I personally think that responsible smartphone use should be learned and practiced, rather than outright banning them.
I think this shows that adults are terribly addicted to their devices and think if they can’t stop using them, children won’t either. They certainly can’t teach how to use phones responsibly if they can’t do it themselves. Unfortunately for children the result is an outright ban.
Stop punishing the responsible kids for the shitty behavior of the others. Blanket bans and zero tolerance policies are the tools of tiny minds.
Tbh I’d never been allowed to use my phone at school (just graduated HS). Same goes for most schools where I live. Usually kids can bring phones, but they’re supposed to keep them powered off or in a locker on campus. Of course kids will find a way (hiding away in toilet stalls to game etc.), but still.
I don’t see an issue with the rule itself. I don’t think there’s really a way to responsibly use a smartphone at school. If kids really need to contact parents, it shouldn’t be that difficult to ask a teacher for help. Implementing a worldwide rule seems strange to me though.
Almost same experience here. In HS you could have your phone, but leave it on silence and not use it during class. In college you are more ‘free’ to use it whenever you want, but if you’re serious about your studies you leave it on your bag and pay attention.
Smartphone use is certainly something that should be decided on local level. Global bans only make sense for universal human rights, or things like climate change that have global effects.
I certainly don’t think (generally, there are exceptions, one of which I will mention below) they should be used in class, but a cell phone call to us at lunch has saved my daughter from a couple of urgent and embarrassing situations she doesn’t want others to know about. I would say that’s useful. It also enables us to let her know basic things like I’ll be late coming home from work, so she shouldn’t let her anxieties play up when we’re not there in time.
Now I said there were exceptions. My daughter has a fellow student who is diabetic and his phone monitors his insulin. He has it with him in class because of that. I would hope that any global ban on smartphones wouldn’t include that kid’s phone and the same for similar kids.
The second thing was my first thought. As an adult the idea of not having my phone causes extreme anxiety because it’s needed for my medical devices. It’d be even worse for a teenager at school, especially if their insulin pump is only app controlled and they want to be able to eat lunch.
This is more on the parents not making use of built in controls. I have my niece’s and nephew’s phones set so they can only make calls, send texts, or use school related apps during school hours. Everything else is grayed out.
He added: “We completely understand the legitimate concerns around the use of mobile phones, including cyberbullying, the impact of extended screen time on mental health, and the lack of regulation of big technology companies. The fact is though that the widespread use of smartphones is a societal issue and problems that result from this are more likely to arise outside of the school gates.”
Banning phones in school does not help to fix any of this. At most it just pushes it to the rest of their lives. Maybe we should be looking at educating our children about these topics, not ignoring them for as long as possible…
I think this shows that adults are terribly addicted to their devices and think if they can’t stop using them, children won’t either. They certainly can’t teach how to use phones responsibly if they can’t do it themselves. Unfortunately for children the result is an outright ban.
Yeah, so we need to tackle the problem in some way, not just ignoring it with a ban. A ban teaches them nothing about how to use their devices responsibly. Additionally - the probably should be some legislation on what tech companies are doing here as well. Things like facebook pushing any content it can for more views even if they have shown to have negative impacts on peoples mental health is something that really should be regulated. Profits at the expense of peoples mental health should not be allowed.
Maybe we should be looking at educating our children about these topics, not ignoring them for as long as possible…
Educator here. That sounds like a great plan…if the students would put their phones down for long enough to teach them anything
This is the exact issue teachers are facing. There is very little teaching that can break through the continuous cycle of dopamine hits these kids are receiving into their still-developing brains. This is not an education problem. This is a design issue that teachers cannot be expected to simply “fix” for society.
I agree with your points on regulating businesses though, since they are clearly the ones to blame.
I am confused. Is using smartphones in classes the norm? It sounds very different from my experience
Also educator here.
Sociocultural theory and ecological systems micro and mesosystems paint a picture of how learning is not only done from us.
Family/Caregivers have the majority of the role to play in responsible usage of these devices as they are the one’s giving them to the children and enabling such behaviour in their lives.
I think you make a good point here, except that the family and caregivers who are supposed to be helping educate children are the exact same adults who are also addicted to their phones.
We’ve kicked the can down the street long enough and I believe we need to make a stand now, if we are to course-correct the issues we’ve permitted into our schools and larger society.
This is a design issue that teachers cannot be expected to simply “fix” for society.
Yes, which a ban wont help to fix at all either - at least not in the long term. Education IMO is still an important part of fixing society though, especially if you can get to children before they have phones ingrained into their lives. But I don’t think this is on teachers alone to fix - it needs to be more systemic changes in education systems. At the very least far more (or any) research needs to be done to find actual effective measures that we could do.
But equally, if not more important is also working to fix other areas outside of education, like regulating how much businesses can exploit us.
There are no quick or easy or even single answer here. Defiantly not just an out right ban with no other plans in place to actually fix the systemic issues at play.
Yeah, I’m sorry, but I respectfully disagree. I have been a strong proponent for technology in schools; however, in recent years, I see the bad faaaaaar outweighing the good. Maybe that’s just my experience, but we cannot ignore it like it’s no one’s experience. These devices are awful. They provide nearly zero educational benefit, especially in schools with 1:1 devices. They are a distraction tool at best and a legal liability at worst.
An outright ban is exactly the right play here, until families, companies, and society can come to the table and figure out how to ethically integrate into schools — not the other way around.
Hilarious of you to say considering 1 smart phone with internet access has more accessible information than your entire school library of physical books but yeah they have ‘nearly 0 educational benefit’. Nevermind all the apps/YouTube channels dedicated to learning something. You may not believe it but I passed college algebra using Khan Academy because my actual teacher sucked so bad at teaching I was almost failing before I switched to the academies online tutorials. That aside can a smart phone be used for mindless shit? Absolutely, but I’d also bet your library has fiction books in it too. Should we remove them simply because they provide ‘nearly zero educational benefit’? Why stop at fiction then? Why aren’t we removing all aspects of curriculum that provide ‘nearly zero educational benefit’?
Hilarious of you to say considering 1 smart phone with internet access has more accessible information than your entire school library of physical books but yeah they have ‘nearly 0 educational benefit’. Nevermind all the apps/YouTube channels dedicated to learning something. You may not believe it but I passed college algebra using Khan Academy because my actual teacher sucked so bad at teaching I was almost failing before I switched to the academies online tutorials. Can a smart phone be used for mindless shit? Absolutely, but I’d also bet your library has fiction books in it too. Should we remove them simply because they provide ‘nearly zero educational benefit’?
You could have said all of that without being an asshole about it.
Phones can have its usage restricted in school during classes and activities so students (hopefully) pay attention. Outside these ours when studying in their own, they can use it the way you mentioned in their aid with topics they need help with.
The problem is that phones are intentionally made to be addictive. There isn’t always a responsible way to use them at all if you have any apps other than ‘calls’.
Tackling the manufacturers and software designers would be more useful for everyone than an outright ban for children. Banning manufacturers and carriers from preloading and bloating phones with social media apps and any games would be a start. Platforms actually stopping (young) children from signing up might also help.
Yeah, no. Phones on students are vital, particularly the United States, where a shooter might just mosey on in any time and open fire. Phones play a huge role in active shooter situations, which unfortunately show no sign of slowing down.
You keep it on you, you’re just not allowed to pull it out in class or have it ring ring
I call for a ban of the UN.
