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Sounds like your school sucked and a phone was the band-aid. I doubt you are alone in this kind of ‘education’ (using the word very lightly) induced misery, but

Sounds like your school sucked and a phone was the band-aid. I doubt you are alone in this kind of ‘education’ (using the word very lightly) induced misery, but escapism via device is not much good when the real problem is the systemic misuse of time and resources in our schools.

EMIRELADERO 3y ago
My school was actually very academically good, and psychopedagogycally too. The teachers were often kind and so was the rest of the staff. Hell, even the classmates were cool most of the time. I consider myself quite lucky when reading Americans' complaints about their schools and recesses, with sentences such as "bring back recess!". I shudder to think of what goes on in some districts compared to what I had, which was overall quite sufficient and well spaced-out. The real problem was just me. Or, if I had to put the blame on someone else, it was my parents and the school authorities which didn't really help much. Not out of bad faith or anything, just of simple ignorance or unwillingness to think of it as important enough to warrant the help I actually needed. And to the other OC's point: not all phone use is bad. Not all "scrolling" is bad. I was quite internet-literate for my age at that time, in which, by the way, the internet wasn't the algorithmic ML doom-driven nightmare it can sometimes be today.
- jojobas 3y ago
  With all respect saving an odd one out from boredom of solitude has to give way to saving the vast majority from being stuck to their phones all the time.
  - EMIRELADERO 3y ago
    Is it common for most students to be on their phone all the time during recess (to not even socialize between themselves, even to show each other stuff on them), and in class? Is there a reason why the no-phone policy can't be scoped to the classroom only? And about me, it wasn't just solitude. It was also nothingness. There was a computer room but it was just used for IT class and locked when not in use for that purpose. There was no library, no board games. (Not that I would have played any if they were, as I had no one to play with)
    - eszed 3y ago
      > Is it common for most students to be on their phone all the time during recess (to not even socialize between themselves, even to show each other stuff on them), and in class? Yes. The default state appears to be primary (maybe even sole) interaction via phone. That's not to say that they're not showing each other stuff, but it's phone-to-phone - as in, sending each other social media messages, not passing a physical device back and forth. I'm not quite so exercised about it as most people seem to be - the historically universal assumption about "the youth" is that everything they do differently is terrible, which has not typically turned out to be the case. As a (former, for now) teacher, however, the distraction-potential for / from phones is extreme. That goes for in-class, out-of-class, at-home, everywhere. I'm in favor of banning them entirely in schools, and (as a parent, who's still a few years away from facing it with my kid) limiting access at home. Personal anecdote: my time teaching middle-school kids coincided with the brief pre-smartphone era in which they taught themselves to T9 with perfect fluency, without looking at the screen. The first few times I saw that I was so flabbergasted I couldn't even get mad. I don't know the exact age-range of that group, but it was a very precise demographic slice. I still tip my cap to those of you who learned that trick.

EMIRELADERO 3y ago

My school was actually very academically good, and psychopedagogycally too. The teachers were often kind and so was the rest of the staff. Hell, even the classmates were cool most of the time. I consider myself quite lucky when reading Americans' complaints about their schools and recesses, with sentences such as "bring back recess!". I shudder to think of what goes on in some districts compared to what I had, which was overall quite sufficient and well spaced-out. The real problem was just me. Or, if I had to put the blame on someone else, it was my parents and the school authorities which didn't really help much. Not out of bad faith or anything, just of simple ignorance or unwillingness to think of it as important enough to warrant the help I actually needed. And to the other OC's point: not all phone use is bad. Not all "scrolling" is bad. I was quite internet-literate for my age at that time, in which, by the way, the internet wasn't the algorithmic ML doom-driven nightmare it can sometimes be today.

jojobas 3y ago
With all respect saving an odd one out from boredom of solitude has to give way to saving the vast majority from being stuck to their phones all the time.
- EMIRELADERO 3y ago
  Is it common for most students to be on their phone all the time during recess (to not even socialize between themselves, even to show each other stuff on them), and in class? Is there a reason why the no-phone policy can't be scoped to the classroom only? And about me, it wasn't just solitude. It was also nothingness. There was a computer room but it was just used for IT class and locked when not in use for that purpose. There was no library, no board games. (Not that I would have played any if they were, as I had no one to play with)
  - eszed 3y ago
    > Is it common for most students to be on their phone all the time during recess (to not even socialize between themselves, even to show each other stuff on them), and in class? Yes. The default state appears to be primary (maybe even sole) interaction via phone. That's not to say that they're not showing each other stuff, but it's phone-to-phone - as in, sending each other social media messages, not passing a physical device back and forth. I'm not quite so exercised about it as most people seem to be - the historically universal assumption about "the youth" is that everything they do differently is terrible, which has not typically turned out to be the case. As a (former, for now) teacher, however, the distraction-potential for / from phones is extreme. That goes for in-class, out-of-class, at-home, everywhere. I'm in favor of banning them entirely in schools, and (as a parent, who's still a few years away from facing it with my kid) limiting access at home. Personal anecdote: my time teaching middle-school kids coincided with the brief pre-smartphone era in which they taught themselves to T9 with perfect fluency, without looking at the screen. The first few times I saw that I was so flabbergasted I couldn't even get mad. I don't know the exact age-range of that group, but it was a very precise demographic slice. I still tip my cap to those of you who learned that trick.