[crooked-v]

In the US we've completely given up on stopping school shootings, and parents have instead decided that the better thing to fight for is their children having cell phones so they can hear the child's last words when the school shooting happens.

[conradev]

It’s not actually about school shootings in the US, as much as that might be cited as justification. Some parents just want to be able to text their kids all day.

[Aeolun]

I think the phones are one thing. It was a bit distressing to hear that US schools have “school shooting drills” like Japan schools have “earthquake drills”.

[crooked-v]

Wait until you hear about how teachers started stocking emergency toilets because of those multi-hour drills, and the right wing in the US responded by using it to accuse schools of setting up litter boxes for self-identified 'furries' in the student body.

[huhkerrf]

You're just making things up, just like those people perpetuating the litter box hoax.

> The only known official instance of cat litter being placed in school classrooms for potential use by students was in the late 2010s by the Jefferson County Public School District in Colorado, where the 1999 Columbine High School massacre took place. Some teachers were given "go buckets" that contained cat litter to be used as a toilet in an emergency lockdown situation, such as during a school shooting.

_Only known official instance_ and not for drills, but in case there was an emergency situation.

[crooked-v]

Here's a 2019 article that took a two-minute search to find: https://www.newsweek.com/colorado-schools-issuing-buckets-ki...

> Parents and teachers in a Colorado school district were surprised by some new additions to the list of necessary back-to-school supplies—including kitty litter, buckets and trash bags.

> The products are part of Jefferson County's "Emergency Go Bucket," a way for students to relieve themselves in the event of a prolonged lockdown because of an active shooter.

[huhkerrf]

I really can't tell if you're trolling or not. Did you read my comment? It talks precisely about Jefferson County in the late 2010s. This was the only known official case, and it was about lockdowns, not drills like you claimed.

[autoexec]

> Did you read my comment? It talks precisely about Jefferson County in the late 2010s. This was the only known official case, and it was about lockdowns, not drills like you claimed.

Honestly, it didn't take long to find this article either:

> Dale Munholland’s classroom at Pomona High in Arvada is equipped with the necessities in modern-day America: a touch-screen projector, a computer — and a bucket filled with kitty litter, just in case an active-shooting drill lasts longer than a student’s bladder can handle. (https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/03/school-shooting-prepar...)

It seems it really was for drills and not just lockdowns

Right now anyway, the wikipedia article which says "The only known official instance of cat litter being placed in school classrooms for potential use by students was in the late 2010s by the Jefferson County Public School District" also says it's for "an emergency lockdown situation, such as during a school shooting" so I guess drills can also count as "an emergency lockdown situation"

[vinay427]

I’m not sure what ‘the US’ means here. In California it’s now required (as of next year) for schools to limit or restrict student phone use, and several other states have done similar things as mentioned in the article [1].

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/24/california-s...

[mcny]

I think it is reasonable for a teacher to say you can't actively use your phone while class is in session but not appropriate for them to say you can't have your phone on you. It is also inappropriate to say your phone must be in some special pouch that only they can open, etc.

This is just my own opinion, of course. I think it is also inappropriate to say you need someone's permission to use the restroom. All my opinions of appropriate ness is mostly about adults behaving like adults though. They probably don't make sense when it comes to children?

[vinay427]

I tend to agree, and the vast majority of policies that I've seen (e.g. US states) do in fact target the use of phones, not possession. Schools in the CA bill can continue to implement or exceed those requirements as they see fit.

[Gigachad]

At least in Australia the phone ban doesn’t mean you can’t have a phone in your pocket, you just can’t take it out.

Taking your phone out when I was in school meant having it placed on the teachers desk until the end of class, and possibly some other kind of penalty if they particularly didn’t like you. But you always got your phone back before leaving the class.

[yurishimo]

So, exactly how it was when cellphones first became commonplace? I started high school in 2008 and had a flip phone at that time. Yea, literally everyone was texting behind their back, under a desk, or whatever but it was fine. If we got caught, the teacher picked it up and we could come pick it up at the end of the day.

I can imagine if the current “meta” is literally holding your phone in your hand for the entire school day that problems would indeed arise.

Personally, I think banning phones in the classroom similar to what I grew up with is the minimum. If students still have poor outcomes or are being bullied by other kids sneaking phones, then yea, collect them at the door or implement stricter punishment for students caught with a phone.

[Gigachad]

In public schools in Australia you could just openly use your phone until this new rule

[umanwizard]

People who claim that as the reason they want to allow phones are simply lying.

[throw83949459]

I am more worried about dogs in school. Many teacher are fine to blame 11 years old for "provoking" dog attack! It is ok to send a kid to hospital, for eating a sandwitch!

Teachers at my school do not believe allergies are real! If there is asthma attack, it is an uncorrelated event! School will stab my kid with epipen, call ambulance and send me hospital bill! Avoiding it is too much work!

Once school brought unrestrained police dogs to school for a demonstration! Those had a record of attacking and torturing suspects!

Being able to call help is a basic human right!

[huhkerrf]

> parents have instead decided that the better thing to fight for is their children having cell phones so they can hear the child's last words when the school shooting happens.

What's a ridiculous appeal to emotion. Between 2020 and 2022 there were 131 school shooting deaths, including suicides. Let's put those all in 2022, and assume that there were actually 0 suicides.

That means you have a 0.0026% chance to be killed (at most) in a school shooting. This is too much, but this is not the reason to allow cell phones in schools. Come on.

[what]

You could give them a shitty flip phone for that.

[milesrout]

School shootings are extremely rare. If you want to protect kids you will be much more effective if you work on pedestrian safety, or anything related to driving at all really.