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France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

theguardian.com

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Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#281

Post by andrewla »

yoz-y wrote: post #6

The important thing in the article is that this ban concerns phone usage during breaks and lunch. Phones in classes were already forbidden long time ago.

Forbidden, maybe, though the article mentions it only as school policy. I don't think there was a government-issued ban on phones in classes, or at the very least the article does not support this assertion.

> [Jean-Michel Blanquer, the French education minister] said some education establishments already prohibited pupils from using their mobiles.

> At another school, Mathilde, 12, said: “It’s ridiculous. At my school, we don’t use them in class or during recess, so what’s the problem? If anyone’s caught using one in the toilets or at lunchtime, the phones are confiscated immediately and the person is given detention.”

This is certainly an important aspect of the ban, but also relevant is that this is a centrally-issued (unfunded) mandate rather than policy set on a school or district basis.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#282

Post by s73ver_ »

pixl97 wrote: post #155
sgift wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure when the last time was I saw an ad on my phone. The only example I can think of would be the Kindle app telling me of comparable books, which seems no different from all the tech books I have which have book recommendations on the last pages.

>I'm not sure when the last time was I saw an ad on my phone. Are you running a flip phone? Because most smart phones I see these days have no less than 10 apps that can present ads or notifications at almost any given time.

No, they're just trying to smugly suggest that they're superior to everyone else because they've rooted their phone to run an ad blocker.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#283

Post by s73ver_ »

downandout wrote: post #268
irrational wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My children do not have cell phones (if they want one they can buy it and a data plan themselves - so far that hasn't happened until they are about 18), but teachers assume that every student has a cell phone. The teachers then ask the kids to do things with their cell phones like you are describing. When my kids say they don't have one they are not believed and receive failing grades for the assignment. I've complai…

Assuming you can afford at least some kind of inexpensive phone for your kid(s), this is kind of a messed up position to take. Your children are failing classes because you want to make them purchase their own phones and plans, which of course is not realistic. So they failed because of something completely beyond their control and entirely within yours. As a parent, I’d be ashamed of myself if I had allowed that to…

At the same time, the school assuming that every kid has access to this, without providing it themselves, is also pretty messed up.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#284

Post by andrewla »

molsongolden wrote: post #234
noobermin wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a luddite view and frankly almost a power tripping view. Have you thought that they are "addicted" to being social with their friends like normal teenagers are? It already is against policy in most places to have smart phones during class, why ban them during breaks? It's during freaking breaks. How about let kids be kids for once and stop trying to grope into their personal lives! Why do you need to pol…

Your comment seems to be lashing out vs. actually addressing the parent comment. The user you are responding to already acknowledged the students are "addicted" to being social and using social media because that is the nature of being a teenager. > "Of course, using phones in class is already against school policy, but it will remain and issue until I am able to take a phone away from a student. " They also noted th…

noobermin's comment makes sense and is reasonable when applied to germinalphrase's comment in light of the article itself, which includes in the ban the use of phones during breaks. germinalphrase's comment says "I would strongly favor a ban" and it is reasonable for noobermin to assume that they are referring to the ban in the article, since no exception was made in the original comment for this (although in an uncle post to this germinalphrase does clarify).

I know it's bad form to object to people downvoting your own comment, so I will do it on the GP's behalf.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#285

Post by chrisdbaldwin »

marchenko wrote: post #272
virtualized wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cave walls are massive distractions to children, especially in a school context. When it comes to young children, I am sceptic to the use of painting in education in general. School should help incorporate good habits into a child's routine, such as listening to stories, and nailing reliance on walls into children is not something we want to be doing in schools. That's what your comment will sound like in 100 years.

Unless those cave walls could be neatly concealed in a pocket or under a desk and served up a stream of rapidly-changing Skinner-optimised content, accompanied by irregular purposefully distracting notification signals, I don't think this is a good analogy. Why is it so hard to believe that we are getting better at hacking our attention spans? Indeed, the cave wall comparison highlights the difference between stimula…

Look at it this way, some people have broke escape velocity and reached orbit. Those that have reached orbit are now laser beaming down the rockets still trying to reach orbit.

That's how the US education system works and why it is so shit.

We pay orbiters to prevent others from reaching orbit. It's quite crowded and no one wants the competition.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#286

Post by ThrowawayP »

watwut wrote: post #112
dazc wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'why ban them during breaks...' School isn't just about academic study, it's also where you make friends and learn how to interact with others. I think mobile phones get in the way of this by enabling kids to just communicate within already established cliques?

Yeah, let's make it even harder for lonely kids. I mean seriosly, why do highly social people have so little empathy for introverted ones?

Sorry but no. Even as an introvert, I can still recognize the problems that being able to escape into a smartphone during school would have caused me later in life.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#287

Post by 0xWilliam »

chrisper wrote: post #280
baldfat wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids are getting addicted. This is all happening prior to puberty. I still remember working with children and teens and found out, throu…

As someone who had unsupervised access to the internet as a child, I turned out to be just fine. But maybe beacause the internet was way different back then. (I am talking dial up era intrent). To me after all these years the "new" internet got a dystopian image. If I had a child, I'd provide them unsupervised access to the internet I remember, but certainly not to the one from today.

ofc the internet was different back then.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#288

Post by nkkollaw »

baldfat wrote: post #278
Montezuma_II wrote: post #25

I think this is a mainly positive move. Mobile phones are massive distractions to children, especially in a school context. When it comes to young children, I am skeptic to the use of digital technology in education in general. School should help incorporate good habits into a child's routine, such as reading books, and nailing reliance on phones into children is not something we want to be doing in schools.

Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids are getting addicted. This is all happening prior to puberty. I still remember working with children and teens and found out, throu…

You are doing the right (and hard) thing. Well done.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#289

Post by criddell »

wincy wrote: post #274
downandout wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you can afford at least some kind of inexpensive phone for your kid(s), this is kind of a messed up position to take. Your children are failing classes because you want to make them purchase their own phones and plans, which of course is not realistic. So they failed because of something completely beyond their control and entirely within yours. As a parent, I’d be ashamed of myself if I had allowed that to…

It's not his fault that the school makes assumptions about the lifestyle that he has chosen for his children. I don't plan on giving my children cell phones, either, and would home school sooner than I would be strong armed by the state into buying a device with limitless potential for evil. I don't think children are prepared to own them, even with internet blocks children end up being constantly bombarded (or seeki…

> It's not his fault that the school makes assumptions about the lifestyle that he has chosen for his children.

I'm not sure they see it as a lifestyle choice. It's just another thing that they expect kids to have. It's been added to the list of binder, paper, pens, laptop, and gym clothes.

Re: France to ban mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools

#290

Post by nasredin »

chrisper wrote: post #280
baldfat wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children given unsupervised access to the internet is ridiculous. People freak out if a predator lives int heir neighborhood but they let their child be accessible to millions of predators via their phone or table. This is why kids initial exposure to porn is 8 in the US and 10 when kids are getting addicted. This is all happening prior to puberty. I still remember working with children and teens and found out, throu…

As someone who had unsupervised access to the internet as a child, I turned out to be just fine. But maybe beacause the internet was way different back then. (I am talking dial up era intrent). To me after all these years the "new" internet got a dystopian image. If I had a child, I'd provide them unsupervised access to the internet I remember, but certainly not to the one from today.

Actually that's not a bad idea.

You can simulate 56k dialup speed on a router and the kids will probably avoid Facebook and other heavy sites and stick to WikiPedia as a Pavlovian response.

As a bonus they will have to masturbate to images, just like in the old days.

You can also disconnect them when they get out of line thus simulating the complete dialup experience.

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