[glitchc]

> Ban phones from class. For real. Lock down websites that are irrelevant to the subjects being taught. These are all technically possible with the tools schools have. Even Youtube. If something is important enough to show the class, the teacher can show it on their larger screen.

Sure. Teachers would love to ban cellphones and punish kids who disobey. The problem is, the parents who sit on the school boards as trustees won't let them.

Adding parents to the school system has single-handedly destroyed the North American education system. Why is there no homework? Because parents complain that kids find it too hard or too much. Why is there no discipline? Because parents complain that discipline is making their kids miserable. Why is there so much emphasis on schools to teach practical skills? Because parents have abdicated their responsibility to teach these skills at home, where they belong.

Parents are no experts on education yet they get to decide what teachers do in the classrooms. The law of averages dictates that 50% were below average students themselves. Guess who sits on the school boards? It's not the over-achievers, those people are too busy being successful in their careers.

There's a global competition for talent and our children are falling behind. Now you know why.

[throwaway439080]

> Guess who sits on the school boards?

People who get elected to sit on the school boards? I think you're actually just complaining about democracy.

My local school district has banned phones during school time (enforced by an auto-locking pouch gadget that releases the phone when school ends), and parents overwhelmingly support it.

[AngryData]

In my experience school boards are anything but democratic. The only people that heartfully pursue those positions are the handful of assholes that shouldn't be in those positions for any reason. And their election is just a choose your flavor of asshole that can manage a half decent public persona and is sitting on excess capital to blow on marketing. Nobody knows who these people are, even in small towns with life long residency, half the people on the board nobody knows unless they are also on the school board and met them through it. Even if people cared about their board's membership, how do you realistically vet them all without having shit tons of free time to go personally meet them or follow them around?

[array_key_first]

This is a new phenomena. It took over a decade for my school district to ban phones. Eventually parents relented - but for the longest time they were the single blocker. Oh, what about emergencies???

Well Nancy, it's not 1995 anymore. Phones aren't for phone calls, we all know that. The school has phones too, you know.

[bandrami]

> I think you're actually just complaining about democracy

Local participatory democracy is in fact pretty terrible: HOAs, school boards, neighborhood impact hearings where people complain that building apartments would let the poors move in and we can't have that.

[mlrtime]

I see this troll response all the time stating families don't want "poors" as some kind of attempt at manipulation to feel I am a bad person.

I [given the chance] would also vote against apartments in my particular neighborhood, and it has nothing to do with being poor at all.

[bandrami]

Saying it's about poor people is the polite version, unfortunately

[mlrtime]

Nope, you are wrong. But I'm sure you feel confident that you're right. Hope that works out for you.

[array_key_first]

It's about it lowering the value of surrounding property, which is just "oh no poors" but roundabout.

But it's not your fault, it's a systemic issue. The fact you even care about your property value is the problem, not the fact you have to care about it. That's not your fault, you're just playing the game you have to play like everyone else.

[mlrtime]

Not directly, no it's not about lowering of property value. It's also not your fault that you make assumptions about how other people make decisions without critical thinking.

[array_key_first]

Unfortunately I am forced to make assumptions when people choose not to tell me their intentions. I actually gave you the benefit of the doubt - I couldve assumed the reason was much worse, which is frankly probably the case since you refuse to say it.

If you don't want to be on the defensive, try to make your position comprehensible.

[philistine]

My province banned all electronic devices brought by the kids from all schools all at once. No one can complain, it's provincial law.