New York plans to ban smartphones in schools, allowing basic phones only

At this point I honestly don't know if you're just trying to troll us. If you can point to any concrete evidence that actual teachers are in favor of this for their classroom please do. Otherwise I feel you're next going to tell us that if the students are not allowed to host a rave in the corner of the classroom, they may not know how to enjoy one later as adults. And of course if that rave does not feature loud music and MDMA, then it won't be authentic and serve its purpose. And that it is so essential that schools fulfill this non-academic function that it does not matter if it completely prevents most students from concentrating on the intended subject matter.

I am not some luddite who is unaware of the vast value of phones in an unorganized world. But the classroom is the exact opposite of that. Unlike the real world, the classroom has been prepared so that all the people you need to be connected to in that moment, and all the information sources you are supposed to be using, are already in that room with you. And by the way, those sources -- the teacher and the textbook -- each went through a certification process and are answerable to parents at least indirectly via a school board or other process. Random information on the internet did not.
 
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"It goes beyond that, too. Socializing happens online. Schools are not just about learning subject matter, they are about teaching people how to socialize. If schools completely eliminate the online socialization on their campuses, they eliminate opportunities for constructive dialogue between students, teachers, and counselors on how to socialize online."

If socialising is learned using phone social media it leaves little room for face to face encounters. A child can be as abusive as they like online with little or no consequences. Do that face to face and that child soon learns there are limits and undesireable results, often painful. Let them have a phone if you must, but keep it out of classrooms when they should be focussed on education.
 
human7 said:
The benefits for having smartphones in school greatly outweighs any detrimental affect
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Name one "benefit" to allowing a student to chat and surf on their phone during class time.

human7 said:
If the solution is to simply blanket ban, what does that do for their ability to focus in the face of distraction?
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I got a nice chuckle out of this one. By this logic, we should stage loud rock bands to play during each class period, to "better help students focus during distractions".

human7 said:
Where are the learning opportunities for how to use that technology in a formal (academic, professional, etc.) setting?
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You're confused. Essentially all schools now offer students either laptop computers to use during school, or even assigns them their own laptop/tablet each school year. These devices, however, are "locked down" to a degree that prevents students from using them except for those learning opportunities you claim to value.

human7 said:
It goes beyond that, too. Socializing happens online. Schools are not just about learning subject matter, they are about teaching people how to socialize.
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This more than anything demonstrates you have no children of your own. In a high school math, science, or economics class, we do *not* want our children "learning to socialize" on Snapchat and TikTok. Guess what? They already know how.

human7 said:
Blanket bans take that power away from the educators in the same way that standardized tests treat all students the same regardless of their personalities or skillsets
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I doubt you'd find one educator in 500 who was against this ban. And yes, standardized tests are important. When we want to know if a student has learned basic algebra, we don't care what their "personality" is, and their "skillset" in that subject is what the standard test tells us.
 
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brucek said:
At this point I honestly don't know if you're just trying to troll us. If you can point to any concrete evidence that actual teachers are in favor of this for their classroom please do. Otherwise I feel you're next going to tell us that if the students are not allowed to host a rave in the corner of the classroom, they may not know how to enjoy one later as adults.
Click to expand...

Endymio said:
I got a nice chuckle out of this one. By this logic, we should stage loud rock bands to play during each class period, to "better help students focus during distractions".
Click to expand...

Slippery slope arguments aren't necessary here. Here are two opposite approaches, and they both can work.

https://www.edweek.org/technology/o...s-the-other-embraced-them-what-worked/2024/05

I've made the argument that it should be up the educators, not the state government, to make this decision. Educators are in the thick of things: they know their students and the curricula they are teaching. It should be up to them to make the call. I don't see how this is a "troll" or extreme position to take.
 
human7 said:
I've made the argument that it should be up the educators, not the state government, to make this decision. Educators are in the thick of things: they know their students and the curricula they are teaching. It should be up to them to make the call. I don't see how this is a "troll" or extreme position to take.
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Because you're not familiar with what's happening in modern classrooms. Teachers wish to ban schools in their classrooms, and are unable to. Even the link you posted for "an alternate" approach acknowledges they tried a ban, but could get it to work. Collecting and returning phones on a per-teacher basis eats up a majority of the class period, and opens the teacher to liability issues. And simply telling students to "put the phone away" just doesn't work in the majority of today's schools -- the students ignore the dictate outright.
 
human7 said:
I've made the argument that it should be up the educators, not the state government,
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The state government, who is paying teachers a salary to provide accurate, appropriate information in an organized fashion, is well within its rights to insist that the teachers actually perform that function, instead of abdicating that role to let phones rot the student's brains instead.

Beyond this specific issue, we have an oversight system including state laws because parents do not want to leave every decision to up to the random whims of individual teachers. If the state syllabus calls for Math, I do not want an individual teacher at the elementary school level to decide they'd prefer to teach Taylor Swift looks & lyrics instead. Or to just let kids do whatever on their phones, which may amount to the same thing, or worse.
 
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Endymio said:
Even the link you posted for "an alternate" approach acknowledges they tried a ban, but could get it to work. Collecting and returning phones on a per-teacher basis eats up a majority of the class period, and opens the teacher to liability issues. And simply telling students to "put the phone away" just doesn't work in the majority of today's schools -- the students ignore the dictate outright.
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Yep, and they found embracing the technology was a perfectly fine solution, something you seem unwilling to admit can be the case despite evidence to the contrary.

brucek said:
The state government, who is paying teachers a salary to provide accurate, appropriate information in an organized fashion, is well within its rights to insist that the teachers actually perform that function, instead of abdicating that role to let phones rot the student's brains instead.
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The first half of your statement is correct, the second part is non sequitur.
 
brucek said:
In the case of a bona fide family emergency, call the school office and they can bring your child to the phone. For anything else, let them concentrate on their schoolwork. They should never have let smart or dumb phones into the building in the first place.
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I agree with everything you said wholeheartedly! The real challenge today is getting BACK to that practically distraction free learning environment.
 
This is a great idea, I wonder if it will last. Kids are too addicted. If you even move their phone for 5 sec... they scream like someone is killin em. I can't wait to see the results, it will be funny for sure.
 
Dont ban them .. let teachers get tougher on consequences when a child doesnt listen. 3 strikes your out. get kicked out of school if you cant put your phone down. this would be a good learning experience that would have helped a few of my coworkers now that they are adult. They cant seem put their phones down.
 
Maybe in like primary school... you kinda need them in high school. Just give stricter punishments in high school.
 
Can't believe that no one here is saying NYS to invest in yondr phone free magnetic lockable pouch as a solution
https://www.overyondr.com/
you'll still have your phone with you, you just can't use it and in the event of an family emergency the parents still need to call the office anyway, in an event of a school emergency you can use scissors to cut open the pouch or likewise a(n) admin(s) will bring out the portable base so that the kids can use their phones
 
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