[JimsonYang]

> Facing a broad decline in education test scores, the government in 2024 banned smartphones from schools and has given teachers back more powers to enforce discipline in the classroom.

I remember seeing an nyt article where there was mixed results on cell phone bans. While they increased socialization among students, the school didnt see better test scores.

We'll have to see if a ban on AI can improve test scores-I am bullish on the idea tho

[Jakob]

I would see that as an absolute win. Socialization is the main point I send my kids to school.

Socialization leads to discourse which leads to learning.

[graemep]

British schools are often pretty clear that kids are not there to socialise - they will say it in so many words.

It also depends what you by socialisation. in terms of school people usually mean two distinct things: have opportunities to spend time in social interactions, and learning social skills.

My experience of taking kids out of school is that the first reduces (because they spend less time with other kids each day) but the second increases (because they meet a greater variety of people in a grater variety of places).

That takes me to my greatest concern with AI. That kids will socialise (in both senses) with AI rather than people. What will that do to their social skills? There are plenty of examples of adults doing that (visible in places like /r/MyBoyfriendIsAI ), but at least they grew up developing some social skills. If AI is a big part of your interactions, what will the effects of that be?

[JimsonYang]

I agree but unfortunately the US education budget is driven by test scores.

Unless theres strong evidence that test scores will increase, Karen from the PTA insists that her child be given access to their phone

[scotty79]

Socialization goes out of fashion at a rapid pace. If I were to guess, technology deprived kids will quickly catch up with the trend when they age out of the ban.

Also use of technology anti-correlated with alcohol and drug use so there might be unwelcome side effects.

[belorn]

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20556365241270394

Looking at that meta study, the conclusions seems to be that this kind of studies on children take a lot of time and generally lack any control group, thus conclusions are going to be weak.

[cmrdporcupine]

Here in Ontario they "banned" phones in class/school and the teens just ignore it and the teachers are unable/scared to enforce it. As parents we've tried over and over with both our kids to lay down the law -- including taking phones away, consequences etc -- but the attitude is intense with both them and their peers and enforcement becomes very difficult once they're out of "child account" parental control range.

It's a shitty time to be a parent of a teen.

[kevin_thibedeau]

Canadian schools operate under the principle of in loco parentis. Your administrators are just unwilling to do their jobs. If they laid down strict policies of zero tolerance and consequences for offenders that inconvenience the parents there would be compliance. Any parent not on board with such policies can send their kids elsewhere.

[tacomagick]

How about if we target the social media apps for their predatory algorithms?

[cmrdporcupine]

That's precisely what needs to happen.

That said, my youngest just reads gaming wikis and hangs out on Discords for roguelike video games and this somehow consumes 900% of their attention span.

[tacomagick]

I'd say that's one of the best ways to spend time. It's okay to have a hobby even if it's just rougelike games. Much better than doomscrolling on Tiktok in every way.

[cmrdporcupine]

Not when it takes precedence over... doing your math homework, touching grass, communicating with a real flesh and blood friend (or parent/sibling), showering...

[tacomagick]

That's wildly putting things off track. I meant spend time as in free time. I assumed and took for granted things such as showering or doing homework was already done and dusted. Other than that I think students do see each other at school every day anyway so communication is not as desperate as one might think.

[chadgpt3]

Discords for xyz are as much universal hangout spaces as they are about xyz

[Moldoteck]

the next movement would be blocking LTE/5G during courses. No social media = dumb phone

[cmrdporcupine]

they don't seem to have the courage to do it. they don't even bother closing down the school wifi for a lot of stuff.

there's also parent who would boohoo about not being able to contact their kids all hours of the day

[derwiki]

“Boohoo” is fine, but I think the reality is one of a) come to the school and scream at someone b) or threaten violence or c) a lawsuit.