Mastodawn

soyagi Jul 26, 2023

‘Put learners first’: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

‘Put learners first’: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools - Yiffit.net

I personally think that responsible smartphone use should be learned and practiced, rather than outright banning them. I think this shows that adults are terribly addicted to their devices and think if they can’t stop using them, children won’t either. They certainly can’t teach how to use phones responsibly if they can’t do it themselves. Unfortunately for children the result is an outright ban.

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thehatfox Jul 26, 2023

Like it or not, smartphones and the internet are now a part of everyday life. Digital literacy is now as important as traditional literacy. Pretending that this shift has not happened, because education systems cannot adapt to it, is absurd.

The problems that are claimed to be caused by smartphones in class seem to be more down to to a lack of discipline and engagement. I went to school before any kind of mobile phone was a thing. There were still plenty of potential ways for students to goof off, yet teachers by and large managed to keep us focused and behaving.

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520 Jul 26, 2023

Smartphones are a different league of distracting. Apps like social media are literally tuned to be as psychologically distracting as possible.

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Nemesis Jul 26, 2023

Yes, but outright banning them will hurt more than it would ever help. Has banning drugs ever helped stopping people from dealing and using them? Spoiler alert: No, it hasn‘t.

Responsible usage of smartphones should be taught instead of telling kids: ‘‘This is bad. Don‘t!“

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Pelicanen

There are plenty of spaces where alcohol use or being drunk are not allowed, does that mean that alcohol usage in these spaces is running rampant? No. Brb there’s a difference between a complete societal ban and restrictions in certain areas.

You could easily ban phone usage during classes and allow kids to use their phones during breaks, with the punishment for using them during class being confiscation until the end of the school day. You can teach digital literacy and responsible usage of technology and/or the internet without kids having their phones in their hands when you teach it.

Apps are made to be addictive, it’s understandable that kids could have issues concentrating on things that seem less interesting when an entertaining distraction is right at their fingertips.