4 ms·

Great. "Let's make our children much less tech-savvy in this world where importance of tech skills is skyrocketing, just because we can't be bothered to parent

Great. "Let's make our children much less tech-savvy in this world where importance of tech skills is skyrocketing, just because we can't be bothered to parent them well so they turn to tablets and phones for entertainment." Absolutely terrible move. Good that it's voluntary.

easytiger 3y ago
If you think using a phone makes one "tech savvy", you aren't very "tech savvy".
- can16358p 3y ago
  Using a phone enables access to information, which can make a person tech savvy.
  - bentley 3y ago
    The decision to ban smartphones generally comes from a weighing of the benefit of the information they provide access to versus the damage phone usage causes to childrens’ psyche.
  - easytiger 3y ago
    Is there information to further this desired information that can't be accessed from a £400 laptop or pc? I've been coding for over 30 years. I don't recall using a phone to bring up an API document
valine 3y ago
Couldn’t agree more. The older generation didn’t go to school in a world with Google, and they dont’t understand what technology prohibition does to kids. I’ve gone to school with people who weren’t allowed access to technology. Saying it puts them at a disadvantage is an understatement. Technical literacy needs to be cultivated. We should be teaching kids to use technology productively, not banning it.
- easytiger 3y ago
  I'd argue that modern devices and their OS + touch only interfaces engender tech skill attrition more so than anything that went before.
reustle 3y ago
Smartphone ban, not technology ban.
com2kid 3y ago
Maybe you missed all the previous articles on HN about how the latest generations are less technically literate, unable to navigate file systems, unable to use regular PC applications (only knowing smartphone versions), and generally only knowing how to stay within the locked down walls of modern smartphone ecosystems.
- makeitdouble 3y ago
  > unable to navigate file systems In 5 years I'd assume that skill will be completely obsolete for "normal" people. Heck even as a programmer I loathe navigating files and am searching everything as much as I can. Sure some kids will need to learn about file systems as they grow up, just as some of us learned how boot loaders work or how CPU are architected. But I wouldn't put that as mandatory literacy even today. > regular PC applications Looking at the latest developments from Apple and Microsoft, I don't see "regular" PC applications staying much different from phone/tablets one for much longer either.
- kelnos 3y ago
  I generally find those article to make no sense. My mother, in the mid 90s, could just barely use a computer to type something up in Word and print it out. She was just sorta starting to grasp email by 2000. Even some kids I knew in middle and high school had trouble with the basics of navigating around a Mac and using a web browser. Go back to the late 80s when my dad brought home the first computer I got to use, and most of my schoolmates had never even seen one, let alone knew how to use one. I absolutely agree that the locked down environments we have today are awful and counter-productive. But my nephew could scroll through YouTube Kids on a tablet when he was three years old and start the videos he wanted to watch, and go back to find something else when he was tired of it. Three years old! Now, at seven, even though he can't always read everything, he can operate fairly complex apps. I guess it depends on how you define "technical literacy". I look at it more as "being able to successfully navigate the technology of the time", not so much "be a hacker", which seems to be what some people try to push it to be.
  - 7952 3y ago
asynchronous 3y ago
Ridiculous strawman argument, smartphones —are not— synonymous with all technology. You can educate children in different types of technology and yet also not give them unfettered access to smartphones.
- can16358p 3y ago
  Ridiculous strawman argument, smartphones are the easiest and most convenient way of accessing information. A ban on them is a big block on informational freedom.

easytiger 3y ago

If you think using a phone makes one "tech savvy", you aren't very "tech savvy".

can16358p 3y ago
Using a phone enables access to information, which can make a person tech savvy.
- bentley 3y ago
  The decision to ban smartphones generally comes from a weighing of the benefit of the information they provide access to versus the damage phone usage causes to childrens’ psyche.
- easytiger 3y ago
  Is there information to further this desired information that can't be accessed from a £400 laptop or pc? I've been coding for over 30 years. I don't recall using a phone to bring up an API document

valine 3y ago

Couldn’t agree more. The older generation didn’t go to school in a world with Google, and they dont’t understand what technology prohibition does to kids. I’ve gone to school with people who weren’t allowed access to technology. Saying it puts them at a disadvantage is an understatement. Technical literacy needs to be cultivated. We should be teaching kids to use technology productively, not banning it.

easytiger 3y ago
I'd argue that modern devices and their OS + touch only interfaces engender tech skill attrition more so than anything that went before.

reustle 3y ago

Smartphone ban, not technology ban.

com2kid 3y ago

Maybe you missed all the previous articles on HN about how the latest generations are less technically literate, unable to navigate file systems, unable to use regular PC applications (only knowing smartphone versions), and generally only knowing how to stay within the locked down walls of modern smartphone ecosystems.

makeitdouble 3y ago
> unable to navigate file systems In 5 years I'd assume that skill will be completely obsolete for "normal" people. Heck even as a programmer I loathe navigating files and am searching everything as much as I can. Sure some kids will need to learn about file systems as they grow up, just as some of us learned how boot loaders work or how CPU are architected. But I wouldn't put that as mandatory literacy even today. > regular PC applications Looking at the latest developments from Apple and Microsoft, I don't see "regular" PC applications staying much different from phone/tablets one for much longer either.
kelnos 3y ago
I generally find those article to make no sense. My mother, in the mid 90s, could just barely use a computer to type something up in Word and print it out. She was just sorta starting to grasp email by 2000. Even some kids I knew in middle and high school had trouble with the basics of navigating around a Mac and using a web browser. Go back to the late 80s when my dad brought home the first computer I got to use, and most of my schoolmates had never even seen one, let alone knew how to use one. I absolutely agree that the locked down environments we have today are awful and counter-productive. But my nephew could scroll through YouTube Kids on a tablet when he was three years old and start the videos he wanted to watch, and go back to find something else when he was tired of it. Three years old! Now, at seven, even though he can't always read everything, he can operate fairly complex apps. I guess it depends on how you define "technical literacy". I look at it more as "being able to successfully navigate the technology of the time", not so much "be a hacker", which seems to be what some people try to push it to be.
- 7952 3y ago

asynchronous 3y ago

Ridiculous strawman argument, smartphones —are not— synonymous with all technology. You can educate children in different types of technology and yet also not give them unfettered access to smartphones.

can16358p 3y ago
Ridiculous strawman argument, smartphones are the easiest and most convenient way of accessing information. A ban on them is a big block on informational freedom.