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New York teachers stunned to learn some students can’t read time on old clocks after phone ban comes into play (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 9 months ago by resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/41056130

At least 31 states and the District of Columbia restrict cell phones in schools

New York City teachers say the state’s recently implemented cell phone ban in schools has showed that numerous students no longer know how to tell time on an old-fashioned clock.

“That's a major skill that they're not used to at all,” Tiana Millen, an assistant principal at Cardozo High School in Queens, told Gothamist of what she’s noticed after the ban, which went into effect in September.

Students in the city’s school system are meant to learn basic time-telling skills in the first and second grade, according to officials, though it appears children have fallen out of practice doing so in an increasingly digital world.

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[+] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com -26 points 9 months ago

Because they are fucking old. Old clocks. Useless clocks. Not a skill worth teaching, except as an anachronism when explaining why Big Ben and similar building clocks work the way they do.

it appears children have fallen out of practice doing so in an increasingly digital world.

Increasingly? Brother, we're already there. It's all digital. Have you seen the internet yet?

Schools haven't adapted solely out of spite, to propagate this self-fulfilling cycle of teaching how they work, so that their own students can read school clocks. As soon as they leave the school zone, that knowledge is practically useless to them.

[-] vithigar@lemmy.ca 20 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Not sure what kind of sequestered live you lead but schools are definitely not the only place you encounter them. Analog wall clocks and watch faces are still reasonably common.

[-] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com -5 points 9 months ago

Nope, not really. You occasionally find them in some old government building, but only because it's always existed that way, and they just don't want to bother replacing it with a modern digital clock.

This line of thinking is the same as saying cursive writing is worth teaching.

[-] basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 8 months ago

Cursive is a font optimized for hand writing.

I don’t use analog clocks, but they are arguably easier to read with worse vision.

[-] limelight79@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Lol we bought one from IKEA recently.

[-] brb@sh.itjust.works -5 points 9 months ago

They are very rare in public spaces over here. Pretty much only elderly have them in their homes

[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

I didn't know 12 year olds were on lemmy

[-] Twig@sopuli.xyz -2 points 9 months ago

/c/summerlemmy

this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2026

198 points (95.8% liked)

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