Most Americans support banning phones in schools, but only during classes (www.techspot.com)

submitted 2 years ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to c/usa@midwest.social

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The findings come from the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 5,110 US adults. The results show that 68% of respondents supported a ban on middle and high school students using phones in the classroom, while 24% opposed the idea and 8% were unsure.

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[-] cm0002@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago

I've seen this again and again, but haven't cell phones been banned in classrooms for as long as there have been (mainstream affordable) phones?

I have lots of memories of "blind texting" on a T9 because I had to hide it from the teacher lol.

Also, I generally support bans in the classroom, but just let them have their phones during lunch, there's no instruction during lunch ffs

[-] Muffi@programming.dev 9 points 2 years ago

The phones weren't designed to get you addicted to them back then. I am a teacher, and if I had to start every class by convincing all student who didn't put their phones in the phone-locker to do it, then I would have no time left for teaching. I have pivoted to making classroom assignments that students have to complete using their phones instead, and it's working wonders.

[-] cm0002@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

The phones weren't designed to get you addicted to them back then.

Umm, yea, I was not a very social person and I was still on my phone for most of my classes lol and I was also still in school for "The Great Switch" when everyone just had smartphones after summer break (including myself)

[-] Muffi@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

You cannot honestly say the addictive pull of social media and games today is the same as it was back then. That's like saying weed and heroin are equally addictive.

[-] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 5 points 2 years ago

Banned in classrooms? Nah. Use while you're supposed to be paying attention or working sure. But straight up just banned not in most places. And we're talking about kids and teenagers so good luck enforcing not using their phones when they shouldn't, which is why an outright ban would probably work better.

[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 17 points 2 years ago

I think the old etiquette rules are the same as they were when our grandparents were in school.

Making a phone call during class is extremely rude, but students have a legitimate need to make phone calls outside of class, which is why high schools used to have pay phones.

[-] 93maddie94@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago

The issue is kids aren’t making phone calls in class. They’re on social media. They’re listening to music. It’s usually not obvious and disruptive to others, but still impacting their ability to focus and learn. Banning them outright causes kids to be sneaky and resentful, but allowing them can be detrimental, especially with the impacts on mental health. If you collect them before class (I’ve seen teachers use shoe holders hanging on the door) kids will bring in an old phone and turn in that. If you use the locked bags, same deal. If you scramble the service so they phones are unusable then you can run into issues in a real emergency.

[-] SweetCitrusBuzz@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago

Phones are the way a lot of students learn and focus nowadays.

They shouldn't be taken away, lest their ability to do those things drop.

[-] suburban_hillbilly@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago

This is the rule at my kids school. It looks fine on paper, but in practice there is no respect for sometimes rules for many adoledcents.

[-] MehBlah@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

That wont work. Kids are not going to stop using their phone if they have it on them. They need to remove nearly all the screens from the classroom and let these kids learn how to pay attention. Its even worse for those of us who have executive dysfunctions.

[-] UniversalMonk@midwest.social -3 points 2 years ago

So I'm a teaching assistant in an elementary school. My school bans phones until the last bell rings. The kids are used to it now, no complaints and the kids pay sooo much more attention.

They just started this policy at the middle school close by, and even tho it caused a LOT of drama in the beginning, most people have adapted and everyone says that things are going much smoother now. And since current elementary students are already used to it, next middle school first year students should be fine with it.

So in a few years, I think everyone will be cool with it. But it's not really gonna be smooth until the current elementary students get to high school.