Is Norma Foley a visionary?

Plodde #60 Kites will be getting entangled and crashing to the ground in a heap of confusion until election date announced and then forgotten.

The media are deplorable in this regard. The usual lazy vox pop shite every year about school being too expensive, uniforms etc..

1. Phones banned outright
2. Student A keeps bringing one
3. Detentions, eventually suspension
4. Cycle continues to the point where student A's attendance is suffering, so too their odds of attainment
5. Student A falls in with undesirable peers they met in detention
6. Student A starts smoking cannabis with said undesirable peers behind the bicycle shed
7. Over time via smoking cannabis and listening to Pink Floyd, student A becomes lethargic and starts to ponder the point of existence
8. Student A, drops out of school and does nothing but continue to consume drugs at home in their bedroom and listen to psychedelic music
9. Student A falls into depression
10. Student A turns to harder drugs to deal with the depression
11. Student A's family can't deal with the drug use anymore and throw them out
12. Student A is found deceased in an alley with a needle in their arm

Or, perhaps none of the above and there's a much simpler, less detrimental solution.

Rather than detention/suspension, phones are banned and if you are found with one, teachers just confiscate it and give it back at the end of the day.

When I was in school, things were confiscated all the time. In fact if I remember correctly, if you were caught on a mobile phone in class you had it taken from you.

Slippery slope cycle of death avoided.

It’s hard to imagine how secondary school students manage in today’s smartphone-centric world. The anxiety must be overwhelming. I’ve long hoped that younger generations would turn away from phones and return to the simpler times of 20 years ago. They’ve revived old fashion trends, so why not do the same with technology? If this change happens, it could significantly improve teenagers’ lives, reducing the anxiety they likely face today. Social media is rife with hate, cancel culture, and bullying, which can’t be healthy for students bringing these devices to school.

It’s interesting how this is one of the rare topics where there’s a consensus. Many parents, in private, are likely feeling a lot of anxiety due to social media and smartphones. Additionally, WhatsApp has become a burden for many who find themselves suddenly added to work groups.

Fine to feed kids in poor areas **** food, propagating the problem with food related health issues in low income areas.

Here's a sandwich, not questionable at all in terms of nutrional or calorie content.

it is great to see some adults have remained in the room on this one, most of us know how toxic phones are and especially (un)social media, this is one of the main reasons why ive never gone beyond boards in regards social media, ive never done any of the others, and i never wat to either, ive enough anxiety in life…

but i also realise the major benefits to social media to, its not all bad, but there certainly is a lot of dysfunction and harm with its use, and not just for young minds, many adults have a dysfunctional relationship with it, including myself.

we clearly need to enforce the rights to disconnect from social media outside of work, other countries have done this, it is possible to do….

..again, not all social media is bad, including for work related issues, but….

kids having phones was inevitable, perfectly designed for their wants and needs, highly addictive, and relatively cheap for dopamine hits, a master piece in design….

this policy will probably just push phone usage into hiding, it may not reduce its use in school environs at all….

I'll check this out, thank you

all completely understandable views, but the reality is, thie genie is long out of the bottle, i suspect its gonna be impossible to reduce the use of phones amongst younger generations, i just cant see this policy actually doing much, theyll just hide their usage, like most other addictive behaviors, including in schools, but that doesnt mean we shouldnt implement such policies, this is very very complex stuff.

we all know theres a rapid rise in mental health issues in our societies, for various different reasons, and (un)social media has been a major culprit

theres far more phones on this planet than humans beings, so best of luck with trying to reduce usage….

I'm rattling some cages to make a point.

Just angry as I've personally seen lives destroyed by social media. The entire country is up to its neck supporting this ****. We have the power to regulate social media here but we don't, because we prioritize wealth for some other a healthy society and we can't think longer term than next week.

And I can't believe how anyone thinks giving a non adult a smart phone is a good idea.

again, all understandable, but again, i will say, we actually dont know what to truly do about these problems, this tech moves at an astonishing rate, and the institutions we use to try regulate all of this are obviously overwhelmed and not up to the job of doing so, i.e. we dont know what to do, but we bloody need to do something, and fast….

again, i think the damage is done, it may not be possible to take the phones away now, yes they probably shouldnt have them until a certain age, but the reality is….

social media is vile, even for adults, its detrimental for kids, and its already showing