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Some schools ban phones but allow laptops and tablets. It is the phones specifically that are the problem, not social media. (apparently) My phone usage droppe
by andrei-akopian 2y ago
Some schools ban phones but allow laptops and tablets. It is the phones specifically that are the problem, not social media. (apparently)
My phone usage dropped after I got a personal laptop and an eBook reader. So did pretty much every one else's. The phone is just really inconvenient for anything other than doomscrolling.
In my opinion, the lack of alternative activities is overlooked. It is a ban and a prayer that the problem will solve itself.
- insane_dreamer 2y ago> t is the phones specifically that are the problem, not social media. disagree; it's the social media that's the problem; the phone just makes it possible to access it at all times remove social media and you won't have kids on their phones all the time (or, if you're very lucky, they might use them for something productive)
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> remove social media and you won't have kids on their phones all the time This is a testable hypothesis. We shouldn’t conclude either way without more evidence. As it stands, enforcing a phone ban has advantages over an app one.
- andrei-akopian 2y agoFYI: Schools have firewalls that block social media, but kids learn to use VPNs.
- BobaFloutist 2y agoFirewalls also do nothing if the kid has a decent data plan.
- insane_dreamer 2y agoSmall sample size but already tested in my household. Block the social media apps and website and phone use is greatly reduced.
- newsclues 2y agoYeah in computer class in high school the normal kids were on MySpace or chat in the computer lab instead of doing the boring work.
- AStonesThrow 2y agoMobile operating systems are designed to engage and distract the owner. Lost your attention for a few minutes? Screen dims and threatens to darken! Oh no! Touch its face and keep it alive! Notifications from everything. Alarms that won't shut off until you do something about it. Pleading with us to recharge the battery. Insisting that radios be turned back on and sensor access be granted. Every app, every website you visit is infested with dialogs and pop-ups that you're brushing out of the way, trying to get something accomplished. It really tests your resolve and concentration, to see if you finished that one task you had in mind when you unlocked your phone, without going into 5 more on the side, or whether you can tame your phone sufficiently to be an assistant or productivity tool, rather than a firehose of marketing from dozens of companies to you, the consumer.
- red_admiral 2y agoPhones are ok as communication devices though, even if it's only "lunch half twelve 2nd floor canteen?" to a coworker. Whether schools need that or not is another question, though "Mum can you check did I leave my maths book on the desk?" via whatsapp seems to be a thing these days.
- StanislavPetrov 2y agoBring back alpha-numeric pagers!
- consf 2y ago[dead]
- hooverd 2y agoThere's nothing magic about phones that makes them bad. It's mostly the content on them: social media. Which people here earn money hand over fist making more addictive and then wonder how it all happened. I was in high school right around the first iPhone. Kids got good at T9 texting but it wasn't anything like now I guess.
- wilsonnb3 2y agoIt isn't magic but they are different than laptops and desktops in important but subtle ways. They are (generally) always on your person. They discourage the creation of text. They always have an internet connection. They are usually charged right next to your bed, so they are the first and last thing you interact with every day.