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Education Cellphones Government United Kingdom

British Boarding School Bans Smartphones, Hands Out Nokia Phones Instead (engadget.com) 66

Posted by BeauHD from the dumb-phones-only dept.
Eton College, Britain's elite boarding school with alumni that includes Princes William and Harry, as well as George Orwell and a long list of others, is banning incoming students from having smartphones. Instead, the school will provide students with a Nokia "brick" phone, which will only be capable of making calls and sending text messages. CBS News reports: Parents of first-year students at Eton -- where tuition exceeds $60,000 per year -- were informed of the changes in a letter, which said that incoming 13-year-old boarders should have their smart devices taken home after their SIM cards are transferred to offline Nokia phones provided by the school, which can only make calls and send simple text messages. Eton's previous rules on smartphones required first-year students to hand over their devices overnight.

"Eton routinely reviews our mobile phone and devices policy to balance the benefits and challenges that technology brings to schools," a spokesperson for the school told CBS News on Tuesday, adding that those joining in Year 9, essentially the equivalent of freshman year in high school for American students, "will receive a 'brick' phone for use outside the school day, as well as a school-issued iPad to support academic study." The spokesperson added that "age-appropriate controls remain in place for other year groups." The ban follows a recent guidance issued by the UK government backing school principals who decide to ban smartphones during the school day. The goal is to help minimize disruption and improve classroom behavior.
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British Boarding School Bans Smartphones, Hands Out Nokia Phones Instead More

British Boarding School Bans Smartphones, Hands Out Nokia Phones Instead

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  • In other news (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @07:46PM (#64614305)
    Slashdot bans news, hands out dupes instead. [slashdot.org]

  • Why is this news (Score:5, Informative)

    by labnet ( 457441 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @08:13PM (#64614351)

    Our Boys private Boys school (Australia) has banned smart phones in class for at least the last 12 years.
    Primary school All mobile phones and smart watches must be handed into the office when the boys arrive at school and can be collected at the end of the school day.
    High School they have to kept in lockers.

    Letting Kids have smartphones in class is just a recipe for inattention and misuse.

    • Re:Why is this news (Score:5, Funny)

      by Roger W Moore ( 538166 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @09:25PM (#64614479) Journal
      Probably because everyone is amazed that Eton has figured out that smart phones even exist. This is a school that, based on its graduates, like ex-PM Boris Johnson, seems unaware that the British Empire no longer exists and it's not even clear whether the news that the American colonies rebelled has yet reached it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by clovis ( 4684 )

        Probably because everyone is amazed that Eton has figured out that smart phones even exist. This is a school that, based on its graduates, like ex-PM Boris Johnson, seems unaware that the British Empire no longer exists and it's not even clear whether the news that the American colonies rebelled has yet reached it.

        It's about keeping tradition and learning the 3 B's.

      • Don't worry, as soon as he finds out, he'll launch a campaign to "take back control" of the American colonies. Meanwhile, he & his family are happy laundering Russian money.

    • Re:Why is this news (Score:4, Funny)

      by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @09:36PM (#64614505)

      Students in the USA need them because of the frequency of school shootings.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by PPH ( 736903 )

        Nokia voice and text will do for that. Or are the kids afraid that parents won't take green text bubbles seriously?

        • Kids are fearful there's no tiktok on the older nokias, so they cannot upload a funny video of the shooting.

          • Aw man, where will we get our funny school-shooter blooper compilations from.

            "Hope you enjoyed me gunning down the third grade! Dont forget to like and subscribe!"

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Cyberax ( 705495 )
        This is such a BS explanation. A phone won't save you in case of shooting, and might as well give out your location if you're hiding. You can call your parents once the shooter is down.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by reanjr ( 588767 )

        Exactly. All the lives saved by smartphones taking a bullet.

      • The last time I heard, Eton & Windsor didn't have much of a problem with school shootings. Their students typically go overseas to commit mass shootings with the blessing of his Majesty's government.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mysidia ( 191772 )

      Our Boys private Boys school (Australia) has banned smart phones in class

      What's different Is this is a boarding school - It's a place where students are not allowed to leave campus during term. Phones were already banned from classrooms.

      Under the new policy there's effectively a 24x7 ban from students having access to a smartphone.

      The brick phones would be for use outside class hours.

      Nothing unusual about a boarding school limiting what personal items their students can have; It's just not the same as ban

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      This isn't that. This is a ban on smartphones *outside* the classroom. Kids get iPads in the class (and yes, kids have already figured out how to circumvent the locks placed on iPads and use them for illicit purposes, I know this because my daugher has a school iPad and has friends who have done this). Kids can also use other devices outside the class, eg tablets and laptops. It's a ban on a form factor, it doesn't stop kids accessing Snap, TikTok, etc.

      If you ask me, it's completely fucking pointless and ju

    • Maybe you should read the article. This is not about smartphones being banned during schoolday, this is smartphones being banned outside the schoolhours. These are boardingschools where kids stay during the week. To me that is just ridiculous.

  • Proudly using Nokia 6120c, fished out of the recycling bin, for 10+ last years. There's even operational Opera mini browser for these urgent necessities of rare. Covers replaced occasionally. Screen failed once. It cost 10 Eur to obtain complete replacement phone for spares. That's my smart phone (actually is qualified).

  • Good (Score:4, Informative)

    by memory_register ( 6248354 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @09:09PM (#64614447)
    Smartphones and especially social media are terrible for child development. Get them out of schools. If you want to understand why, read The Anxious Generation.

  • Slashdot Editors: Stop me before I dupe again!

  • https://mobile.slashdot.org/st... [slashdot.org]

    4 days ago. I mean, do the people approving the stories here even read Slashdot?

    And on that day of the previous School/Nokia posting, I pointed out a different dup made that day:

    https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org]

  • A cell phone that makes phone calls ?
    This is a revolution .. what a fantastic idea .. !

    While in school , people who need to be reachable a dumb show phone is all that's needed.
    Being there to learn to interact with people , socialising and learning , smart phones are not appropriate.
    Too many distractions from the real important stuff going on..

    Banning so called smart phones in school is a great idea.

    • While in school , people who need to be reachable a dumb show phone is all that's needed.

      While in school, people who need to be reachable can be reached by calling the school office.

  • British Boarding School Bans ...

    Ah, one of those, where the beating [wikipedia.org] was only banned in the 80-ies [wikipedia.org]?

  • Are they allowed internet access on a laptop or tablet in their dorm rooms?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      Yes.

      So yes, this ban is absurd

      • This ban prevents kids from carrying 24/7 access devices.

        Kids should NOT have access to social media befor the age of 16 nor do they need 24/7 access to anything on the net.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by shilly ( 142940 )

          No, this ban doesn't "prevent kids from carrying 24/7 access devices". In class, the boys have school iPads (yes they will circumvent any controls); out of class, they can use tablets or laptops. They absolutely are not being banned from accessing social media before the age of 16, nor are they being banned from 24/7 access to the internet, no matter how good an idea you think that is. The only thing that's banned is a particular form factor (smartphone). iPad Mini with modem? Not banned.

          Maybe if you yourse

        • Kids should NOT have access to social media befor the age of 16 nor do they need 24/7 access to anything on the net.

          youd rather them do what? read books 247? sit and talk to you about the nothing you have in common? live like the amish because pedos exist?

  • School is about preparing students for life as an independent adult.

    If you use a smartphone too much in school, you should be given detention, fail assignments, and maybe fail and repeat a grade.

    If you use a smartphone too much in the workplace, you will be fired.

    As a parent, I would rather my kid learn how to responsibly manage their use of a smartphone while in school, where the costs of fucking up are much more forgiving. This plan will generate a lot of graduates who suddenly have unrestricted access t

    • Normal school, yes. But not Eton. Eton is all about creating the future British elite - people who are good for nothing except being kicked upstairs.

    • basic spelling without instant correction, etc.

    • School is about preparing students for life as an independent adult.

      thats the parents job. schools about getting an education. you want teacher to raise your kid for you?

      • School is about preparing students for life as an independent adult.

        thats the parents job. schools about getting an education. you want teacher to raise your kid for you?

        This is a boarding school in England. The parents absolutely DO want the teachers to raise the kids for them. This way they only need a nanny for part of the year.

  • That's noy a brick ... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by quenda ( 644621 )

    This is a brick. [wikipedia.org]

    How cute that a millennial thinks a modern Nokia, smaller than any iphone, is a "brick".

    • Even more ridiculous is the title, just as if Nokia didn't make any smartphones. Would be just as ridiculous as saying "New York City bans cars, hands out Fords instead".

      Even the clarification about "bricks" (only in the text, not the title) is weird. Back in the 90ies, all mobile phones were bulkier than today, even (or especially) the smartphones.

      • In the 90s, I had a StarTac phone, and that was significantly smaller than most of the phones today. After that phone, phones continually got bigger and bigger, and are in fact larger than many of the offerings back then. So no, phones today are definitely not smaller than the 90s, but sure, they do a lot more and have big fancy screens.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by quenda ( 644621 )

          Smallest phone I ever owned was the Ericsson T28 from 1999 at 83g, and you could swap the battery in 2 seconds.

  • its perfectly sane to decry social media from social media. after all theres a real danger to short form video in particular

  • Give them a free iPad, which does everything an iPhone does, very logical.

  • In the throes of societal disruption, disinformation, and techno disempowerment to the God of entertainment simply starting-over from first principles is a first step. Enabling children, albeit privileged, the same opportunity to gain education of that of their forefathers is a return to reason.
    IF a sector of society can be spared from the 12sec attention span dilemma, success for others could be simply return to a classroom undivided by technology.
    Then an education by omission becomes scalar for a return t

  • I'm glad they specified that FM is wireless.

  • With older Nokia (or other "feature")phones the problem was that unless you go with some sort of Enterprise setup, there really aren't any parental controls. We gave our kid a feature phone with a prepaid SIM. A scammer called her (just by wardialing). She missed that call, but instead, called back, to some number in Africa (Ghana or something, I believe). The prepaid SIM went empty within a minute or two, slurp.

    Now she has an cheap Android (Motorola E13), locked down with Google Family Link. We have allowe

  • Hmmm (Score:2)

    by jd ( 1658 )

    People with diabetes have apps that specifically warn them when their sugar levels are dangerously high or low. Not letting them have smartphones is a major health risk.

    But if you start making exceptions, you generate hostility.

    I'd like to see a workable solution to this that wouldn't compromise privacy.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      This is an excellent point, especially given that Partha Kar (national diabetes lead) has driven a remarkably extensive deployment of CGMs and pumps for T1Ds in England.

      https://www.england.nhs.uk/202... [england.nhs.uk]

    • It's a compelling argument. A bit like "think of the children" argument. I do think they are valid cases.

      I'd also say though we're in the legal arena now, and we should consider how to balance that against family privacy. Is Google mining your family's habits? If Mommy can see where the kids are .. who else can ? The school? The cops? Is Hubby going to use it to check up on Mommy?
      In the case of blood glucose levels... Isn't that a straight line to a multi-month or multi-year insulin supply contract? Sole so

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jd ( 1658 )

        Thank you for that, you raise some excellent points.

        You're absolutely correct, which is why I mentioned not compromising privacy. This absolutely has to be safeguarded.

        But as you rightly point out, and I was remiss on, was that privacy goes beyond not having the school staff monitor your glucose levels, not also not having Google monitor either them or your position, and not having vendors do deals that lock you in to contracts by whatever means.

        And, with the increase in voice-activated software that doesn'

  • My God, this is just terrible. Is this because the students cheated? So this is normal, I myself ask to write my essay for me, I use https://ca.edubirdie.com/assignment-writing-services [edubirdie.com] for this. In short, it sounds like slavery. I wouldn't go to such a school. Where is the freedom of choice?

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