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The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

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Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#11

Post by germinalphrase »

docfort wrote: post #2

I don't dispute the facts in the article, but this question kept popping up in my mind: how do they define reading time? I mean, in a too-pedantic sense, smartphone screen time is roughly divided into reading, viewing (photos/videos), and gaming. Given that they are not allowed to take the phones, it seems unlikely that the school knows a student's primary usage mode. For example, a student could be reading a bunch o…

I taught at the high school level for a decade. I would occasionally have students review their usage stats and 1) they were regularly a bit shocked by the number of hours they spend on their phones, and 2) the vast majority of that time was games and social media.

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#12

Post by ethbr1 »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #6

Glad to see phone bans become more popular. Jonathan Haidt had it on his list of suggestions to parents, to avoid the anxiety generation continuing. He had a longer list but the four big ones were: No smartphones before high school No social media before 16 No phones in schools More free, independent play

So essentially, the early 90s?

As a kid for part of that time, I have to say my gut reaction is supportive.

Three of the most important consequences of your above were (1) creating boredom, (2) promoting independent in-person social interaction, and (3) emphasizing present-ness in the moment.

All in ways that are very difficult for children to experience today.

Many of my most impressionable and favorite childhood moments came from hanging out with friends, being bored, and getting engrossed in whatever we came up with...

... nowadays at that age, we probably wouldn't even get together and would immediately fire up our consumptive dopamine bricks to banish the first hint of boredom.

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#13

Post by borski »

docfort wrote: post #2

I don't dispute the facts in the article, but this question kept popping up in my mind: how do they define reading time? I mean, in a too-pedantic sense, smartphone screen time is roughly divided into reading, viewing (photos/videos), and gaming. Given that they are not allowed to take the phones, it seems unlikely that the school knows a student's primary usage mode. For example, a student could be reading a bunch o…

I hear you, but not all “reading time” is equal.

> For example, a student could be reading a bunch of fiction on their phone, thereby reducing their time in the school's library.

That would be a great exception, but very much not the norm. Most kids are not reading long-form books or fiction on their phones.

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#15

Post by mhh__ »

On the reading question raised by another comment: I went to school recently enough that we had smartphones but before tiktok. You were allowed them but they'd be confiscated if seen in lessons or corridors.

On balance I'd probably try and get rid entirely, but vividly recall my academic/engineering/whatever awakening being from downloading huge quantities of textbooks and the like onto my phone at the age of 14 or 15, so I wouldn't go stray too far away from modern technology in some sense.

I could also argue that this made me quite distracted but (say) also meant that it was the best part of a decade until I would see something, conditioned on that I found it interesting, that I hadn't seen before in formal education.

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#16

Post by seany »

didip wrote: post #9
blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #6

Glad to see phone bans become more popular. Jonathan Haidt had it on his list of suggestions to parents, to avoid the anxiety generation continuing. He had a longer list but the four big ones were: No smartphones before high school No social media before 16 No phones in schools More free, independent play

No TV and no video game as well before 16?

We're doing "no internet connected games", which seems like a reasonable balance.

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#17

Post by renewiltord »

docfort wrote: post #2

I don't dispute the facts in the article, but this question kept popping up in my mind: how do they define reading time? I mean, in a too-pedantic sense, smartphone screen time is roughly divided into reading, viewing (photos/videos), and gaming. Given that they are not allowed to take the phones, it seems unlikely that the school knows a student's primary usage mode. For example, a student could be reading a bunch o…

Even if you were watching them, you don’t know that they don’t have an app that plays a game frame at 1 Hz that they sync their minds to while you see the other 59 frames at 60 Hz and think you’re seeing a book.

Without root access to the device and blinkers to ensure they aren’t looking at a second device strategically placed out of sight, you can’t conclude anything.

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#18

Post by tshaddox »

borski wrote: post #13
docfort wrote: post #2

I don't dispute the facts in the article, but this question kept popping up in my mind: how do they define reading time? I mean, in a too-pedantic sense, smartphone screen time is roughly divided into reading, viewing (photos/videos), and gaming. Given that they are not allowed to take the phones, it seems unlikely that the school knows a student's primary usage mode. For example, a student could be reading a bunch o…

I hear you, but not all “reading time” is equal. > For example, a student could be reading a bunch of fiction on their phone, thereby reducing their time in the school's library. That would be a great exception, but very much not the norm. Most kids are not reading long-form books or fiction on their phones.

Also, all reading time in the school library won’t be equal. If the school insists on only certain reading time being valid they ought to just force kids to read a specific set of books. (My personal preference would be for fundamentally less coercive education.)

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#19

Post by light_hue_1 »

mhh__ wrote: post #15

On the reading question raised by another comment: I went to school recently enough that we had smartphones but before tiktok. You were allowed them but they'd be confiscated if seen in lessons or corridors. On balance I'd probably try and get rid entirely, but vividly recall my academic/engineering/whatever awakening being from downloading huge quantities of textbooks and the like onto my phone at the age of 14 or 1…

Yes. That's in the before fore.

Social media is far more addictive now. And doom scrolling is far better tuned. I see my kids and those of my friends. It's not at all what it was even 10 years ago.

This is only getting wise as engagement is the only metric these companies care about. I support the social media ban under 18.

Re: The phone ban has had a big impact on school work

#20

Post by tshaddox »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #6

Glad to see phone bans become more popular. Jonathan Haidt had it on his list of suggestions to parents, to avoid the anxiety generation continuing. He had a longer list but the four big ones were: No smartphones before high school No social media before 16 No phones in schools More free, independent play

It’s a little funny that everyone talks about this as a “phone ban” when surely you really only need to ban like 3-4 big tech apps/domains.
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