Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

yle.fi

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 491 posts

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#391

Post by constantcrying »

andrepd wrote: post #345
constantcrying wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, are you serious?

What is this supposed to mean? "Most people need to work to get good grades in school" is a very self-evident statement, is it not?

>Most people need to work to get good grades in school" is a very self-evident statement, is it not?

No? I obviously had to put in a lot of work in university, but during school I never did, which was quite common, at least among my friends.

Even for the semi-standardized test at the end of school I tried learning, but I didn't know what to do, so I gave up.

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#392

Post by adverbly »

Jolter wrote: post #262
adverbly wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So wait did they ban it for teachers and staff as well?

Staff are expected to use phones and other digital tools in order to do their job, so I don’t think this comment is as witty as you might think.

I wasn't trying to be witty at all. I was legitimately curious.

I didn't know teachers needed to use their smartphones for work. What do they need their phones for? Do they have landlines in each classroom to call parents or the office? Do teachers get laptops or PCs these days or are they expected to use a personal mobile phone to google things?

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#394

Post by Jolter »

adverbly wrote: post #392
Jolter wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Staff are expected to use phones and other digital tools in order to do their job, so I don’t think this comment is as witty as you might think.

I wasn't trying to be witty at all. I was legitimately curious. I didn't know teachers needed to use their smartphones for work. What do they need their phones for? Do they have landlines in each classroom to call parents or the office? Do teachers get laptops or PCs these days or are they expected to use a personal mobile phone to google things?

At my daughter’s school, they use a phone app to check the kids in as they arrive, and check them out as they leave. It replaces the paper list they used to have. Don’t ask me how it’s an improvement. I suppose they are able, in case of fire, to get an accurate head count that way.

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#395

Post by -__---____-ZXyw »

RHSeeger wrote: post #172
PeterStuer wrote: post #3

If the goal of school is to develop children into young adults with good reasoning and analytical skills, a basic wholesome world and social model and some practical skills and basic physique, smartphones seem to contribute little and distract a lot from those aims.

My daughter brings her phone to school with her - If he bus doesn't show up, she can call and ask us to come drive her to school - If she wants to go somewhere after school, she can call us and let us know she won't be home at her normal time - If she forgot something at home, she can call and ask us to bring it - etc, etc, etc There's a ton of reasons for her to have her phone on her. Enough so that, when she gets p…

I heard a variant of this recently. I told a colleague I don't use my phone for long periods, days at a time, that I miss nothing, am a happier person, do stuff with my time that makes me happier, etc, and she broke out in a mild panic, along the lines of:

"What about emergencies?? What about when you need to phone someone about X, or phone someone else because Y happened?"

It's a good argument - the typical phone in 1998 was a useful and practical device. Seriously, being able to ring people has many excellent and real use cases. Phones aren't just calling devices anymore, though.

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#396

Post by malcolmgreaves »

_bin_ wrote: post #301
anhner wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those rights can't be taken away... without existing legislation. There are many rights that can be taken away, freedom of movement for example in the case of prisoners, but you need laws in order to not make that taking away a crime itself. You can't just apprehend and throw someone in your basement because they stole something from you. Same thing with children's phones, a teacher can't just take away the phone bec…

Sure, I think this just looks a little alien from an American perspective because most of our rights are set up as explicit negatives to block the government from legislating them away, more than to prevent Joe or Jane Teacher from taking a phone. "Congress shall pass no law..." I guess the nordics don't have a common-law tradition and so never inhereted the in loco parentis doctrine that allows schools to take subst…

Americans don’t have constitutional rights. It’s a fantasy that has crumpled the second it hit the reality of having a dictator as president and a political party that doesn’t care about laws. The Republicans have deported American citizens (children) who were born in America. The Republicans have arrested a judge in Milwaukee because they didn’t like that judge following the law.

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#397

Post by malcolmgreaves »

II2II wrote: post #387
hackyhacky wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most of our rights are set up as explicit negatives to block the government from legislating them away, Of course, as we've discovered, those rights don't mean much, when the executive doesn't want to recognize them. So what was the point anyway?

It's too early to make that claim. There are multiple branches and levels of government to deal with situations like this. They have worked in the past for smaller scale violations. They should work in the present for larger scale violations. The problem is that it takes time, it always took time, so a lot of people are going to get hurt in the process. (Granted, it is also important for people to fight for their rig…

> current government is pushing the limits

The Republicans* are. Important to be factually accurate here’s the Democrats have never done anything remotely this lawless and authoritarian before.

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#398

Post by eddd-ddde »

Gormo wrote: post #196
nabla9 wrote: post #150

It had to be a law because children are people in Finland and most Nordic countries with rights that adults just can't take away. Current legislation allows the teacher to tell a student to put their phone away in a pocket or backpack, for example, where it will not be a distraction. The use of phones during breaks cannot be completely banned, as students have fundamental rights. The Constitution guarantees everyone…

> It had to be a law because children are people in Finland and most Nordic countries with rights that adults just can't take away. It's a strange concept to hold that there are rights that can't be taken away, but then take them away merely by passing legislation.

Well ethics aren't absolute. If it wasn't this way we would be stuck with a set of rules for all eternity, even when deemed incorrect at a later point.

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#399

Post by barbazoo »

constantcrying wrote: post #385
barbazoo wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“I basically learned nothing at school” is such a silly obviously wrong thing to say. Really doesn’t help you make a point.

I spent 12 years there. Give the time investment the education results were extremely underwhelming.

Same here, full 12 years in the German school system and I can't say I would complain given where I'm at right now.

Re: Finland Bans Smartphones in Schools

#400

Post by badc0ffee »

Tade0 wrote: post #181
esperent wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they would infringe on the right to property. Can children bring in portable hifi systems? What about those squeaky chicken toys? Or a water pistol?

My sister's friend brought a microwave oven once and started making grilled cheese sandwiches during recess. He was told to unplug and never bring it again, but it was not confiscated. My classmate brought a super-sized calculator to class for tests, as he had a medical condition which allowed him to bring "a calculator". The buttons made a lot of noise but, again, it was not confiscated.

Can you make grilled cheese in a microwave?
Post reply on HN