Phones in schools... Thoughts?

[Guest 37stitches]

During my time volunteering at a local school as a teachers assistant I have come to realise that almost every student relies heavily on having their phone by their side or in their hand at all times to the point that I'm sure many of them are addicted. The school has recently introduced a new rule that states phones cannot be used in class unless authorised by a teacher or teachers assistant, if a student is caught using their phone during class then they will have their phone confiscated for the rest of the lesson. This was met with massive protest from the students! 

 

Is it really that bad? Back when I was in school if we were caught using our phones during class it was an instant after school detention and your phone was taken away and you would only get the phone back when your parents came to the school to collect it! No one complained, that's just how it was!

 

I think it's a perfectly sensible rule and I think many of the students will learn more if they aren't so distracted by their phones all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Computer Science student and have loved technology my whole life! But c'mon, there is a time and a place! 

 

Am I just stuck in the not-so-distant past or do you agree? I wanna know what your opinion on that matter is! 

[Guest Naturalselectionissexy]

No it's a real distraction and the decline of humanity. It's no different than a heroin addiction since both can lead to death in one form or another.

[Guest QueenJellybean]

i think the best way to answer this question is to look at the number of texting and driving car accidents we have today, as well as the number of accidents related to people just not looking where they are walking because they are glued to their phones. i see this on a daily basis almost. truly terrifying (& honestly disgusting, imho) stuff.

[CryptKing]

We live in a virtual world, in a generation of instant gratification. Take the little shit munchers away from their phones and it'd just cause more problems. I say if their moms and dads want to parent through a glass rectangle be my guest. Not my kid not my problem

Edited March 3, 2019 by CryptKing

[LittleCelticLass]

My sister is a teacher. In her class, from day one, phones go in a box durring class to be retrieved after. Kids complained for a week. Now they are actually learning and comprehension scores have improved. Phones have no business in the classroom.

[LittleTeacup]

What. I only graduated from high school 10 years ago and phones were not allowed to even be seen at all through the day, even between classes or at lunch. This I think was too strict (for example a friend of mine had parents who didn't speak English well so my friend was responsible for calling doctors offices and utilities which sometimes were only available during school times), but it was no brainer not to use phones during class. How have policies changed so much as to allow students to be on their phones during class time??????

 

You are definitely not the only one. I think kids are given phones too early nowadays and they don't know life without them. It's hard to be the only kid in your neighborhood without a phone, but I know there are some groups of parents who all agree to delay the age they give their kids phones so no one gets teased. Technology addiction is a problem.

[Guest Revurx]

 

 I speculate it doesn’t make much of a difference. Public education is trash at best so removing a distraction isn’t going to do much, nor will it reduce the dependency on smartphones. In the end, none of that matters. The cats already out of the bag, there’s no reversing it. Artificial intelligence and our dependency on it is growing at a faster rate than ever before, and human intelligence is decreasing. Humans are either going to merge with tech and all contain the same intellect or be destroyed by it. The process has certainly begun. 

[Guest Naturalselectionissexy]

We are at least 20 years from being fully integrated with technology. At least on the global scale (military will come first, remember GPS?). Some companies find it hard enough to program a restful API.

 

Currently machine learning is at it's infancy, even at my company it's within defined constraints of possibilities because of processing and equations that currently exist.

 

Have you studied AI programming? It's not that complex but we are still along way off if using c++ or other such languages.

 

I don't doubt at one point it will be one of the same or an extinction event.

[Guest Revurx]

We are at least 20 years from being fully integrated with technology. At least on the global scale (military will come first, remember GPS?). Some companies find it hard enough to program a restful API.

 

Currently machine learning is at it's infancy, even at my company it's within defined constraints of possibilities because of processing and equations that currently exist.

 

Have you studied AI programming? It's not that complex but we are still along way off if using c++ or other such languages.

 

I don't doubt at one point it will be one of the same or an extinction event.

 

I don't disagree. Everything I've read agrees with that timeframe, for the most part.

 

But I also think plenty of destruction can take place without full integration or even AI, just technology. I mean, look how much damage can be done on social media via social engineering and manipulating algorithms.

 

I have not studied much. Just enough to form a basic understanding.

 

My understanding is once quantum computing becomes mainstream we'll start seeing substantial advancements?

[Guest Naturalselectionissexy]

True true.

 

The narcissistic, gynnocentric, and self serving mentalities have all been exposed and accepted as normal and expected. Furthermore you can layer on the beta responses of indulgence to further and encourage such behavior.

[Brokenbouncy]

Definitely phones shouldn't be out in the classroom. It is disrespectful to use it while people talk so why have it out in class? It is a simple rule and I can't understand why adults even need to explain themselves over a simple rule. I guess school kids don't need to learn discipline

[Guest Naturalselectionissexy]

Because adults need the same lesson! How do you expect anyone to follow common courtesy when none is taught!

[DustBunny93]

I don't think phones should be allowed in school for students to use during school hours.

I would say it's okay to bring to school but lock it up in your locker.

 

When I was in school we were not allowed to use them during school hours and like others have posted we would get in trouble and have our phones taken away.

 

Kids are just way too dependant on electronics nowadays at an early age. I didn't get my first cell phone until I was in 9th grade, so 14 years old.

My two younger brothers got their phones at an earlier age than me, which is not fair lol.

My friend's daughter is 5 and she has had her own phone (my friend's old phone) since age 4!!

 

But no, I don't think phones should be used in class.

[LoonyLoveMay]

There are studies about it!!! Children from a young age get affected by the use of cell phones and they cause damage in the development. This is a big no, no!

 

Also I was a teacher recently and not to little kids, but young adults! Its really annoying to see someone texting in your class!  You know that they are not paying any sort of attention to the subject and the little shits think they have the right to ask about it later... sorry this just made me soooo mad!!!! And also nobody laughs at their thighs or crotch!!!! If you are going to text in somebody class at least be smart about it! And even if you don't think we can see you... let me tell you from a teacher perspective you see everything!!!! 

 

Thanks for the topic! I needed to rant about it and my family is way to done with me hahaha.

[Guest 37stitches]

I don't think phones should be allowed in school for students to use during school hours.

I would say it's okay to bring to school but lock it up in your locker.

 

When I was in school we were not allowed to use them during school hours and like others have posted we would get in trouble and have our phones taken away.

 

Kids are just way too dependant on electronics nowadays at an early age. I didn't get my first cell phone until I was in 9th grade, so 14 years old.

My two younger brothers got their phones at an earlier age than me, which is not fair lol.

My friend's daughter is 5 and she has had her own phone (my friend's old phone) since age 4!!

 

But no, I don't think phones should be used in class.

 

I feel that! When I was 13 I was given my dads phone if I went out with friends and told to only call if it was an emergency and then got my own phone when I was 16 and the quality of the phone depended solely on how good my grades were! (i.e. bad grades = bad phone/good grades = good phone). And when I used to volunteer at my local planetarium giving planetarium shows I remember once, a few years back, a family came in and their 5 year old grabbed a leaflet and started trying to tap it as if it were a tablet or phone... My heart literally dropped, really makes me worry for future generations! I thought a large proportion of millennials could be terrible but this really steps it up to another level! 

[Guest 37stitches]

There are studies about it!!! Children from a young age get affected by the use of cell phones and they cause damage in the development. This is a big no, no!

 

Also I was a teacher recently and not to little kids, but young adults! Its really annoying to see someone texting in your class!  You know that they are not paying any sort of attention to the subject and the little shits think they have the right to ask about it later... sorry this just made me soooo mad!!!! And also nobody laughs at their thighs or crotch!!!! If you are going to text in somebody class at least be smart about it! And even if you don't think we can see you... let me tell you from a teacher perspective you see everything!!!! 

 

Thanks for the topic! I needed to rant about it and my family is way to done with me hahaha.

Yea I know what you mean although the students at this school were just openly using their phones in the middle of class, no attempt to hide them!

 

There seems to be this idea among students of all ages that teachers dont understand how all of this works. In fact, we even had a student in class the other day say that "Teachers are old and don't understand technology"... In an Computer Science class... That I was teaching... As a Computer Scientist. I really have no idea where this students logic came from but it turns out a lot of other students agreed with them! 

[SamL]

Anyone remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?  Carlin did a related skit.  

 

Anyone driving slower than me on the highway is a G.D. Idiot!  Anyone driving faster than me is a Maniac!  The only difference between an idiot and a maniac is how fast I happen to be driving that day - and how fast I'm driving that day has to do with an infinite number of variables.  It's similar with the phone issue.  I was given a smart phone a few months ago.  It was my first one and I still haven't a clue how to use it and really, I don't want to.  It's not an aversion to tech, I've just had my limit.  I started on the internet with a 300 baud modem on a Commodore 64 and have lived through more tech generations than anyone should have to.  Anyway - the only reason I even took the phone was because it was a gift from a friend - and not just any gift, it was her son's phone who killed himself two years earlier.  How do you say no?  So, what does this have to do with anything?

 

There's probably no one on this forum who uses their phone an amount that I think is "the right amount" - except, of course, for me.  These kids who never put down their phone?  Rest assured, they're going to be talking about these fool kids some day and how they're on their tech constantly - not like when they were kids.  When I was in school, we didn't have phones.  When my daughter started school we did, but they couldn't bring them to school.  Then they could bring them to school but couldn't use them during school hours.   Then they could but not during class.  Then they could but only with teacher authorization.  Every time there was an evolution in the use of tech in school, most of the adults thought it was a reasonable accommodation and the majority of kids thought it was draconian.

[DustBunny93]

Kids should not get to use phones during school hours even with "permission". That is so ridiculous!

 

Honestly I feel bad for future generations of children who can't function a few hours without their trusty phone by their side.

[Guest Revurx]

Kids should not get to use phones during school hours even with "permission". That is so ridiculous!

 

Honestly I feel bad for future generations of children who can't function a few hours without their trusty phone by their side.

 

Most adults can't even do that.

[MommySophia]

It is actually in some Revised State Codes that it is against the law to disrupt a class or educational gather with such distractions as technology (phones, laptops, etc). It rarely gets enforced, but I think it is there for a good reason.

Lets be honest, these kids are not using their phones to further educate themselves; what is happening is a decline in focus on academics and a focus on social media and how being a thing like an IG Model is more important.

I once saw where a teacher had one of them plastic shoe door hangers and wrote every student's name on a slot and they were mandated to "check in" their phones before class and get them after. And apparently she had a higher student grade average.

I think it is inherently wrong how the younger generations are crippling themselves with their basic need of their phone. Can't sleep without it, can't eat without it, can't leave the house without it. Thats why when I have a little, I try to monitor phone use. Never restrict who they can chat with and such, but what times and for how long. And I even had a relationship where we would leave the house with just one phone. And let me tell you, that was a more interactive relationship than most.

....long story short? I think schools should ban all use of cell phones. I think there should be a phone available in every classroom for emergencies and it stays just like that. But Im secretly an old woman in my soul so I could just be being cankerous!

[SamL]

I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of the lawsuit that would come after the next school shooting in which the kids wanted to tell their parents the love them before they died but the school took their phones away for the day.  For that reason, and a million other litigious reasons, I don't see taking the phones away as a real possibility.  

[MysticSand]

I speculate it doesn’t make much of a difference. Public education is trash at best so removing a distraction isn’t going to do much, nor will it reduce the dependency on smartphones.

Whoa, sir! That's a pretty broad statement! And can be wildly inaccurate depending on what area/region/school we're talking about! Let's not throw the baby out with the bathtub, eh?

 

I should probably read through all the comments but tl;dr.

 

It's still policy in most American schools, I believe, that they're not allowed to be used in the classroom. If that's not the policy, then either it's either a really good school or the opposite and the principal needs replacing. Phones are not necessary in school and should be kept in students' lockers if they must be brought in at all. The school is the technical guardian of students during school hours so there's really no reason for cell phones to be present.

[MysticSand]

I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of the lawsuit that would come after the next school shooting in which the kids wanted to tell their parents the love them before they died but the school took their phones away for the day.  For that reason, and a million other litigious reasons, I don't see taking the phones away as a real possibility.  

I think the parents would lose, point blank. There's no logical reason for emotions to be taken into consideration when it comes to law and legality; policies are supposed to be objective for a reason. (Not saying there aren't bad laws that don't factor in emotion, but laws in general are supposed to be objective.)

 

Now if the parents could make a case that if their kids had phones, they could have alerted the authorities faster and hence bring in the argument of safety... then we're talking. I still think it's too weak of an argument to have a serious leg though. The school is the legal guardian of students during the school day when students are on premises therefore student welfare is in the hands of the school. So.... meh, just my opinion. 

 

I'm also pretty sure there are schools where cell phones are banned from classrooms, meaning that students need to keep them in lockers or in the main office during the school day. So, it definitely exists. It just depends on if parents agree with such policies and want to send their precious angels to such schools or not.

[MommySophia]

Ironically I saw this today and thought it described my feelings of the toxic behavior of phones in schools:

 

[SamL]

I suppose what I've tried (and failed) to communicate in this thread is that while the evolution of phones in the classroom is new, challenges are not.  As in, 'If it's not one thing, it's another.'  Here's a quote:

 

 

 

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

 

It's attributed to Socrates (469-399 B.C.).  The problem is not new....phones may be, but it's just a new way to have a very old problem.

Edited March 6, 2019 by SamL