Illinois Governor Signs School Cellphone Ban to Avoid Student Distractions

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1303733/illinois-governor-signs-school-cellphone-ban-to-avoid-student-distractions

gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-school-cell-phone-ban-into-law

Probably an unpopular opinion, but this is dumb. Schools should be teaching kids how to responsibly deal with phones instead of just banning them. They are going to have phones once they graduate and they should be learning responsible ways to integrate that in to their adult life

This IS how you deal with phones responsibly. When kids get out in the real world, they’ll have to work and interact with the world around them without the constant hits of dopamine from their phone. Asking them to not be scrolling their phones while in class is the LEAST we can do.

If I was a teacher, there would be a basket next to the classroom door, and everyone would have to drop their phone in it when entering the classroom. Anyone caught with a phone in class would get a 5 page essay on the addictive properties of phones.

Except that’s not how phones actually work in the “real” world. Adults have phones on them all the time (with very few exceptions). There aren’t “phone police” preemptively taking their phones from them during meetings. They need to learn self control, and forcing them not to have the phone available doesn’t teach that. I’m all for making them put their phone in a basket for a time period if they show they can’t control themselves, that teaches them, but it shouldn’t be the default.

And in the “real” world you can get fired for not doing your job or being on your phone too much. There are legit consequences that can applied without much pushback. In schools, you can’t just kick a kid out forever for fucking with their phone after multiple warnings and detentions. You can, however, confiscate the phone for the remainder of the class, or have them keep it in their locker to check during breaks, which is exactly what this bill is doing. To be honest, that’s what teachers were doing anyway in most schools so this is really just a formality.

Ok… That exactly what I said in the comment you replied to. You are just angrily agreeing with me now.

The only part that differs is that this bill preemptively takes the phone from them, even if they have a good history of using it responsibly. That’s the part I disagree with. Take the phone only when there is a history of abuse from a particular student, not all the time, every time.