Either way, there should some way to do it without having to go to the main office and ask to use their phone or something. When I was a kid we had payphones, back when it cost a dime.
I'm sorry but just wondering here... Why would you need to phone home up to the point where you can't be without a phone? I didn't have phones in my school, never needed them either. A lot of people are acting as if not having phones will kill them where in reality, everyone will be just fine.
Like when my kid is finished with his club after school and it’s raining and he’d like me to pick him up. Or he’s at school and realizes he forgot to take his medication. One time his bike was broken and he couldn’t ride it.
I’m glad for you that you never once had a need to call home. I congratulate you. Some people do need to, and I just hope they have a way.
Why would even that be necessary? It's school, not jail or drug den...
Kids survived fine without phones for millenia, I'm sure they can survive now. If there is a real emergency, then I'm sure some supervisor can make a call...
As someone who went through the NY public school system many years ago, I can confirm hats were/are hard banned. Like unless it was for religious reasons you really couldn't even think about putting something on your head.
Cell phones were also banned in my youth but I guess times have changed?
Oh yes, but by the school. Not the law. We have elected positions specifically for figuring out how schools should teach children. Also top down negative mandates about clothes are already borderline abuses of power. We want laws preventing admins from going overboard, not mega bans in state law.
The research showing the impact of cellphones during class outweighs an individual's opinion. This has nothing to do with fashion and can't be compared to hats or locker decorations.
It's no different than sleeping through class or just doodling and ignoring the teacher. If the kid can't not have their phone out then they get banished to the back of the class. If they play noise they get sent to the office, just like disruptive kids in every generation.
It’s no different than sleeping through class or just doodling and ignoring the teacher.
And there you have it folks, doodling is the same as these social media apps designed to be addictive that also lead to all kinds of bullying and social anxieties and harassment.
I'm sorry, you think banning smartphones at school is going to stop cyber bullying? Because bullies infamously follow the rules and kids are at school 24/7?
Not really according to the New York Times. It's mixed at best. And it doesn't make sense either. Bullies are more than capable of breaking the rules. The only thing that actually works here is that victims may not see the messages until after school. That's certainly not going to stop all of the other ways phones are used to coordinate bullying though. So now they get bullied all day still and taunted all night still.
The problem with cyber bullying is that there's no breaks in the bullying anymore. You used to be able to go home and relax before going back into it at school. So until schools actually go after bullies instead of supporting them against their victims this is useless.
I believe his point was that if students want to find a way to be distracted, they will - with or without cellphones. I know I certainly was able to distract myself with doodling lol
It's not about finding a way to be distracted, it's about having a device that's filled with shit that's meant to be addictive distracting you whether you are seeking it out or not.
The research showing the impact of cellphones during class outweighs an individual’s opinion.
More broadly, any kind of in-class interruption can hurt academic performance. This same logic has been applied to dress codes, speech constraints (most famously Bong Hits for Jesus), and behavioral edicts.
But this wack-a-mole strategy of prohibitions isn't championed because it is particularly effective. There's always some new distraction in the classroom you can chase after next. The strategy is championed because its cheap. Banning cell phones has very little budgeted cost as a public policy. By contrast, reducing class sizes and providing more hands-on learning opportunities and hiring/retaining highly educated teachers has an enormous price tag.
Nevermind which strategy has a proven history of increased student performance. We just need to keep locking enormous pools of children in tiny windowless classrooms and throwing increasingly byzantine standardized tests at them, then chasing any student who produces a "distraction" from this mind-numbing educational policy.
Good idea. Its of the main reason why education today is faltering. Allowing too many screen in the class room is simply a bad idea. These kids have the no ability to stay focused in any way. They way they learn guarantees many will never learn to read without a screen and the internet. I see it often in my current job.
Ontario has now passed two different bills banning cell phones in school. It's a great distraction from actual problems. I fully expect we'll pass a third in a few years if our provincial government is re-elected
Teachers don't need a sheet of paper at a legislature somewhere to take away cellphones. They can do that already, and if the kids disobey a legislature won't help. I assume no one is expecting kids to go to prison for having a cellphone
The key thing is that teachers can ban phones in their individual classrooms if the school permits it.
There are many schools in which the senior admin don't institute phone bans (you'd be surprised how common this is).
Legislating it helps maintain consistency and parity between schools nation wide, which is important as it's a quality of education issue, so the policy should be consistent across all schools.
I'm not from North America, but the situation is similar across most western democracies.
they could have incorporated similar tech to teach children better. or we could figure out why class is so boring when the subjects can be so interesting. kids clearly want and would clearly benefit from the integration of this tech.
but nooo lets ban phones instead because we want things to stay like they were 40 years ago and is not much work.
"I have seen these addictive algorithms pull in young people, literally capture them and make them prisoners in a space where they are cut off from human connection, social interaction and normal classroom activity"
Literally? What kind of devices is she using that have these cyborg powers, and why am I just hearing about this now? Shit, mine just has cringe teens dancing.
