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What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

theguardian.com

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Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#31

Post by jonlucc »

forinti wrote: post #3
teeray wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm out of the loop... smartphones are allowed in the first place? When did that happen? In my high school, cell phones and ipods (at the time) were to be in lockers and turned off during the day. It was an insta-detention if you were seen using one.

You wouldn't believe what an issue this can turn into. Some parents will fight for their kid's right to use cellphones.

At my work, there are certain areas that we are not allowed to have any cameras, and that includes all personal cell phones. I have a colleague whose daughter was at school during an active shooter incident, and she was able to use her phone but he was not able to receive her calls or texts. She was not killed, but I am glad she had a cell phone that day, and I wish he had his too.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#32

Post by dylan604 »

cabaalis wrote: post #18

I guess I date myself, but cell phones were banned in my high school because of a strong association at the time with drug dealers. A teacher seeing one was equivalent to seeing contraband.

in the mid-90s, i was branded a drug dealer because i bought a pager. this was essentially when i finally succumbed to the realization that people are idiots.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#33

Post by shadowgovt »

wharvle wrote: post #17
forinti wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't believe what an issue this can turn into. Some parents will fight for their kid's right to use cellphones.

This right here. Parents ultimately run schools, and a surprising proportion of them get really pissy if their kids can't have phones in class. Schools aren't letting kids have phones because they want to. My wife used to teach and had multiple parents, over a handful of years, who'd semi-frequently call their kids while they were in class . Just to, like, chat. A lot more would text with them, again, usually just to…

Parents now are the generation that grew up with ubiquitous communication connectivity.

For them, not being in touch is going to feel weird.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#34

Post by pge »

jonlucc wrote: post #31
forinti wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't believe what an issue this can turn into. Some parents will fight for their kid's right to use cellphones.

At my work, there are certain areas that we are not allowed to have any cameras, and that includes all personal cell phones. I have a colleague whose daughter was at school during an active shooter incident, and she was able to use her phone but he was not able to receive her calls or texts. She was not killed, but I am glad she had a cell phone that day, and I wish he had his too.

policy shouldn't be defined by extreme outlier cases

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#36

Post by wharvle »

shannifin wrote: post #5
teeray wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm out of the loop... smartphones are allowed in the first place? When did that happen? In my high school, cell phones and ipods (at the time) were to be in lockers and turned off during the day. It was an insta-detention if you were seen using one.

Around here, unfortunately yes. The general argument I've heard is that kids need to be able to contact parents in an emergency, or something.

School shootings come up a lot in these kinds of conversations.

Of course you can run the numbers and realize this plainly falls way below the level at which anyone should be using that use-case as a justification for anything.

(nb. the vast majority of school shootings you'll see in the statistics aren't the sort where kids having phones matters, they're e.g. targeted attacks on a single person, gang- or otherwise crime-related targeted attacks, violence that just by happenstance takes place on school grounds outside and perhaps not even involving any students or staff; all of which tend to be over almost as fast as they start and aren't an ongoing threat to bystanders once they're over, and even those aren't terribly likely to be something a kid is present for during their school career, on average)

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#37

Post by boeingUH60 »

gremlinsinc wrote: post #27
boeingUH60 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There should be a public phone (manned by an administrator or teacher) that parents can call and get connected to their child or vice versa. Allowing smartphones for everyone is an unbelievable distraction.

With the rise in school shootings (I graduated in 98, Columbine was for me the first, and one of the deadliest obviously, but ever since it's just escalated).. I've got two boys 4 and 6, they don't have cellphones now, but I freak and feel I need to do damage control/therapy with them everytime they have an active shooter drill. We only ever had to deal with Tornado, and Fire drills. ADHD tangent aside my point is: I…

To be honest, I think your fear is overblown, but I understand how it is having kids you love.

But let's assume a rare mass shooting actually happens (I forbid this thought)...will there be any point calling your kids? A phone will be more of a liability than an asset at that point..

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#38

Post by amanaplanacanal »

dylan604 wrote: post #26
egeozcan wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's as if the school doesn't have any phones they could use in an emergency.

An emergency like active shooter, not your child had an accident. During active shooter situations, the school isn't going to call the parents of the students. They have other things to worry about. The kids are calling their parents directly.

I’m trying to figure out what useful action the parent is going to take in this situation.

Re: What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

#39

Post by tass »

Podgajski wrote: post #8
tempest_ wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those light phones are interesting products and I thought about trying one at one point but seen some mixed reviews.

Why can’t someone just make a phone. I don’t need a phone that plays music or can listen to podcast. I just need a phone that can make calls and make texts. I think their problem is they wanted this phone to still be like a smart phone.

By the time you build a basic phone, adding these features only costs a few cents more, so they include them to increase market share.

These days phones are generally built from a SoC which already includes more capabilities than just calls and text, and run an operating system which already supports those capabilities.

If you don’t want certain features they can be turned off (check how locked down you can make an iPhone via parental controls, for instance) but it’s hard to avoid paying for them in some way.

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