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0 pointsethbr19mo ago0 comments

No phones in class, at scale and enforced, feels like a last 5 years thing in K-12. And the trend was very much towards increased digital testing, pre-LLM.

This is pivoting back to paper-based, but it's going to be as messy and slow of a transition as the no-mobile-device one was.

Especially given how much money there is in "AI".

And hamfistedly-handed, will likely leave another generation fucked over with regards to basic education (like the predatory social+mobile adoption before regulation did previously).

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9 comments · 3 top-level

Telemakhos9mo ago· 3 in thread

"No phones" was the rule back in the 2000s, when phones were flip phones or pagers for drug deals. Then helicopter parents demanded to be able to contact their children at any time, including during classes, so phones were allowed. There was the added bonus of "What if there's a shooting? I need to be able to call my kid during a shooting!" Now, phones are not allowed again.

The takeaway is that phones should never have been allowed in school. They distract from school, and kids need to learn to focus on tasks without being distracted.

Terr_9mo ago

Right: If parents needed to contact students during class--or vice-versa--there was never[0] any technical barrier to that!

You don't need hundreds of distraction/cheating pocket computers in a giant invisible wireless network for that, a school could easily route the information if the organization chose to do so.

The technology was used as an end-run around an organizational barrier.

kjkjadksj9mo ago

There is no organizational barrier. Parent can still call the school and say jimmys dad is in the hospital or whatever.

SoftTalker9mo ago

And, it allows parents and students to completely ignore making plans. Jimmy needs a ride home from football practice? That should be (a) expected and (b) planned for in advance. He should not have to text mom to come and pick him up.

He wants to go home with Tommy instead? Well too bad, that wasn't the plan.

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kevinventullo9mo ago· 3 in thread

I attended high school in the US in the early 00’s and cell phones were absolutely banned from classrooms. You could keep them in your locker and use them between classes, but that was it.

I attended college in the late 00’s, and I don’t think I took a single digital exam. Quizzes, sure, but for final exams even CS was pencil and paper (or a final project, which admittedly will have issues in the post-LLM era).

Calavar9mo ago

I was also in high school in that time period and had a similar experience. As I recall it, pretty much every student had a phone by 2007ish (flip phones back then), and using a phone in class was grounds to have it confiscated for the day and get a detention. This was absolutely enforced.

My college experience was similar to yours as well. All exams were paper (often blue books). Having a phone out would get you kicked out of the exam hall. But by the time I did med school, it was all digital.

ethbr1OP9mo ago

They were technically banned in my school in the 00s as well, but it wasn't enforced. Teachers often have bigger concerns than quiet kids.

I'd love for someone from the 10s to chime in, as that seemed the heyday of unchecked social media use.

piperswe9mo ago

I was in high school in the late 2010s. No cell phones allowed during most of class time, and it was somewhat enforced. I definitely recall students being chewed out for having their phones out in class, but I also recall some students having their phones out with no repercussions.

victorbjorklund9mo ago

I wasnt allowed to use a phone during exams back in 2006.

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