What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation | US education | The Guardian::Teachers say mobile phones make their lives a living hell – so one Massachusetts school barred them

  • fosforus@sopuli.xyz
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    6 months ago

    I watched the first generation that got personal unrestricted mobile phones for themselves. Somehow I thought it was a good idea at the time. It fucked them up mentally, and then Covid-19 came and doubled the effect.

    Now I think that a parent who gets their under 12 year old kid a smart phone should be treated roughly in the same way as if the parent gave the kid cocaine.

    • SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeo
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      6 months ago

      We got an iPhone for my niece who is 8. It’s locked down so all she can do is text, call, and take pictures/video and she can’t contact anyone not in her contacts list. She has some games but can’t use them for more than an hour per day and they won’t open during school hours.

      A big issue is parents not bothering to learn how to use and set up parental controls.

      • Randomgal@lemmy.ca
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        6 months ago

        Controls like these don’t work if the kid is smart, determined or the parents are too tired or uninvolved. There’s more to the cellphone issue than the actual cellphone.

        • erwan@lemmy.ml
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          6 months ago

          It doesn’t matter if the kid is smart and determined, parental controls can’t be circumvented.

          Unless the parent is stupid enough to leave their phones unlocked or lax enough to unblock the phone every time the kid asks for it.

          • ozymandias117@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            I think you’re being a little naive…

            Circumventing parental controls that “couldn’t be circumvented” is what I did as a child that led to me being a computer programmer

            • SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeo
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              6 months ago

              No, they literally can’t be bypassed unless they figure out the passcode. Parental controls on iOS are part of the OS, not like the easily bypassed software you would install on a computer.

              • ozymandias117@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                One of the ways I got around my parent’s settings after getting caught by simply resetting their password was by using alternate operating systems on livecds

                Saying they literally can’t be bypassed is why I’m saying it’s naive to trust them implicitly

              • Randomgal@lemmy.ca
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                6 months ago

                Sure they are buddy. Perfect security. Why would anyone think otherwise?

                • SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeo
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                  6 months ago

                  Apple screen time parental Controls were created because third party software was using MDM which Apple didn’t like. If Apple can lock down a phone with mdm for companies to give to their employees why exactly do you think software built into the OS is easy to get around like net nanny?

                  Googling found an article about getting around it.

                  Nothing on there an 8 year old would do and there’s directions on how to prevent any of it. You can lock down changing system settings or even stop them from editing their contacts.

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Yeah, I haven’t gotten to that point with my kids but he’s getting a flip phone first if I can find one. I see other kids on his bus (elementary level) with smartphones and I think it’s insane.