150
UNESCO calls for global ban on smartphones in schools
(news.un.org)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
150 points (100.0% liked)
Technology
37750 readers
299 users here now
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
The real world doesn't work that way. Horror stories abound of school staff blatantly ignoring students' special needs.
And that problem is of infinitely higher priority than banning phones in school 100%. Allowing phones is not a solution to that very real problem.
Let's review the available options here:
There is no third option of solving the problem of children being neglected in schools. That would require people who don't care to magically start caring, which obviously isn't going to happen.
Therefore, the greatest harm reduction is achieved through option 1.
I strongly disagree. Option one is just giving up on trying to improve the situation in our schools. You're not listening here. "Not caring" as you put it either is or should be neglect in terms of performing their job and thus grounds for dismissal. Then you'll say "but no one wants to teach anyway, there's a shortage as is" and I'll say that yeah, that's another more important issue, that teachers need better working conditions and pay.
That there exists more important issues to fix doesn't mean that banning phones isn't a good idea, it just means that there are prerequisites before it would actually work "in the real world" as you put it.
You're willing to hold off on banning phones in the classroom until neglectful school staff are no longer an issue, then? Okay, that's fine with me, but from what I've seen and heard of our schools and our cultural values around education, you're going to be waiting a very long time.