To me this sort of bans always feel like an easy way out. Why educate good phone use when you can just impose any rules you want?
While small things like this create a big contrast between "school" and the "real world". When kids are at home doing homework they will have access to phones. They live in a world where every adult always has a phone in their hand. Why not teach them good and healthy ways of using tools and technology?
One good and healthy way of using technology is to set it aside when it's not necessary and when it risks being an obstacle to accomplishing your goals. For instance, in the "real world", you should not be using your phone while driving a car, or operating a table saw, or in a movie theater, or while having an intimate dinner. "Put it on mute and put it away" is an extremely useful skill. Furthermore, children generally have less developed impulse control than adults. It's easier for them to deal with a single coarse requirement ("no phones") rather than a set of nuanced ones.
Also, to be frank, schools need to take the easy way out sometimes. They have part-time, limited custody of children across the whole spectrum of development. Even if some large subset of kids would take well to a "digital wellbeing" curriculum, they will always also have to deal with the subset of kids who could not care less.
When kids are at home doing homework they will have access to phones. They live in a world where every adult always has a phone in their hand. Why not teach them good and healthy ways of using tools and technology?
Some things are still the job of the parents, not the teachers.
See! You lack of sword education is clearly showing. sports foils and epees, (by far the most common swords used by kids who fence) are not at all capable of killing anyone, at least no more than a common stick. If you try to thrust it through someone you’ll just break the blade. At best they can be used to poke an eye out, or create bad bruises. But the same is true if someone throwing their phone at another kid.
Comments
To me this sort of bans always feel like an easy way out. Why educate good phone use when you can just impose any rules you want?
While small things like this create a big contrast between "school" and the "real world". When kids are at home doing homework they will have access to phones. They live in a world where every adult always has a phone in their hand. Why not teach them good and healthy ways of using tools and technology?
One good and healthy way of using technology is to set it aside when it's not necessary and when it risks being an obstacle to accomplishing your goals. For instance, in the "real world", you should not be using your phone while driving a car, or operating a table saw, or in a movie theater, or while having an intimate dinner. "Put it on mute and put it away" is an extremely useful skill. Furthermore, children generally have less developed impulse control than adults. It's easier for them to deal with a single coarse requirement ("no phones") rather than a set of nuanced ones.
Also, to be frank, schools need to take the easy way out sometimes. They have part-time, limited custody of children across the whole spectrum of development. Even if some large subset of kids would take well to a "digital wellbeing" curriculum, they will always also have to deal with the subset of kids who could not care less.
Some things are still the job of the parents, not the teachers.
Try teaching sometime, and then get back to us: https://jakeseliger.com/2008/12/28/laptops-students-distract....
I agree, why wasn’t I allowed to bring my swords to school, just because other kids couldn’t be bother to learn good sword etiquette?
They are. Good and healthy ways of using a phone when you should be paying attention and learning is to not.
Seems like a false equivalence, given that a sword can be used to kill someone and a phone seems very unlikely to be able to be used for that.
See! You lack of sword education is clearly showing. sports foils and epees, (by far the most common swords used by kids who fence) are not at all capable of killing anyone, at least no more than a common stick. If you try to thrust it through someone you’ll just break the blade. At best they can be used to poke an eye out, or create bad bruises. But the same is true if someone throwing their phone at another kid.
I might need to shave though ?
Kids should only have access to a Nokia candybar phone and phpBB forums. That's what I had and I turned out alright... I think.
You don't start educating people on responsible alcohol use by getting them something to drink...