Parents Don't Like Phones At Schools

[Guest]

Half of parents 'want mobile phones banned in schools'

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49515632

 

Quote

Just under half of UK parents, 49%, think their child's school should ban mobile phones, a survey by price comparison site uSwitch suggests.

One in eight parents said their child's school had already done so.

Phones are pretty important to keep in touch with your loved ones. I wouldn't be against giving my son/daughter a phone. Probably give them one when they're around 12 or so.

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The survey, of just over 1,000 people, also suggested that the average value of gadgets taken to school by each child was £301.

This is the value that I do disagree with. 301 pounds is like around 400 USD or something like that. Its a large amount of value to give a kid, especially when it could get dropped or etc. Then again, value in phones has gone up in recent years. Just not sure about this value however. 

Quote

The survey, carried out by Opinium on behalf of uSwitch, suggested that the average cost of gadgets taken to school by children was rising.

Extrapolating across the total population of UK school pupils, uSwitch estimated that the value of all gadgets taken to schools in 2019 will reach £2.3bn.

Plus, 43% of children now have a newer model of phone than their parents, and in total adults are spending £13bn every year on phone bills racked up by their offspring.

I will have the newer phone I think. When I was growing up it was a sort of hand-me-down deal. I still got a nice phone, and any phone was great, so I was still always very lucky. 

Quote

"The number of gadgets that schoolchildren are carrying into class every day is mind-boggling," said Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at uSwitch.

It was "understandable" that parents were concerned about their children being distracted by mobile phones in school, but Mr Doku said that banning the devices was not a straightforward solution. 

 

"Children are very likely to be using a whole range of gadgets when they enter the world of work, and school is one place where they should be able to learn about technology in a safe environment," he said.

"In addition, many parents want the peace of mind of being able to contact their children in emergencies, and find out where they are if they don't appear at home at the usual time, whether by calling them or by using an app." 

Well the way I see it, phones are ok, as long as student keep them in their bags etc. Especially with smartphones. You are there at school to learn, just like at university, but in a more managed way. 

 

There are definitely two sides to this little debate. Its important to be able to use smartphones in a way that does not interfere with too much of your life, and you need to be reachable. On the other hand, there is so much you can do on a phone, that it can be quite a distraction, and adverse to learning, like looking up answers, rather than working through them yourself. 

[Beskamir]

It should be up to the student to decide if they want their phone to be a distraction or a helpful tool. Being able to quickly google something can be better than stopping the entire class to ask a trivial or off topic question so even though most people would prefer to distract themselves with their phones I think we shouldn't punish those that would use their phone to aid their learning.

[PopsicleHustler]

This will always be a double edge sword type conversation. Personally I think there is nothing wrong in giving your child a phone when they go to school. It comes down to proper parenting to teach your kid not to use his/her smartphone when it is not necessary. But as with video games, there will always be parents who think that its smartphone's fault for distracting their kid in school.  

[Alex Atkin UK]

7 minutes ago, Beskamir said:

It should be up to the student to decide if they want their phone to be a distraction or a helpful tool. Being able to quickly google something can be better than stopping the entire class to ask a trivial or off topic question so even though most people would prefer to distract themselves with their phones I think we shouldn't punish those that would use their phone to aid their learning.

Your flaw here is that we are talking about kids, who by their nature are impressionable and less likely to be able to stop themselves being distracted.

My goodness, the teachers had enough trouble getting us to focus WITHOUT phones.

[Taf the Ghost]

A couple of thousands of years of education existed before cellphones, and the modern ones really are mostly distraction devices. So, at one level, they get in the way. On another level, they actually serve the major purpose of modern "education", which is really just housing students for 6+ hours a day.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Just now, PopsicleHustler said:

This will always be a double edge sword type conversation. Personally I think there is nothing wrong in giving your child a phone when they go to school. It comes down to proper parenting to teach your kid not to use his/her smartphone when it is not necessary. But as with video games, there will always be parents who think that its smartphone's fault for distracting their kid in school.  

You might be surprised to find out that once kids are away from their parents, all bets are off.  You can try to teach them to be responsible all you want, it goes out of the window when you aren't there.

This is actually a GOOD thing, its how they learn, but limiting their options for becoming distracted is also important.  This is especially so with phones as app developers are using psychology to make people addicted.

[Eaglerino]

19 minutes ago, Beskamir said:

It should be up to the student to decide if they want their phone to be a distraction or a helpful tool. Being able to quickly google something can be better than stopping the entire class to ask a trivial or off topic question so even though most people would prefer to distract themselves with their phones I think we shouldn't punish those that would use their phone to aid their learning.

that'd be a grand total of zero kids who would do that instead of playing some game. part of school is supposed to be human interaction isn't it? why make kids afraid to raise their hand and ask a question in front of people?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

The solution starts with the parents. A 12 year old kid does not need the latest iPhone with a data plan. Why does a kid need the same caliber of device and mobile service as a CEO? 

[DrMacintosh]

Do these parents want to be put into retirement homes? Because this is how you get put into retirement homes  

[LienusLateTips]

3 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

The solution starts with the parents. A 12 year old kid does not need the latest iPhone with a data plan. Why does a kid need the same caliber of device and mobile service as a CEO? 

A 12 year old having an iPhone X is the city seal of Richmond. And you know that.

[Derrk]

imo let the kids have phones, but punish them accordingly if they use them irresponsibly. It's a good tool for kids to have on them, such as to tell their folks that practice is over or was cancelled if they need a ride home

[imreloadin]

Also parents: "What do you mean you can't just put little Billy on the phone? I really need to get him this message...ughhh this was so much easier when they just had cell phones!"

[Fasauceome]

make classes way less boring and inane and the kids might want to pay attention

[SupaKomputa]

5 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

make classes way less boring and inane and the kids might want to pay attention

easy for us to say, some teachers don't know how.

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

[Fasauceome]

6 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

easy for us to say, some teachers don't know how.

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

I was a teacher, had to learn to entertain my students or they didn't listen. Teachers gotta learn too, learn how to be engaging. We should hold educators to a higher standard, it's too easy to be a teacher.

[Allshevski]

In my middle any usage of mobile phones was banned in the school hall. reason - students should not be distracted and "socialize" This was total and utter BS. Nobody socialized any more, nobody paid attention any more than they would with the phone, and it was just a point of conflict between students who tried to get them out when the teachers weren't looking. Funny how smoking in the area behind the school building that had no cameras was super common back then and nobody cared.

 

In high school phones were allowed and it was a relief, everyone uses them according to their needs, everyone socializes to their best ability, and it's actually helpful to be able to text a friend between lessons to meet up at set place and time in the hall. As to using the phones during the lessons, every professor treats them differently, but again it was convenient to use our phones whenever we felt the need to, and not babysit us and tell us to put them down, especially if it wasn't distracting to anyone and done in respectful enough manner.

 

Also, I personally believe it's a matter of respect to the teachers. Some had absolutely no authority above us, but then there were some that had so much respect that they could leave the class mid exam and not one person would cheat, take out their phone or otherwise. And that was when we all were 13 year old edgy teens.

[Beskamir]

16 minutes ago, Eaglerino said:

that'd be a grand total of zero kids who would do that instead of playing some game. part of school is supposed to be human interaction isn't it? why make kids afraid to raise their hand and ask a question in front of people?

 

25 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Your flaw here is that we are talking about kids, who by their nature are impressionable and less likely to be able to stop themselves being distracted.

My goodness, the teachers had enough trouble getting us to focus WITHOUT phones.

True most kids consider school boring but I refuse to accept that all kids are uninterested in learning. I'd even go so far as claim that all kids are naturally curious and our education system fails them all by making them believe that learning is just about listening to a lecture, writing pointless/abstract assignments and taking equally useless tests. So with that considered, we shouldn't be trying to mitigate "distractions" but question why kids are becoming distracted. Several decades ago we built schools without windows and with whitewashed walls to "mitigate distractions". So it'd be really great if we learned from our mistakes and didn't blame phones as we did windows for being distractions when the core of the issue is that our education system sucks at engaging students.

 

As for my example of using phones to check something during a lesson, I'm not at all suggesting kids should be afraid to ask questions. I was more thinking along the lines of questions that can be easily googled, difficult for the teacher to know off the top of their head, likely not super relevant to the topic the class is covering, yet something the kid might consider or think off because of the lesson. So say they're covering classical mechanics and the kid wants to know more about this Newton guy that's mentioned in the lesson, or they want to double check his 3 laws of motion despite them being covered a couple lessons ago and it'd take longer (and make more noise) to search through their notes. Basically those kinds of questions, stuff that really isn't worth stopping a lesson for and likely would only benefit the person that's asking them.

[Rune]

I didn't get a flip phone until I was 18 and I bought it myself. Fuck kids have it easy these days.

[Alex Atkin UK]

6 minutes ago, Beskamir said:

 

True most kids consider school boring but I refuse to accept that all kids are uninterested in learning. I'd even go so far as claim that all kids are naturally curious and our education system fails them all by making them believe that learning is just about listening to a lecture, writing pointless/abstract assignments and taking equally useless tests. So with that considered, we shouldn't be trying to mitigate "distractions" but question why kids are becoming distracted. Several decades ago we built schools without windows and with whitewashed walls to "mitigate distractions". So it'd be really great if we learned from our mistakes and didn't blame phones as we did windows for being distractions when the core of the issue is that our education system sucks at engaging students.

 

As for my example of using phones to check something during a lesson, I'm not at all suggesting kids should be afraid to ask questions. I was more thinking along the lines of questions that can be easily googled, difficult for the teacher to know off the top of their head, likely not super relevant to the topic the class is covering, yet something the kid might consider or think off because of the lesson. So say they're covering classical mechanics and the kid wants to know more about this Newton guy that's mentioned in the lesson, or they want to double check his 3 laws of motion despite them being covered a couple lessons ago and it'd take longer (and make more noise) to search through their notes. Basically those kinds of questions, stuff that really isn't worth stopping a lesson for and likely would only benefit the person that's asking them.

I don't disagree there, schools could and should make learning more interesting.  There is far too much book learning or lectures vs hands-on experience.  I always looked forward to practical lessons in science, etc.

But its always going to be tough to compete with mobile games / social networking that is specifically designed to manipulate people.  Better keep those phones out of the way.

When you are in a lesson you shouldn't NEED to check your phone, all relevant material should already be provided.  How is the teacher supposed to know you are looking up lesson related documentation?  Odds are you would disrupt the class anyway as the teacher tries to figure out what you are doing.

Believe me I understand where you are coming from, I WAS that kid in class who was always afraid to ask the teacher questions, but allowing phones in class is not the solution.  I know I would have probably ended up doing anything BUT looking up the thing I was stuck on.

[SupaKomputa]

23 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

I was a teacher, had to learn to entertain my students or they didn't listen. Teachers gotta learn too, learn how to be engaging. We should hold educators to a higher standard, it's too easy to be a teacher.

I'm not a teacher, but i manage some. Younger teachers under 30 pretty quick to adapt, but older ones (we have 50+ old teachers) have their own style which is hard to bend. Explaining how e-learning work to them, its like teaching kindergarden how to spell.

[lewdicrous]

41 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

make classes way less boring and inane and the kids might want to pay attention

Agreed.

Teachers have the power to make or break the learning experience, if the teacher isn't willing to put in the effort to actually engage with the students in a meaningful way, then they shouldn't expect every single student to be excited to learn new things or even improve in the subject.

[Dabombinable]

If parents don't want their kids to have phones at school...then why allow them to be taken?

Or for that manner, buy their kids a smart or feature phone?

[Beskamir]

40 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I don't disagree there, schools could and should make learning more interesting.  There is far too much book learning or lectures vs hands-on experience.  I always looked forward to practical lessons in science, etc.

But its always going to be tough to compete with mobile games / social networking that is specifically designed to manipulate people.  Better keep those phones out of the way.

When you are in a lesson you shouldn't NEED to check your phone, all relevant material should already be provided.  How is the teacher supposed to know you are looking up lesson related documentation?  Odds are you would disrupt the class anyway as the teacher tries to figure out what you are doing.

Believe me I understand where you are coming from, I WAS that kid in class who was always afraid to ask the teacher questions, but allowing phones in class is not the solution.  I know I would have probably ended up doing anything BUT looking up the thing I was stuck on.

Indeed social media is designed to be addictive and most students right now would probably abuse their ability to have a phone out but if we could somehow teach responsible phone usage in the classroom maybe we'd be able to make use of an awesome tool humanity has created for something other than just an endless source of entertainment? I could substitute phone in your argument with window and argue that we shouldn't have windows in schools least a child stare outside and daydream the entire time. If a kid wants to be distracted they will be distracted. If a kid wants to learn they will learn. Also a futuristic consideration worth mentioning, what will happen if (when) implants become a norm and teens have access to phone like devices that are effectively impossible to remove/disable? Is it not better to teach responsible uses of technology and attempt to create social norms around it and it's uses then to ban/restrict it in fear?

[mr moose]

10 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

If parents don't want their kids to have phones at school...then why allow them to be taken?

Or for that manner, buy their kids a smart or feature phone?

They want them banned because the social peer pressure is too strong to wade against(meaning if they take their kids phones they ostracize them socially while a school ban means everyone is without).  Victoria has new laws that ban phones in all government schools.  There is a fair bit of research going on at the moment and it will be interesting to see the results.  As someone who has worked in education over the last 8 years (years 3-10) I don't think it is a bad thing to ban phones whilst at school.  There are plenty of resources available to students that the phone is not an indispensable tool.

[Arika]

take phones to school, leave them in your locker. trying to trust kids to not just browse the internet or play games while they are supposed to be studying will not go well.