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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

#221

Post by GuB-42 »

AlbertCory wrote: post #125
xoa wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How ever did anyone survive before I really, really hate this mindless, lazy line of argument in general. It gets tossed out with absolutely everything, from the internet to vaccines to modern farming. The simple answer in many cases to "how did anyone survive before X" is "well, often they didn't". Life expectancies were in fact lower in the past. More people died, or were maimed, with no hope of treatment. Or som…

A 300-word answer isn't 20x more intelligent than a 15-word one. I think Walter said all that needs to be said, and more economically than you did.

That "How ever did anyone survive before" answer means absolutely nothing. Yes, we survived the 1990s, if we didn't we wouldn't be there to talk about it, thank you Captain Obvious.

I know, I know, this is sarcasm, but where is the argument? If anything, it is a textbook example of the "appeal to tradition" fallacy. There are many good arguments against smartphones in classrooms, that one isn't. For the details, see xoa's answer.

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

#222

Post by moritonal »

HeatrayEnjoyer wrote: post #204
moritonal wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or live in a country where the last school shooting was more than 25 years ago? Seriously this is such a weird comment. You don't want to say "school shooting" at risk of being uncivil but you think kids should always be prepared for a live gunman to walk into their lives. From my perspective, that's the uncivil part of your comment.

"Apply for immigration visas4 and move 'thousands of miles to an entirely new country" is not a realistic solution for most families.

Very valid. A much easier solution available to most families is to vote and change the world they live in.

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

#223

Post by chgs »

shiroiushi wrote: post #153
WalterBright wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does a health monitor need to be in constant connection with the internet? If there's a problem, it can just beep at you. Yes, school shootings are a problem. But why does there need to be 30 cell phones in the classroom? The landline on the teacher's desk can be enough. Or even a button to turn off the jammer. For wildfire, call the principal who then hits the fire button. We had tornado drills in elementary sch…

>Yes, school shootings are a problem. But why does there need to be 30 cell phones in the classroom? The landline on the teacher's desk can be enough. Or even a button to turn off the jammer. A single landline isn't going to help 30 kids call their parents and say a final good-bye before the shooter kills them, while the town police force stands outside.

> A single landline isn't going to help 30 kids call their parents and say a final good-bye before the shooter kills them, while the town police force stands outside.

I’ve had this scenario in training at work before deploying to certain global locations (Afghanistan, Gaza, Somalia etc)

That it even crosses your mind suggests that the US is a country broken beyond repair.

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

#224

Post by Ancapistani »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #74
sweeter wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> in many of those cases, having a phone played a pivotal role in security Do you have an example? Every case I recall involved kids calling their parents who only got mentioned because they got in first responders’ way.

Uvalde comes comes to mind.

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

#225

Post by lotsoweiners »

moritonal wrote: post #222
HeatrayEnjoyer wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Apply for immigration visas4 and move 'thousands of miles to an entirely new country" is not a realistic solution for most families.

Very valid. A much easier solution available to most families is to vote and change the world they live in.

People can vote for things all day but that doesn’t mean anything could be implemented that would guarantee the end of school shootings. We’re talking about a country with estimated an estimated half billion guns in circulation and plenty of those undocumented.

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

#226

Post by lotsoweiners »

DiggyJohnson wrote: post #152
shiroiushi wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Between teachers phones, intercoms, cameras, and hardline phones there should be plenty of communication equipment available for a crisis. How does that stuff help when the kid isn't actually at school, but is between home and school somewhere? If the kid can't bring the phone to school at all, then that means the kid can't have the phone on the way to school either. Allowing the kids to bring phones but lock them u…

At my school phones were instructed to be off and in lockers during school hours.

This is the policy at my kid’s school. In fact if a student is caught with a phone then the phone is confiscated and only the parent can pick it up from the office.

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

#227

Post by watwut »

AlbertCory wrote: post #211
watwut wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they needed to make THAT argument. They did not, argument was lazy "it did not existed in the past, so" thing.

Maybe Walter thought you were smart enough to fill in the gaps and think for yourself. Guess he was wrong.

You mean, make my own entirely different argument? Passive aggressive dig is not an argument either.

No, what Walter wrote what what he wanted to say. However, since you agree with the conclusion, you will defend the argument even if it is not too good.

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

#228

Post by WalterBright »

lloeki wrote: post #188
WalterBright wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Public payphones? Going into a bakery or a post office or any shop and politely asking to place a call from their landline to mom&pop's, having their number memorised, possibly placing a reverse charged call? "you are here" public maps/carrying a paper map? Learning how to use a compass+map or just sun and stars? Eating home-cooked meals and walking/biking around a lot to go from A to B? For better or worse, the worl…

I was referring to phones in the classroom.

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

#229

Post by WalterBright »

shiroiushi wrote: post #153
WalterBright wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does a health monitor need to be in constant connection with the internet? If there's a problem, it can just beep at you. Yes, school shootings are a problem. But why does there need to be 30 cell phones in the classroom? The landline on the teacher's desk can be enough. Or even a button to turn off the jammer. For wildfire, call the principal who then hits the fire button. We had tornado drills in elementary sch…

>Yes, school shootings are a problem. But why does there need to be 30 cell phones in the classroom? The landline on the teacher's desk can be enough. Or even a button to turn off the jammer. A single landline isn't going to help 30 kids call their parents and say a final good-bye before the shooter kills them, while the town police force stands outside.

See: "a button to turn off the jammer"

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

#230

Post by WalterBright »

tsimionescu wrote: post #141
AlbertCory wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A 300-word answer isn't 20x more intelligent than a 15-word one. I think Walter said all that needs to be said, and more economically than you did.

Walter's comment could be applied exactly as well to an argument that there shouldn't be electricity in schools (after all, kids survived without electricity just fine for decades).

I've made the comment before that all the schools really need is a classroom, desks and chairs, a chalkboard, and a teacher. Pen & notepaper helps.

The rest is just useless fluff.

Note that Caltech was exactly that. A prof, a chalkboard, a lecture hall. I learned more in 2 weeks with that than a year of high school. I've suggested to college students that they'll learn better if they leave their laptops in the dorm. And I say this as a computer professional.

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