What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation | US education | The Guardian::Teachers say mobile phones make their lives a living hell – so one Massachusetts school barred them

  • narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    “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.

    • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      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.

    • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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      10 months ago

      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.

      • narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        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.

        • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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          10 months ago

          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.

          • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            That’s when the kid gets sent to the principal, if they had any functioning sense of discipline in that room.

            • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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              10 months ago

              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.

    • piecat@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Hell I nearly got my fancy color screen calculator taken from me

      Granted, I was playing doom, but still

    • Uriel238 [all pronouns]
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      10 months ago

      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.