this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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I mean it kind of needs to be both. But it’s hard to find a compelling reason why kids need their smartphones fully accessible during class.
Well, you can quickly search up some information. I don't remember what it was, but I remember that once in middle school teacher said something I wasn't quite sure about, but also I wouldn't ask if I wasn't more sure. So I looked it up, seeing that I was right, I asked if it rather wasn't meant to be that other thing, he checked too and indeed he was wrong.
Also, my mind often wanders off. And it may happen that I suddenly can't remember something. Could just be some word I could look up on my phone in less than a minute. Option B: Keep thinking about it till the rest of the class. I can't stop thinking about that until I either remember or find it.
Next, spine. I am currently in high school. Phones are allowed here. Any time. So, I utilized my scanner and digitized one 500 or so page book I couldn't find on the internet, and then used it as PDF instead of a physical book. It is less likely that I would forget my phone. I wish schools would have options for e-ink tablets instead of having to carry many heavy physical books. That used to be problem mostly in elementary school and middle school. Same goes for note taking.
Obviously, the last example can be easily solved by modernization.
Fast talking teachers. I can't write that fast. I mean, I can, but then I can't decipher my handwriting, which is already hard anyway. Voice recorder is a quick solution. Obviously, it is easier to look through notes than audio, but IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE A REPLACEMENT FOR NOTES, just a help.
But do take that with a pinch of salt. Especially in elementary school, I used to be one of those weird kids who greatly preferred being liked by the teacher over having friends. So even though I had a phone at the time, I never used it during classes because teachers disliked it.
But at least during breaks it should be allowed. Otherwise kids will find much more dangerous ways to entertain themselves.
... yes, my phoneless childhood was super dangerous. it's amazing i survived a couple of decades without one!
I mean, comparing class with active kids throwing stuff around and ones just sitting and playing on their phones, I'd take the second. Cyber bullying may be hard to detect though, but it's not like schools care either way.
Yes, life was so dangerous before the telephone. It's amazing anyone survived decades without them! 991, phaw, we had a bucket of water and a shotgun.
... in summary. The point should be that the next generation has an advantage over the previous, in all things.
If you want to teach kids how to look up information, you can create spaces for that. They don’t need unrestricted access to their smart phones to accomplish that throughout the day. Hell you can relax your policies as they grow up and show the maturity to handle having a smart phone in the classroom. If schools want to do that, I am all in favor of it. But they would have to start early and build a system, which is a lot to ask of already overworked educators.
I am not talking about unrestricted access either. It depends on age, but they could always just ask the teacher if they're allowed to look up something. And also I don't see how disallowing phones during breaks helps education. It's meant to be a break.
Option C: Write it down.
It's not like I am thinking about it to not forget what I wanted to remember. It's that it will keep bugging me until I remember.
I have no idea what you're trying to say.
Bugging you until you remember? You write it so that you can't forget and so it stops bugging you.
Bugging you because you need that info itch scratched right now? Aka instant gratification. Then you have to learn to not need instant gratification. Seriously, it's another skill.
All this is spoken like an entitled bratty immature kid. (No offense, it's just your age and you'll grow out of it)
There's a reason why you can get a ticket or be charged with distracted driving while you're on your phone and behind the wheel of a car. IT IS A DISTRACTION. FULL STOP.
Stop lying to yourself and to us in the process.
Also if you trust kids with making life changing decisions, this is unfair.
Also sorry if I sounded as you described. I only started carrying the phone with me since I was 15. I was too worried about breaking it (it's not cheap thing). That makes finding positive points (that would apply to younger kids) a bit harder.
Edit: Also, don't be worried, I would almost never voice my opinions in real life.
Spoken like an introverted someone who HAS ALREADY been affected socially in a negative way by their cell phone use.
The entitled and bratty part of your comments = when people tell me not to use my phone I simply DONT use it or bring it. What's the problem exactly? You want access to an encyclopedic knowledge in class? You don't have a laptop or computer in the room you can use ?
Maybe you use your phone only for the most strictly academic things, but most people don't.
Finally, I don't trust kids to make life changing decisions. See all the high schoolers who got suckered into a worthless degree from the University of Phoenix. It's very fair to take the reigns from people who can't control themselves and their impulses.
Can't disagree with this. I got a tablet when I was 8. With unrestricted access. On the positive note, it did help me learn quite a lot of stuff. Like English.
No problem, really. If someone wanted to search up something during class, teachers could just allow it, and generally they did. Except when I was in grade 9 and the school decided to prohibit even just having them at school, as if it were grenades. Some teacher would always just collect all into a bucket and return at the end of the day.
When we had free substituted classes, sometimes they would tell us something like "Sorry, I'd allow you phones now, but if I did I could have problems from it." So clearly they would punish teachers for that. That's just crazy.
And computers aren't in every class. Even if they are, they might not always work. Now we use our phones even to do exams sometimes. But, yeah, school isn't even mandatory for me anymore, so it's already different.
I wasn't even talking about such late decisions. For example, when I was 10 I was given the decision between going into class A or class B since I had good enough results for A. A was class for a little more talented kids. They even had some additional subjects. Well, my dad discouraged me from going to class A. He told me "There won't be any normal kids. I'd choose B if I were you." So I did. I regret. I could have gotten to a better school later on.
Some explanation of those classes:
A - Talented
C and D - sport classes (basketball and hockey respectively)
B - everything else
Next, when I was 14, I told my psychologist about my living conditions. Including photos of how our home looks like. She told me that she could call social services. Then asked me if I agreed. I was scared, so I said no. I regret, once again.
And something that's there always, choosing high school when you're 15.
I am not sure how it works across different school systems. In Slovakia, they are focused just on 1 particular field of study determining where you'll be for the rest of your life. 3 year fields are without graduation (e.g.: various mechanics and plumbers). 4 year and 5 year fields are with graduation, meaning you can go to college/university.
I've had a few classmates who only chose particular field because their friends were going there too, even though they weren't interested in it.
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Oof, sorry. I got too much off topic.
Well, by their teenage years, why not all the reasons adults need smartphones fully accessible? Looking up information from authoritative sources? Emergency contact? Coordinating schedules for office hours?
Schools often simultaneously demand more from children than workplaces do adults, and give them less opportunity to excel.
I'm not saying work-inappropriate phone use should be accepted, but taking them away entirely is downright irresponsible. Just like schools who still demand students write on a notebook instead of using a laptop. Raise your hand if you had RSI-related issues for a decade or more after high school? We old people tend to forget how bad school used to be (and can be) for physical and mental health AND for learning.