California Passes Law To Ban or Restrict Smartphones in School
- Reference: 0175120341
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/24/0958209/california-passes-law-to-ban-or-restrict-smartphones-in-school
- Source link:
> Thirteen other states this year have banned or restricted cellphones in school or recommended local educators do so, after Florida led the way by banning phones in class in 2023, according to Education Week. California, with nearly 5.9 million public school students, has followed the lead of its own Los Angeles County, whose school board banned smartphones for its 429,000 students in June.
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> That same month U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for a warning label on social media platforms, akin to those on cigarette packages, likening the problem to a mental health emergency. Murthy cited a study in the medical journal JAMA showing adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media may be at heightened risk of mental illness, while referring to a Gallup poll showing the average teen spends 4.8 hours per day on social media. California's bill, which passed 76-0 in the state assembly and 38-1 in the senate, requires school boards or other governing bodies to develop a policy to limit or prohibit student use of smartphones on campus by July 1, 2026, and update the policy every five years.
[1] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/09/24/0422213/california-bans-all-plastic-bags
[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-passes-law-ban-restrict-002341227.html
Are dumb phones ok? (Score:2)
So... does this mean an old Nokia is fine? There is a legitimate need for parents to be able to use modern communication to contact their spawn, so I can understand why everyone has been resistant to policies like this for a while (despite everyone also knowing you probably shouldn't give a 5th grader a smartphone). I wonder if this policy will create an artificial market for ancient phone models, that may be tricky with the old 2G and 3G networks no longer being available.
Lets see how this works out.
Re:Are dumb phones ok? (Score:4, Informative)
We just got cell phone bans here in Ontario, Canada. In elementary school (K to 8) they can have a phone but it has to be left in their bag during the day. In high school (9-12) they can have the phone, but it has to be out of sight, silent, and unused during class time. If a kid breaks the rule the phone is taken away and put in a safe storage area at the side of the room. If the student makes a fuss, then they're sent to the office for discipline.
In both cases, there are exceptions for educational purposes, so if the teacher says to use a certain app or go to a website, they can then do that.
The school network is also required by law to block "social media sites." Of course this isn't very effective and students can either use data (if they get a signal in their school) or use a VPN.
It just started this month and overall it's been well received.
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It's the whole discipline thing that can be a problem in US schools.
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Especially when we don't have school shootings under control and parents are going to demand these kids keep their tracking devices on them.
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We can email the school secretary, who can pull up the student's schedule and relay a message to their current classroom via chat or email or phone...or you know, just walking down the hall. Honestly - if my kid's phone is on silent and in their backpack during class, (where it belongs, so they can pay attention) this system is faster than them checking their phone during passing periods. It's wild how quickly we've all forgotten how things were done before smartphones!
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Parents sent their kids to schools for decades without being able to do anything more than call the office. They don't need contact with the kids constantly.
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I agree, but it provides peace of mind to be able to reach your gremlins anywhere. I'm interested to see if this causes there to be a market for the Nokia 3310 (because that would be funny).
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> Parents sent their kids to schools for decades without being able to do anything more than call the office. They don't need contact with the kids constantly.
Maybe so, maybe no, but "it was fine a million years ago" does not a good argument make. For example: Not that many decades ago mom was always home. Now Mom has to bring kid #1 to daycare and kid #2 to grade school and dad has to bring kid #3 because that school is closer to soccer practice but on Tuesdays school closes a little early so #3 can stay at his friend's house for an hour.
Times are different.
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Israeli pagers.
You dont need government to do this (Score:2)
This can be done at the district level, my district already does this, its just the kids have to leave the phones in their lockers vs some governments are imposing an overly admin heavy process of sticking them in RF proof bags and checking them in. Im sure it has to do with corruption of funding some stupid RF bag company.
I feel like this is an excuse (Score:2)
I put a kid through high school about 5 years ago now and it *suuucked*.
Long commutes, 5-6 hours of homework a night (seriously, I'd wake up to piss at midnight and find my kid still banging away at homework), if you didn't get to class fast enough you had to *stand* because there weren't enough freakin' seats. And that's before we talk about the kids who don't have enough to eat because we refuse to feed hungry children in America...
And even with all that we've got record numbers of college grads.
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Aaand now I know you're lying. There's no public school in the US that gives kids 5 hours of homework a night. Only way a kid hits 5 hours is if they've got a month+ due date project that they're trying to finish in a day, or multiple week+ assignments they're trying to finish all at once.
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I mean, you're right that this isn't the only piece of the puzzle, but they have to start somewhere.
Go give The Anxious Generation a read.
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They should not have phones DURING CLASS when they should be paying attention to the teacher. I don't think anyone would argue kids shouldn't have cell phones outside of school if their parents think it is OK.
Re: Why is everything banned (Score:3)
Like abortion? Voting rights for poor people? Civil rights for gay people? Free speech for government contractors? (This list goes on and on.)
Combine problems and "solutions" (Score:3)
Just have the kids put their phones in all the leftover plastic bags.
State law?! (Score:2)
This seems like the sort of thing that should be handled at the school district level. What's next - a law banning passing notes during class?
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This is treated as a pubic health issue, because there is an increasing perception that it is one. Laws are an appropriate mean to set public health policy.
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Sure wished Seattle would treat fentanyl as a public health issue. As it is now, they have objections to chasing the dealers' RVs away from high schools. They usually just wait until the competition for choice parking spots breaks out in gun battles between competing cartel retailers.
the place you oughta be (Score:2)
You're banning plastic bags and phones in schools? Be careful, California, or before you know it you'll be overrun by unchoked dolphins and seriously short of secretly-depressed twatty teen influencers.
Makes sense (Score:2)
I'm trying to draw parallels to the 90s when I was in school. I certainly would not have been allowed to have a landline phone in class. Even if I had a valid reason, anyone trying to get a hold of me could call the school office to do so. Likewise I could go to the school office if I had a legitimate reason for calling someone.
I'm a gamer so I do think about gaming on phones and it's clear if I brought the good ol' Game Boy brick out in class I would either have it confiscated or told to put it away. Anyon
bring back writing, communication skills..... (Score:1)
Taking notes is as important as public speaking and research. All white collar job basics and all skills that are secondary to most students. They are obviously teaching SOMEONE to exploit these skills to make themself marketable, just not most. So yea either cut screen time or make it constructive.
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Another shithole red-stater loudly insisting that California is irrelevant...while its economy and property values continue to soar.
Have you heard the phrase "protests too much," or would that be considered evidence of literacy and lead to a witch trial where you live?
Yes, it's because of the phone ban in schools!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
...that so many folks are moving from California. [1]Except they're not [datacommons.org]. Yeah Elon Musk and Joe Rogan left and it certainly makes headlines and perhaps this it the start of a trend....but....their numbers are still looking really good.
California is like the USA...people have been longing for its demise for a long time and it still keeps soaring. Is it perfect?...nope...got some MAJOR issues, but critics really like to exaggerate...oooh cool, you found a human turn in San Francisco....OK, that sucks....but....the state is still home to the world's most valuable companies and the epicenter of tech and entertainment as well as major players in Defense and Agriculture.
Are they on the decline?...maybe?....but like the USA, it's from such a high perch that it's going to be a long time before anyone overtakes them....pick your metric...population, GDP, etc. It reminds me of Apple...ooh, the iPhone 16 isn't selling as much as they hoped and the vision pro was a dud?...well, I think every one of Apple's competitors wished those were their big failures of the year. The same applies to California. Mississippi wishes they had California's problems. Objectively, California is a good place. It may not be a good place for you. It wasn't a good place for me, but there's no denying it's a good place. As much potential and excitement as Texas and Florida generate, they have a LONG way to go. As someone who spends a lot of time in California and Florida, I can tell you the sunshine state has come a long way in the last 25 years, but has a LOOOOOOONG way to go before it can match California on any metric, other than being Trump's favorite state.
Banning cellphones in schools makes sense. I think it's a good idea personally and I think it's just "common sense." I don't give a shit about addiction or teen self esteem...they're there to learn. They need to focus on learning. Anything that is not your textbook or materials needed for your class is a distraction. I am sure schools can override the ban on a case by case basis, but the default should be to ban them. That's my personal opinion and I think that is just common sense...but if other states want them in the classroom, it's their call.
From my perspective, California did something basic, obvious, and common-sense...and you shit on them regardless? You're so overcome with hatred and malice, you need to spew bile even when the state you don't like does something good?...I feel sorry for you and anyone who loves you if you carry that negativity around with you all day.
[1] https://datacommons.org/place/geoId/06?utm_medium=explore&mprop=count&popt=Person&hl=en#
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> Banning cellphones in schools makes sense.
Banning 'em during class makes sense, banning 'em from the campus entirely is draconian. They're kids, not convicts. Of course, how California chooses to implement the state-wide ban remains to be seen.
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Sorry, I only have data up to 2023. But guess which state saw the largest overall [1]job growth [worldpopul...review.com] ?
Proportional to population it is only second though. Still, seems like a rather big and influential state, despite your desire to dismiss anything that goes on there.
[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/job-growth-by-state