Unesco Calls for Global Ban on Smartphones in Schools (theguardian.com) 153
Smartphones should be banned from schools to tackle classroom disruption, improve learning and help protect children from cyberbullying, a UN report has recommended. From a report: Unesco, the UN's education, science and culture agency, said there was evidence that excessive mobile phone use was linked to reduced educational performance and that high levels of screen time had a negative effect on children's emotional stability. It said its call for a smartphone ban sent a clear message that digital technology as a whole, including artificial intelligence, should always be subservient to a "human-centred vision" of education, and never supplant face-to-face interaction with teachers.
Unesco warned policymakers against an unthinking embrace of digital technology, arguing that its positive impact on learning outcomes and economic efficiency could be overstated, and new was not always better. "Not all change constitutes progress. Just because something can be done does not mean it should be done," it concluded. With more learning moving online, especially in universities, it urged policymakers not to neglect the "social dimension" of education where students receive face-to-face teaching. "Those urging increasing individualisation may be missing the point of what education is about," it said.
Unesco warned policymakers against an unthinking embrace of digital technology, arguing that its positive impact on learning outcomes and economic efficiency could be overstated, and new was not always better. "Not all change constitutes progress. Just because something can be done does not mean it should be done," it concluded. With more learning moving online, especially in universities, it urged policymakers not to neglect the "social dimension" of education where students receive face-to-face teaching. "Those urging increasing individualisation may be missing the point of what education is about," it said.
Ban Phones In Schools (Score:4, Insightful)
"Smartphones" have no place in K-12.
I remember the intense debates over scientific calculators with memory chips as one could store answers on them. These "smartphones" today are nothing but distraction devices that do a thousand different things that happen to also be able to call someone.
With all of the restrictions already placed on students from dress codes to honor codes, I've never understood why these devices were allowed at all.
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The cell phone has become the adult's transitional object, replacing the toddler's teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging. - Margaret Heffernan
Re:Ban Phones In Schools (Score:5, Insightful)
"Smartphones" have no place in K-12.
I remember the intense debates over scientific calculators with memory chips as one could store answers on them. These "smartphones" today are nothing but distraction devices that do a thousand different things that happen to also be able to call someone.
With all of the restrictions already placed on students from dress codes to honor codes, I've never understood why these devices were allowed at all.
-- The cell phone has become the adult's transitional object, replacing the toddler's teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging. - Margaret Heffernan
Perhaps the pressure on the schools to permit cell phones comes from the parents?
I can hear those parents now :
If ya ban cell phones how ma kids gonna get me to come pick them up and taxi them to gymnastics, ballet, piano, whatever practice??
Or: How will 'eye know if there been a bad event at school if kids can't call or text me about it?
why permit? (Score:2)
"Perhaps the pressure on the schools to permit cell phones comes from the parents?"
This requires no action, I think. Unless banned, they are automatically permitted, no?
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Ok, then how about the pressure to not ban them? Because I'm absolutely certain a lot of teachers would love to get rid of them.
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Banning them requires policing the ban I assume most schools have just given up. Unless you going to have body and bag searches how do you ensure this. Uniforms are easy because you can see directly.
Re:Ban Phones In Schools (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps the pressure on the schools to permit cell phones comes from the parents?
I can hear those parents now :
If ya ban cell phones how ma kids gonna get me to come pick them up and taxi them to gymnastics, ballet, piano, whatever practice??
Or: How will 'eye know if there been a bad event at school if kids can't call or text me about it?
Heu, dumb phones which can only send SMS and receive calls? Notice the title said "smartphone" not "mobile phones".
Re:Ban Phones In Schools (Score:4)
Except everyone at school would have the same.
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On school uniforms and bullying and such, this makes me think of Japan. They've found there that school uniforms merely means that the abuse shifts to less easy to spot things. It becomes how you accessorize the uniform, how you wear it, etc...
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All you accomplish with school uniforms is that students will wear them in slightly "odd" ways to stand out to make sure they won't be made fun of, kinda like "flaunting", and those that don't "dare" to upset the apple cart will be the ones bullied.
C'mon, it's not like this is new.
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You'd think so, but you know it won't be.
Same logic as with school uniforms. Bullies will find something else to bully about.
Re:Ban Phones In Schools (Score:5, Insightful)
Great, have your kid being bullied for having the flipphone. That's the 21st century version of being being bullied for having to wear your old brother's clothing. You know, the one with the really weird taste in colors.
Very clever and ingenious from yourself Sherlock! If smartphones were ever banned at school, everybody would then be going to have a flip phone at school, don't you think? Let me know...
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Of course not. You'd have a flip phone to conform, and a "secret" phone to rebel. When have you been young that you think this ain't the way it's gonna be?
Back when I was doing my military service, it was strictly forbidden to have a "days left" measuring tape. You know, the tailor's tapes that you had for measuring a meter and a half, and the last 150 days (or centimeters) were measured with extreme correctness. Nobody could have one. Everyone had one. And we were very ingenious to not get them detected, a
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And any smartphones would be flat confiscated.
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They already have school clothes, school books, school computers, just add school phone.
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Someone knows how life works, at least.
Re:Ban Phones In Schools (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: Ban Phones In Schools (Score:2)
What smart watch do you have?
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Perhaps the pressure on the schools to permit cell phones comes from the parents?
I can hear those parents now :
If ya ban cell phones how ma kids gonna get me to come pick them up and taxi them to gymnastics, ballet, piano, whatever practice??
Or: How will 'eye know if there been a bad event at school if kids can't call or text me about it?
You mean the gymnastics, ballet, piano, or whatever, that happens at the same time in the same place with the same people each week? How will they ever know who to pick up where & when?! If there's an emergency or change in plan, they can call/tell the school office. Kids don't need smartphones.
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Perhaps the pressure on the schools to permit cell phones comes from the parents?
Or sometimes the kids themselves. The cited reason my wife's school didn't ban cell phones while at the same time lobbying the education minister to table legislation to ban them is because the school has a reputation for attracting students and thus gets the pick of some pretty good ones. Children have quite a bit of sway over what school they end up going to, and it doesn't take long for them to find out that a school is pretty strict about ${thing_they_like} and convince the parents not to send them ther
Do not ban, Limit (Score:2, Interesting)
"Smartphones" have no place in K-12.
That's almost as wrong headed as allowing them everywhere for any reason. Smartphones are packed full of sensors and have significant computational power that makes them great for a variety of scientific experiments [phyphox.org] so there are very valid educational purposes for Smartphones.
The problem at the moment is that Smartphones are being used highly inappropriately in a way that is damaging education. The solution is to stop the inappropriate use but not to have a nuclear response that wipes out all, even bene
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UNESCO & the OECD have access to decades of research on ICT use in schools. There are strong & consistent correlations between ICT use vs behavioural & academic performance issues. Even when ICT has been deployed & implemented in planned, rational ways, the correlations still remain.
That's not true. There is certainly some evidence suggesting a negative correlation but also evidence of positive correlations so calling it "strong and consistent" is highly inaccurate as a quick Google search will show you and in case you find that too hard have a look at this report from Sweden [skolverket.se] which summarizes other government reports from multiple other countries typically showing a positive correlation between ICT use and grades when ICT is deployed responsibly with clear goals in mind.
However, r
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Many workers also need to learn how to drive but that's not on school curricula & no reason to put it on. If it helps students to write & submit written work, e.g. for homework, fine. Teach them how to do that. It doesn't take long. Maybe provide library services for under-privileged kids to have access to computers or to just have a quiet
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To repeat, both UNESCO & the OECD have been doing yearly reports & commissioning meta-studies for decades. The overall trend is clear & consistent.
You can keep repeating this all you want but I linked a report to my previous post that also refers to multiple other reports that indicate positive correlations between reasonable and carefully planned use of technology and student outcomes. So why are the UNESCO and the OECD reports right and all the other reports wrong? ....because they agree with your preconceived bias and the others do not? Have you ever heard of confirmation bias?
Many workers also need to learn how to drive
Only to get to their job not to do their job and even then it is usual
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so there are very valid educational purposes for Smartphones.
That doesn't mean personal cell phones have a place in K-12 instruction. 99% of K-12 teaching does not involve experiments of any kind; let alone physics experiments using the sensors on a Smartphone --- If they need to make a one-day exception with the explicit approval of a physics teacher, maybe, But As a teacher you have no way of knowing what kind of personal devices students might have anyhow..
There is simply a much better option
Correlation... (Score:3)
"...there was evidence that excessive mobile phone use was linked to reduced educational performance and that high levels of screen time had a negative effect on children's emotional stability."
But, as always, we should consider that the causation may the other way. The poor students who are bored in class spend more time on mobile devices; and the students with negative emotional stability deal with it with more screen time.
These "smartphones" today are nothing but distraction devices that do a thousand different things that happen to also be able to call someone.
The amusing thing is that, to anybody below maybe 30, actually c
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I think that the emotional stability and education performance reduction may be tied less to smart phones and more social media. After all, facebook and such have been negatively linked as well.
If we locked down the phones from social media, and only the more educational side of youtube and such, they'd probably be positive again.
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Sure but smartphones is what allows children to guzzle social media directly, that stuff is specifically designed to maximize interaction user after all. And I don't think you'll be able to lock down phones to only show educational youtubes and nothing else in practice.
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I
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He's never going to get into the productive mental flow of programming if he is time limited like that when learning python.
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My kids' school did ban cellphones. Do you think that stopped the kids from having them anyway? Not even close. Good luck with your ban!
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> remember the intense debates over scientific calculators with memory chips as one could store answers on them.
And yet, now that I'm a proper engineer designing hardware and software, I am not required to memorize formulas and theorems. I'm allowed to look them up in books or on my electronic devices in order to get my job done.
There is no harm in allowing children to bring reference material to do their homework or exams. There is harm in denying them those reference materials because they end up equat
About time (Score:5, Funny)
"I know, let's give all kids internet connected pocket computers!"
"That might not be horrible enough, what could we do to make it worse?"
"I've got it ... the internet connected pocket computers could all have cameras and microphones!"
Re:About time (Score:4, Insightful)
"That sounds awful"
"We could add a tracking device so parents can see where their kids are all the time"
"Ok, I'm listening"
"And we could also get that data and sell it"
"SOLD!"
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"The Government might also find this data useful."
"Yes, they might want to keep an eye on potential terrorists."
"Be sure to ask more for the data, government is willing to pay more."
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"While we're at it, I mean, those cells have all sorts of sensors..."
"Yeah, yeah, just take it all"
Yes, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Their basic premise is correct. If you have teens today you know they basically live on their phones, if allowed to.
That problem starts at home. Parents need to parent their kids and stop letting the net, tv, etc babysit and raise their kids for them.
But....
We also don't need an international body setting rules and standards (be it phone use or anything else) that need to be set locally. One size fits all is a bad answer to education or most anything else in life. Some classes, some teachers, some schools, some kids may get value out of having devices. There are kids who need phones for emergency contact with their family. And so on with a million other exceptions.
At my kid's high school phone use is rampant. She is quite open with me that in some classes they're on their phone screwing around most of the time. Yet, when I ask her about the material she has an excellent grasp of the subject. I find this mysterious but as long as she's somehow learning the subjects I don't care if she has her phone during school hours.
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As someone who had a pretty abusive and neglectful childhood, I do acknowledge that it all starts at home. However, the school should also serve as a place for parenting. If they're not getting it at home, she should get some of it at school. Including things like real discipline, consequences, various social rules, dress codes...
We obviously need to make sure it doesn't cross a line, but life is always about balancing things. Too much parental power... too much potential for unchecked abuse and neglect. To
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Their basic premise is correct. If you have teens today you know they basically live on their phones, if allowed to.
And if you don't let them you're disconnecting them from their social circles, so they will end up being ostracised by their peers.
But you're absolutely right, everyone is different so a blanket ban will end up harming some people far more than it helps them.
I went to school long before smartphones became prevalent, but we had a mix of teacher - some tried to enforce strict discipline, some just couldn't care less and there was absolute chaos in their classrooms, and there were some more pragmatic ones who
It'll never happen... (Score:4, Interesting)
Starting this year, our kids are REQUIRED to have a smart phone on their person AT ALL TIMES at the school, so they can receive wireless emergency alerts and active shooter notifications/instructions. The phone must also have the school's geolocation app running with full permissions so students can be located by staff in realtime (again, presumably to assist in rescue during an active shooter or some other emergency).
So, no, a cell phone ban is not going to happen. Ever.
Re:It'll never happen... (Score:5, Insightful)
What kind of Hellhole school are you sending you're students to?
Re:It'll never happen... (Score:5, Funny)
What kind of Hellhole school are you sending you're students to?
Hopefully one which teaches your/you're.
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What kind of Hellhole school are you sending you're students to?
Everytown All American High School, USA
Whoda thunk that a culture that glorifies violence, enshrines that every moron should have access to firearms, enforces a strict top down social hierarchy based on being the biggest dick, ignores (tacitly supports) bullying and viciously beats down people who speak out about it (especially if they're the victim) would result in an environment with such a high rate of violence in schools.
I know a few 6th form teachers here in the UK (6th form = final two years of
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School shootings have happened in the UK too (search for Dunblane massacre), they are just a lot less common because firearms are much harder to get hold of.
It's also worth noting that 6th form is optional whereas the previous years of schooling are mandated by law. The most disruptive students generally hate being at school for various reasons, and will leave as soon as they are able to, so they won't attend 6th form at all.
Those students who attend 6th form have chosen to be there.
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Schools in your country don’t have monthly active shooter drills? What about battlefield tourniquet training? There actually are litter boxes in American schools, but they aren’t for people who identify as cats. They are for regular children so they don’t wet themselves under the frequent lockdowns. https://www.sandiegouniontribu... [sandiegouniontribune.com]
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Is Texas "America" enough for you? https://www.khou.com/article/n... [khou.com]
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If you're not American this seems odd, but it's not all that uncommon. The poster is being inflammatory but they're probably being truthful. We have all sort of crazy stuff happening in schools to deal with mass shootings. It's likely that most if not all of it is just profiteering by somebody's campaign donor or brother in law (somebody gets paid for that geo-location app...), but regardless school shootings happen here and we're unwilling or unable to do anything to stop th
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What kind of Hellhole school are you sending you're students to?
The freedom school, fuck yeah!
Re: It'll never happen... (Score:2)
Oh look, I was modded down by some bullies. Shock amazement. You know you peaked in high school, right?
Re: It'll never happen... (Score:2)
Does the school provide the tracking collar, er, smartphone? (Hah, they can't afford crayons after paying off their consultants and administrators. Who's more important, right?) What if parents can't afford one? Or don't want their kids to have one?
It seems rather intrusive; if a government agency wants to track my kid at all times, I have ways of maliciously complying (as I think most /. readers do), but not everyone does.
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Your poverty is appalling. If you can't afford a phone, maybe your kid should work the salt mines instead of getting an education.
Jeesh, those peasants are uppity again.
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Schools will definitely spend money on tracking equipment if it insulates them from lawsuits.
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I think this is becoming a fundamental challenge of the smart phones. They can do 'anything' with a just a little bit of software. A lot of times the targets already have them or could usually be made to get them or provided with them. So anytime anyone wants to do any sort of field data gathering, mobile communication, field calculations, authentication, photography, ....
A smart phone app is seen as simplest way to implement, to a degree that other options are not really even looked at. To the degree the
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Of course if we want to take this seriously, we could issue devices with restricted loads.
Today schools issue chromebooks, wouldn't be hard to imagine issuing $150 mobile devices if it were appropriate. Most of the school application is better served by the laptop, but a handheld may have utility beyond the chromebook.
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Depends on the "ban".
At my kid's school, they are banned, meaning they can be on their person in a bag or pocket, but must not come out except on designated breaks, and those breaks are relatively short (e.g. not allowed during lunch either) and must be silenced.
Of course, there's school mandated "screen time" with the Chromebooks. There seems to be some muddying of the waters with what the concern is, "screen time" versus "online social interaction". Even with online social interaction, there's some diff
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That required geolocation app thing sounds vaguely unconstitutional. I would love to see it challenged. Electronic surveillance is a form of search.
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There's a middle ground between "kids buried in their phones" and "phones not allowed anywhere on campus".
Having them in case of emergency (whether it be dramatic school shooting or a more likely minor personal emergency like asking parents to bring in an assignment they forgot) can have them on hand, but kept well out of view except for select times.
Schools do this all the time and are quite capable of enforcing it to reasonable success. Any lapses in enforcement won't matter much compared to how much they
I agree. Somewhat. (Score:2)
A digital culture that truly serves humanity and it's interests can only exists with clear and open standards, a culture and etiquette around using them and a healthy balance between real life and the virtual world.
All that is notably lacking in todays mass online anarchy and it's getting worse every day. We are more cyberpunk than the society of Neuromancer in some regards and this is by accident not by intention. And the effects are detrimental. Smartphones in classes are a problem if they aren't used cor
Profits maximisation (Score:2)
We are more cyberpunk than the society of Neuromancer in some regards and this is by accident not by intention.
What do you mean "by accident not by intention"?
There is a very clear intention of profits maximization by most corporation, and the current hell-hole we're living in is a side effect of all the efforts to keep the money coming in.
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Am afraid that the UNA Bomber had it right with this one. This is akin to saying "Once everyone starts respecting the law, there will be no crime ever again"
You got it backwards, every tool has it uses, but part of human nature is the intellect and creativity to put tools to novel uses that further personal interests.
The problem with the internet, and technology in general, is that the only way to combat the bad usage of the tool, is with better tools of your own. How do you enforce a good, open standard? B
How about educating them? (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, teach kids about what their cellphones do for them, and what they do to them, especially. How they're used as tracking devices, how they're used to gauge their activities and how they're used to spy on them. That's a pretty good motivator, especially during those "I want to be independent and my own boss" teenage years that they don't want to even TOUCH them if they don't have to.
Of course this may have the unwanted side effect that they don't want to do it later in life either.
did the guardian even read the report? (Score:5, Informative)
The report also says smartphones enable education in places that have no schools. One example from the report
Governments have also developed offline mobile learning platforms where access to electricity and internet is low, but use of mobile phones is high. In 2017, in Kenya, the government developed M-Shule, a mobile learning platform that uses text messaging to provide students with lesson plans, activities and learning materials.
I skimmed all 400 pages and couldn't find any call for a ban, and didn't see any data that linked mobile phones to negative education outcomes. There was quite a bit of data presented around the lack of equity w/respect to who has access to technology, though.
This is actually a good thing (Score:5, Interesting)
The knowledge and training required by the school's curriculum is not the only thing the pupils learn at school. They also learn how to socialize, they learn the social norms and values of their community, the build up a network of friends.
When they're staring at a phone 24/7 they're not learning all this social stuff, which is actually way more important than the curriculum.
I would even go further than flat-out forbidding phones at school: before the age of 12 no smartphone whatsoever. First they have to learn proper social behavior and how to build a social network. The kids don't need to be glued to a screen all the time, they need to play tag, they need to play football with one another, run around in the neighborhood, whatever. If your society functions properly, kids should be able to arrange getting exercise all by themselves by running around in the neighborhood. All it takes is shoving them outside at the age of five, the rest they'll do themselves.
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When they're staring at a phone 24/7 they're not learning all this social stuff, which is actually way more important than the curriculum.
You're trying to say posing on TikTok is NOT the equivalent of developing social skills? What a shocker!
Now remember that our parents said the same thing about being on the computer all the time. We should better go and play outside. They were wrong. So let's not assume we are THAT smart. But yes, school does teach a lot more than just its subjects. Every teacher knows about the "hidden plan".
In classrooms, yes. (Score:5, Insightful)
Definitely a ban during classroom instruction time should be put in place. In my opinion, there should be little cubbyholes for kids to put their phones during class time, and the phones must be turned off or put in airplane mode.
As for parents needing to get in touch with their kids: You do it the old-fashioned way and call the school. If it's urgent, the message will be relayed. If it's not urgent, then a pox on the parent for attempting to disrupt classroom time and one extra chunk of evidence in favor of the bans.
Also agree with no phones for young kids. My kids were 16 when they got their first smartphones and they survived just fine.
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Same here, I informed my kids from a very early age that they would not be getting a cell phone until the age of 16 ONLY if their grades warranted it. If, after receiving the cell phone, their grades dropped the cell phone would be taken back. Another requirement was absolutely no cell phone use during class. During parent/teacher conferences I always asked about their cell phone use in class. My kids knew that one infraction would get the phone taken away. Heck, one of my boys rarely even took his phone to
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YEARS ago it was apparent this would be a problem and look at how long it's taken for some sanity. Largely vocal bad parents delayed this. Now the addicts are "parents" in the biological sense and believe simply because they are alive and their child is alive they know everything that is best for their child and their phone affirms their beliefs if they search long enough on a personalized search engine... everything the phone says must be true! I'm exaggerating but it's bad enough before AI even has beg
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Huh? (Score:2)
I am not against the premise that smartphones are distracting... but the idea that Unesco thinks that they have the weight to call for a global ban? Screw them. Sit down. Go home.
Now, I think they need to be put away while at school, for sure. However, that doesn't mean that they should outright be banned. Having a phone to call your parents when things are not going the way that they should at school is something that I would not allow to be taken away, as a parent. I don't care what their rules are.
where (Score:2, Informative)
I don't know what happens in Lower Slobovia, but here in the USA, the primary cause of classroom disruption is miscreants who cannot be expelled, and that goes back to their family and culture, and has nothing to do with smartphones.
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the primary cause of classroom disruption is miscreants who cannot be expelled
Horseshit. Disruption here is not defined from the the petty few students doing something bad enough to justify being expelled. It's relatively minor bullshit that causes a giggle or so here or there yet none the less distracts everyone from the reason they should be in the classroom in the first place.
Incidentally your proposed solution to your problem is uniquely American. Somehow you've not figured out that excessive punishment doesn't actually deter behaviour even after locking up twice as many people p
Quote the fascist (Score:2)
Bring back the abacus! (Score:2)
OK, Luddites and "pet rock" sellers. Get back under your bridges.
But seriously... isn't the "fix" to integrate and manage access? Get everyone a device... give them user accounts... regulate what they can do, and when... watch what they do, while they do it...
Re:Hold teacher/school system accountable (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hold teacher/school system accountable (Score:5, Funny)
What? Me responsible for my kids? Why do you think we have schools in the first place?
That's where you can park the little monsters at least for the day so I can work in peace.
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My dad was a teacher and he saw this decline over time. When he started parents were supportive of schools and teachers, they were highly interested in knowing how their kids were doing in school. Nearer to the end of retirement he had parents complaining that he raised his voice at their angels merely for fighting in the classroom, and parents seemed unconcerned about academic performance.
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That's because I now get an attitude report from the schools here in New Zealand and actual assessment till the end of the year, how am supposed help my children when the teachers don't have the guts to tell me where they need help. The wouldn't want to offend the little darlings.
I don't think we treat parents fairly (Score:2)
And then we get upset that Gen M&Z aren't having enough kids to pay for our retirements...
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Americans spend more time at work, that is true. I've seen Americans at work, the old joke is sadly true about the Japanese foreign worker who bows to his American colleagues at his exit and asks for forgiveness because he was hired as a contractor and thusly could not participate in their strike.
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We? Who is we? I don't demand that anyone work 50+ hours/wk. Reality may make those demands, but don't imagine that any particular person demanded those things.
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Resisting temptation & developing self-discipline are wonderful goals for young people. Relatively liberal policies in schools wher
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At that point you must define what is and isn't social media. Not such a simple thing to do.
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I guess something like "any online media that uses algorithms to learn and record your actions, likes and dislikes and then uses that knowledge to steer media/material to your for viewing/interaction."
Of course it will need better verbiage, and likely legalese, but something along those lines.
Threads YOU subscribe to....are ok, things THEY promote to you based on your profile they build on you....that's the SM tha
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Undoing erroneous mod.
Re:Hold teacher/school system accountable (Score:5, Insightful)
"Listen and make up your own mind" is the ultimate in conspiracy theorist logic, up above "do your own research". Videos mean nothing. Someone can be persuasive when lying, it happens all day long. It's called "debate" where you're trained to take any stance at random and then defend it; many debaters go on to become politicians. But it's a skill that is used to fool gullible people into believing almost anything. No actual facts are needed, because it's a waste of time to provide references. In fact, the more stupid a premise, the more devoted the followers.
And no, youtube never cancels videos for not being real. What fantasy world do you live in?
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No you should be (sigh) "Cancelled" and called a dumb right wing flat-Earther extremist domestic terrorist for being a dumb right wing flat-Earther extremist domestic terrorist.
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Gotta love those right wing moderators who have to assign "Troll" to any post contradicting the fiction they so want to believe but have no facts or arguments to back their lies up.
You sure showed me! Shouting your fantasy is far superior to confronting reality.
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That's not a solution either.
Kids are immature. There's a reason why we have (notionally) separate adult and juvenile justice systems. School resource officers don't exist in most countries, and schools manage just fine without having to criminalize children. There are many problems with SRO dragging children off to juvi, amongst them is that it perpetuates systemic racism. Schools in less affluent areas are more likely to have aggressive policing in schools. We see stories of wealthy kids being kicked
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UNESCO is more than just a lone crackpot, but I like your point and I think it applies just as well.
To me it comes across as tone deaf more than anything. Modern school seems like a failed idea committed to sunk cost fallacy, and now it's just failing harder in the presence of ubiquitous commodities, things that can provide better education than these bully farms want to deliver.