
Finland Restricts Use of Mobile Phones During School Day (theguardian.com) 55
Finland has passed legislation to restrict the use of phones and other mobile devices during the school day amid fears over their impact on student wellbeing and learning. From a report: Under the changes, which were approved by the Finnish parliament on Tuesday and will come into effect on 1 August, mobile devices will be heavily restricted during lesson times. Pupils will be allowed to use them only with the teacher's permission for healthcare or learning purposes.
Finland is the latest European country to impose legal restrictions on the use of phones and other mobile devices in schools amid growing evidence of their impact on children and young people, including attention and self-esteem. Earlier this year, Denmark said it would ban mobile phones from all schools. The chair of the country's wellbeing commission, Rasmus Meyer, told the Guardian the measure was necessary to stop schools from being "colonised by digital platforms" and urged the rest of Europe to follow suit.
Finland is the latest European country to impose legal restrictions on the use of phones and other mobile devices in schools amid growing evidence of their impact on children and young people, including attention and self-esteem. Earlier this year, Denmark said it would ban mobile phones from all schools. The chair of the country's wellbeing commission, Rasmus Meyer, told the Guardian the measure was necessary to stop schools from being "colonised by digital platforms" and urged the rest of Europe to follow suit.
Good (Score:2, Insightful)
Little shits need to learn something instead of watching stupid videos about stupid shit.
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no free speech anywhere
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no free speech anywhere
You can't say that!
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Do you consider the laws about not texting while drawing to be limiting your free speech too?
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Drawing ... DRIVING, dammit.
Re:Good (Score:4, Funny)
Do you consider the laws about not texting while drawing to be limiting your free speech too?
Technically, you can still text while driving, you just have to use your phone's voice assistant to do it for you.
Me: "Hey Siri, send a text to [my partner's name], Hey, I'm running a little behind. Was there something you wanted me to grab on the way home for dinner?"
Siri: "Your message to [my partner's name] says: Hey I'm running a little mine. Was there something in the boat home for dinner? Send it?"
Me: "Umm, no."
Like I said... "Technically."
Re: Good (Score:1)
Why do people have kids in a society where creating the tech that kkills them is so handsomely rewarded by society?
Re: Good (Score:1)
Oh, wait, is it just all about control?
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Why do people have kids in a society where creating the tech that kkills them is so handsomely rewarded by society?
"Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."
Did the same in Ontario (Score:5, Interesting)
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In my child's class (Grade 12) the good students catch hell for using their phone as a calculator (HiPER Calc Pro is worth the small fee) but the bimbos just text their friends all class long.
"But it says right here on this piece of paper!!!"
Rules are only useful if they are used in synergy with wisdom.
Fortunately compulsory socialized schooling is over in six weeks and then there will be more time for learning.
Re:Did the same in Ontario (Score:5, Informative)
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Maybe a topic to raised at PTA meetings then. If the parents are on board then the principal will make it a vocal policy.
Re:Did the same in Ontario (Score:4, Informative)
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Then you probably shouldn't be complaining about the teachers then. They aren't the law.
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Biden is not the US president anymore though. And the original comment was about Canada, where Biden was NEVER the president.
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A vocal group of parents are the ones that insist their kid needs access to their cell phone at all hours of the day.
Flip phones exempt from the ban. Now let's see who screams.
I've observed that its the kids. Who absolutely have to have social media and games in their pocket (and it had better not create green text messages). And then they scream, "B..b..but my mom says!"
I'll bet that mom will secretly appreciate the school providing an excuse to buy a $50 phone instead of spending a grand.
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A vocal group of parents are the ones that insist their kid needs access to their cell phone at all hours of the day. School administrators are afraid of them.
School “administrators” should be proud of their non-accomplishments. 50 years ago that same administrator was being asked by the fucking parent why they didn’t beat some ass when a child disrupted their classroom.
What changed? The need for a classroom didn’t. The need for an education didn’t. And exactly zero toddlers left a classroom struggling with the “trauma” of punishment when earned. Unlike today.
School administrators should have been more afraid of what
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A vocal group of parents are the ones that insist their kid needs access to their cell phone at all hours of the day. School administrators are afraid of them.
This, sadly is why it needs to be a rule from the highest level.
The Karens will complain to anyone and everyone until they get their way... and yes, their crotchspawns are little shits too... they learn that from their parents.
I'm of the mind that this should be left up to the schools and even individual teachers. The overseeing departments shouldn't be saying anything beyond "yes they can, it's their decision". There are times when a teacher would rather have the disruptive students distracted so the
Re:Did the same in Ontario (Score:5, Insightful)
Same as any other challenge in teaching, if the rules and lessons don't at least partly follow the kids in their home life it can be difficult for teachers to be the only enforcement mechanism in the classroom and teenagers and pre-teens can be frustrating little shits. This probably will work well in Finland as they have a strong culture of education, teaching is a respected and valued profession there.
If it's me I would have them locker the phones when they enter and they can access them at end of school day, of course at least in the US a lot of parents would flip shit about not being able to reach their kid during school hours, despite the fact that has only been a thing for like 15-ish years, most of us here grew up in a time where if you parent had to reach you they need to call the office and you gotta walk down there to answer.
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the real problem with this is lacking education, enforcement shouldn't really be that relevant, but example and comprehension. alas teachers aren't there to educate, but to teach, because that is what they are asked and schools are designed to do (*1). they can ofc contribute to education but for that they have to be educated themselves, and anyway placing the burden solely on them is just deflecting the problem and yet another a recipe for failure, whatever law any parliament regurgitates.
meaning kids sho
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alas teachers aren't there to educate, but to teach
I think they have to do both since nobody has to take a qualification test to be a parent so there is zero guarantee a parent can educate their kids. They can impart wisdom, yes some education but not all parents know what or how to educate but thats what teacher are there for, they are professionals.
Just like most people will take their car to a mechanic because well, they dont know as much, they dont have the education themselves on how to educate a child, a teacher is a professional at what they do much
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They can impart wisdom, yes some education but not all parents know what or how to educate but thats what teacher are there for, they are professionals.
As someone who has done some work in education (although not my main profession) I can confidently tell you this: the success of a child in school strongly depends on their attitude, respect for others, their willingness to work (especially on difficult or boring tasks), their ability to self-motivate and self-regulate, and their manners. These are things that have to be taught by parents, and if the child hasn't acquired these skills by a certain age (usually around 8-12) then it's too late in a majority
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Yeah totally agree there, I think the manners most especially is important since the teacher can help with those other factors if the child is well behaved.
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All our teachers are unionized, so they have a lot of "not my job" attitude when it comes to following policies like this
Never miss a chance to attack the teacher's union?
Classroom engagement is a shared responsibility, between the student, the parent, the other students, the teacher, and the school. I guarantee the union has never told teachers to let students be distracted and disruptive during class.
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Oh no! I've misspellet ein vert! It's the end of the verlt für mich! Sieg Heil, Schpelling Nazi! Please don't schend me to Auschwitz!
Regardless, soft on discipline attitudes is part of the cluster our society has turned into. Teachers are their to educate and are responsible for their own actions. This means holding themselves to a high standard around their students. It also means setting appropriate boundaries for their students, and themselves, while they are in class. Actions by teachers need to ha
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"Teachers are their to educate"
Yeah okay buddy. You're in no place to be levying new rules on teachers' personal property from your office chair or whatever the fuck.
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They'd do a lot for themselves if they'd start taking reasonable discipline measures. There's a lot you can do to punish a child without resorting to violence.
Sounds good in theory, but in practice the 'reasonable discipline measures' don't do diddly squat without the support of the parent, which is absent all too often. I know many teachers, several of them often lament that they are being as strict as possible with defiant children, but when they contact the parents to explain the situation and the reasonable consequence/disciplinary measure, the parent responds by blaming the teacher rather than supporting them to implement that consequence. At that point th
End of the world! : ) (Score:2)
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you know that if you aren't paying for a service you're not a customer but someone else's product to sell, right? lo and behold, some people get mighty rich that way.
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The lack of ad revenue or data collection is insignificant.. and the students also weren't going to be buying random crap at school. The "stick it to the billionaires" angle here is empty. The goal is for students to read less news and be less likely form their own opinions. Take it from the head of Palantir and rabid Israel supporter Alex Karp: "We tend to think these things happening across college campuses are a sideshow. No, they are the showâ
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The goal is for students to read less news and be less likely form their own opinions. Take it from the head of Palantir and rabid Israel supporter Alex Karp: "We tend to think these things happening across college campuses are a sideshow. No, they are the showâ
Nobody is censoring what these kids read. They are removing the distraction of mobile phones while in class. If a student was reading a newspaper instead of paying attention to their math class they'd have it taken away too.
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Kids will have to think for themselves and live in the here-now.
They'll have to play with their phones during the remainder of the day when they're not in school. I always thought it was rather hilarious that the school I went to had rather large drug-free and smoke-free zone signs posted, and when the bell rang at the end of the day, guess what the smokers and the stoners did the moment they stepped off school property?
This is entirely just a feel-good measure so lawmakers can pat themselves on the back and imagine that they've solved a problem.
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They'll have to play with their phones during the remainder of the day when they're not in school
And that's completely fine. It's not about stopping kids using phones, it's about removing distraction when they should be paying attention in class.
The lazy and stupid (Score:2)
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Nokia will probably sue (Score:2)
The most insidious thing about cellphones (Score:2)
As any parent knows - to their dismay - is the line "but Johnny has one!"
This kind of pressure to keep up is hard on both the kids and the parents.
It's why many schools have uniforms, so that kids and parents don't end up buying designer clothes that would be too small in a few months.