way to become a pilot though. I suspect that in…

I don’t know. I was always anti-authority and hated rules. I just did what I wanted. My point is there is hope for the rule breakers, and technology obsession combined with a poor school record doesn’t instantly mean someone should be written off

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

#172

Post by chgs »

Our son’s high school (Shropshire) requires a phone - homework is set via app (no website option), sometimes homework requires an app to do it, all comms is via app (so parent also need an app)

They are sometimes told to get their phones out in class to perform work.

In theory phones are banned outside these hours, but unless a teacher is in the room that’s not enforced.

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

#173

Post by pndy »

rpcope1 wrote: post #90
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.

I've never heard a good, convincing explanation as to why on earth children need iPads for any reason. Are the schools just not doing their jobs, and letting the iPads "teach" the children rather than a person doing it?

My backpack in primary school times was about 3kgs on worst days - school lockers aren't a thing here. We carried our books, notebooks, exercises, PE suit, boots and lunch day after day; home to school and back again - a scoliosis story /s. Secondary school times were more chill - while it was mandatory to have all of that stuff, teachers were turning blind eyes.

So slowly seeing how tablets or laptops are replacing all that paper I'm envy those kids. But at the same time I see the dangers, how kids are addicted to the mobiles and the Internet; school should set such devices to be tools and not potential form of entertainment as much it's only possible.

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

#174

Post by michelb »

hparadiz wrote: post #149
teekert wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a phone during class was indeed never an option, but, can I ask you since you went to school with smartphones (I am much older): Is your experience that most students pull their phone out as soon as they exit the classrooms? Do they spend most of their breaks on their screens? If so do you have the feeling you have poorer conversational skills because of this and would you not rather have just enjoyed school en…

Banning cell phones from class hours doesn't actually change the social media rat race in any way. You still have to maintain presence. That's just part of being social. We had the same distractions before smart phones. We would just hide in the computer lab and browse the Internet while playing games and trying to look busy. A hundred messages sounds like about a half hour of conversation on any chat platform. We wo…

Yes, there were distractions in my time as well, but I would say it's quite different because now you don't have to go anywhere, you can just pull out your phone mid-conversation and 'be somewhere else'.

I do think (hope?) the temporary removal of dopamine hits works in the long run. If I'm regularly not near my phone to check on whatever, the impulse to grab my phone is removed, because I'm engrossed in other things. Do that often enough and it may just wean people off of this online crack.

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

#175

Post by knallfrosch »

xoa wrote: post #2

Having used a Palm Pilot to genuine benefit in highschool in the 90s, and having finally just gotten a smart watch in part specifically to reduce smartphone usage, I have mixed feelings about broad restrictions. Networked smart phones absolutely have major addictive and disruptive effects, and are hard to police in practice. But watches provide some pretty useful health and emergency benefits, while IME have lived up…

> But watches provide some pretty useful health and emergency benefits

I'm sure you can get an exception for a glucose monitor if you have diabetes.

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

#176

Post by knallfrosch »

hannob wrote: post #155

I mean, I somehow understand the motivation behind a phone ban. But Fitbits? I understand there's probably a problem creating a clear separation, but in times where lack of movement and exercise is causing major health problems, we probably shouldn't disincentivize young people using fitness devices.

Wearing a tracker doesn't actually increase your fitness.

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

#177

Post by chgs »

dyauspitr wrote: post #163
Refusing23 wrote: post #160

my kid has a phone that is so boring to use (only snake, texting and calling) that he has it in the bottom of his backpack and only takes it out when he needs to call me its truly amazing and i hope to keep it this way forever. meanwhile the rest of his class mates have smartphones and stare at it from the moment they leave their home ... and i assume till it runs out of battery. they dont even watch where they're go…

I dread the day when my daughter (who is now 3) tells me that she is a laughing stock and pariah because she misses out on every event that happens at school because she doesn’t have a smart phone/no social media. The only way to correctly do this is to outright ban kids from having smart phones and accessing social media nationwide. Being the handful that selectively buck the system is a hard road.

You’re absolutely right (I suspect some have read this as 3 year olds need phones).

But aren’t kids already banned from many places they congregate. WhatsApp, Fortnite, etc.

A ban only works if

1) significant numbers support it

2) the ban is enforced

And neither of those are likely outside of school, and in my experience are unlikely in school.

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

#178

Post by chgs »

WalterBright wrote: post #44
xoa wrote: post #2

Having used a Palm Pilot to genuine benefit in highschool in the 90s, and having finally just gotten a smart watch in part specifically to reduce smartphone usage, I have mixed feelings about broad restrictions. Networked smart phones absolutely have major addictive and disruptive effects, and are hard to police in practice. But watches provide some pretty useful health and emergency benefits, while IME have lived up…

> But watches provide some pretty useful health and emergency benefits For kids? How ever did anyone survive before 1990.

You never used a pay phone as a kid?

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

#179

Post by knallfrosch »

danielodievich wrote: post #126

Our school district is implementing identical thing, very similar, justifying this with health and emotional wellness and anti-cyber-bullying. They are checking in the phones into Yondr pouches. I wish them luck on the implementation... I think there have a steep challenge ahead of them. One thing my boys told me is that they have QR codes for homework/assignments/worksheets that everyone used phones to scan and do w…

> The Economist: American parents want their children to have phones in schools | But phones in the classroom are disruptive. What should schools do?

> The adults unlock the [Yondr] pouches with special magnets as pupils leave for the day.

> Unsurprisingly, pupils have hacked the system. (“What do you expect?” Eva says. “We’re middle-schoolers.”) The girls recite a list of workarounds. Those magnets have become hot commodities, and a few have gone missing. Pupils have been seen banging pouches open in the toilets. Other pupils have faulty cases that no longer lock but have kept that information to themselves. The girls say that since phones have become a forbidden fruit, pupils only crave them more.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/06/06/american-...

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

#180

Post by kwhitefoot »

chgs wrote: post #172

Our son’s high school (Shropshire) requires a phone - homework is set via app (no website option), sometimes homework requires an app to do it, all comms is via app (so parent also need an app) They are sometimes told to get their phones out in class to perform work. In theory phones are banned outside these hours, but unless a teacher is in the room that’s not enforced.

How can a UK school require a mobile as an educational tool? I thought primary and secondary education was supposed to be free in the UK.
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