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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

#31

Post by JumpCrisscross »

iambateman wrote: post #21
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…

I think the question “how do we encourage digital exploration without causing phone addiction” is the defining question of our generation.

> the question “how do we encourage digital exploration without causing phone addiction” is the defining question of our generation

One component seems to be not providing them with a networked general-purpose computer out of the gate.

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

#32

Post by Ekaros »

docfort wrote: post #26
jdiff wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a high school teacher. Not for long, but for a few years now. Never have I ever seen a student reading on their phone. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it must be a vanishingly small fraction that I have not yet encountered. When my students are on their phones, it's games, or it's (primarily video-based) social media. A smaller but notable fraction is background media consumption, either music or movies. Th…

Thanks for the reality check. I was worried about how I could be conflating my own personal view as a parent with the popular narrative of "kids these days and their Instagram/TikTok." Probably says a lot more about me, but I vastly prefer the reading experience of a thick book on a phone than as a physical copy. And I have since I was a teenager (and it was just PDAs and clever TI-89 hackery).

I used to read on PDA and then later on Nokia Internet Tablet. But never in school even if I had one where. At those times it was just games(Bejewelled, Space Trader, DopeWars) or graphic calculator software.

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

#33

Post by insane_dreamer »

I have a middle school student and have observed this trend personally. Our school is considering a cell phone ban during school hours (can still bring the phone to school, goes in locker, get it on the way out), which I 100% support.

We use parental controls on iOS but those are buggy (and Android even worse from what I heard).

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

#34

Post by dopylitty »

seydor wrote: post #10

As essential as smoking ban. I won't be surprised to see this expanded to adult situations

It should've been expanded into driving a long time ago. There are laws against distracted driving but I still see people weaving around like they're drunk on the roads. When I look into the car they're usually holding a phone (on speakerphone) or holding it up to their ear.

People suck at driving enough as it is without driving one handed and distracted.

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

#35

Post by JumpCrisscross »

tshaddox wrote: post #20
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.

> when surely you really only need to ban like 3-4 big tech apps/domains

What are you basing this one?

(Semantic note: “surely” implies an internally-reasoned versus evidence-based hypothesis. It wasn’t always that way; maybe it’s because of its frequent use in reverse.)

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

#36

Post by pton_xd »

seany wrote: post #16
didip wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No TV and no video game as well before 16?

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

That makes me a bit sad to hear as a good portion of my social interaction as a kid was via multiplayer games. And all that time spent ended up leading to a career for me. It's a tough decision for you though, games and life in general are quite different now.

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

#37

Post by insane_dreamer »

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…

> downloading huge quantities of textbooks and the like onto my phone at the age of 14 or 15

I also used the internet to get interesting tech manuals (and plenty of other books) from IRC channels when I was young

But that was before social media, which has IMO destroyed (not entirely, but largely) the positive aspects of internet connections for teenagers

A phone is now primarily a source of always-on entertainment (in 10 second bytes).

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

#38

Post by JumpCrisscross »

There used to be a Silicon Valley parents versus not divide in my personal observation of kids with smart phones/tablets. It’s now generalised to a class division: the children of the rich tend to have tight restrictions at home and, increasingly, at school, around device use.

We need statewide rules if we’re to avoid creating a generational gap in cognitive and social competence.

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

#39

Post by insane_dreamer »

dopylitty wrote: post #34
seydor wrote: post #10

As essential as smoking ban. I won't be surprised to see this expanded to adult situations

It should've been expanded into driving a long time ago. There are laws against distracted driving but I still see people weaving around like they're drunk on the roads. When I look into the car they're usually holding a phone (on speakerphone) or holding it up to their ear. People suck at driving enough as it is without driving one handed and distracted.

Isn't it already illegal in most places? (sure peolpe do it anyway, but if you're caught there are heavy fines)

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

#40

Post by wincy »

tshaddox wrote: post #24
seany wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Even that’s a little unfortunate, because in my experience the older generation of straightforward competitive multiplayer games can be a productive and mostly safe experience.

Weird my experience as a teenager in the early 2000s was being told how much everyone had carnal relations with my mother on multiplayer games on the internet.
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