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What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation | US education | The Guardian
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
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Don't all schools ban phones? They were banned when I was in highschool maybe ten years ago. And smartphones were already very much a thing by that point. Everyone still used them because enforcement was basically impossible.
The only teacher I ever saw who had an effective strategy was my math teacher. He told kids to put their phones on their desk at the beginning of class so that they were out in the open. If he found out you had come to class with a phone and didn't put it on the desk, you'd lose it, even if you weren't using it. And then he said you could use them for a few seconds to check them, but you had to keep them out in the open. No hiding the phone by your legs.
"Back in my day" (when phones were not that smart but already had color screens and crappy cameras) the teacher would seize your phone if you dared to take it out of your pocket or if it even did as much as vibrate. Not sure why kids would need to check their phone during class nowadays.
I think we’re from the same day. I’m pretty goddamn glad, honestly. I’ve seen how much the phone has invaded my life, and I’m on the lowest scale of intrusion. I typically find myself out with a group of people all on their phones. It feels weird and gross. I could see how that constant attachment could be such a problem for teachers today, even if they were banned. It’s almost automatic, when someone gets bored or distracted, their hand is already in their pocket pulling out the phone.
We had texting, but the smart phone was invented the year I graduated high school. So really even my college years weren’t really tainted by constant phone use. We were really lucky for that reason, I hink.
That's how most teachers in my school operated, and it meant people were constantly screwing around on their phones and not paying attention, because it was an unenforceable policy. Like I said, the only teacher I ever had who effectively prevented people from screwing around on their phones excessively was that math teacher.
Was very enforceable at our school. Teachers had eagle eyes, they simply took your phone and if you were lucky they gave it back to you after class, but most of the time you had to come pick it up after school, and if you were a multi-time offender, your parents had to come get it.
my kid once stuck his phone in his underwear and told them to go for it.
i was on his side for that one, he was not being disruptive, it was outside of class i believe.
That's when the kid gets sent to the principal, if they had any functioning sense of discipline in that room.
alas, i did not get the opportunity to laugh in the principals face.
whomever stopped him clearly had a sense of sanity.. that its just a phone and its just a kid and its just a school and people prolly shouldnt gets so worked up over nothing.
And then he had his victory: a phone that smells like ass. 🤢
plus i get to laugh in the administrators face when they tell me
damn i love that kid
Hell I nearly got my fancy color screen calculator taken from me
Granted, I was playing doom, but still
Because the way we detect and curb abusive teachers is the same way we do abusive police officers, by recording their actions and posting them online.
Back in my day abusive teachers just did their damage, and left my generation with scars. Without publicly-accessible evidence of these events, and consequential pressure on the state, the process just continues.
And then your society teams with intergenerational mental illness, such as what I'm diagnosed with.
When I was in school, just pulling out a phone meant confiscation.
Even ringing meant a call for the parents to get it back.
Definitely depends on the school and where you live, but in my experience the rules have become really loose. Every kid has a phone and mobile data. They're banned in class but kids always try to open their phones to check them and hide them quickly anyways. Many kids spend breaks on their phone. Banning kids from coming into school with phones in their first place is what the article means.
My local school has a simple system. Every student is required to place their phones in a clear plastic similar to this - []https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Grip-Breathable-Organizer-Accessories/dp/B09MJH9V2V/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1X4FP5L6YX60T&keywords=hanging%2Bshoe%2Bcaddy&sprefix=hanging%2Bshoe%2Bcaddy%2Caps%2C239&sr=8-6&th=1 - hanging right next to the door. The pockets are transparent so the teacher can quickly see if everyone has done so and they are cheap.
Terrible. Imagine how many poo and cum particles live on that nasty-ass thing.
Schools are a disease factory and kids are dirty disease carrying little monsters. A little more isn't a real problem. The janitorial staff does clean them though. But a school as a rule is very good place to go if you ever want to catch some nasty disease.
So clean it out every week...
Ewwwww dude imagine how many phones are in there every day of the week.
Trust me, NOBODY would wanna touch my phone. And I’m pretty clean.
Now multiply that by… a lot. And also it’s teens. They don’t tend to have the best hand-washing-after-touching-gross-things record. I only did because I had parents in the medical community. My friends were disgusting. They still are. I love them anyway. I don’t want my phone touching stranger poocum
Baby wipes. Use them on your ass and your phone
I’ve got a bidet for my ass and my phone is just for me