School dumps iPads, returns to paper textbooks

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Why did you edit my quote?

Carrying a backpack at a young age is healthy. I walked to school with it. Would be good exercise for all the sick & unhealthy kids these days,
I was only commenting on the heavy backpack part. I think there are better ways to promote healthy behaviors than to to make make kids carry an absurdly micro-managed supply list.
 

manama

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Like Peter said, even the app developers disagree with you.
The Touch-Screen Generation
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/the-touch-screen-generation/309250/

I have no idea.

But it was designed to be addictive.

Yes you can. If there is no device to "talk" to or interact with, you'll be forced to interact with the person next to you.

False. I turned out okay.
"I turned out okay, so everyone else will too. Let me just ignore the high rates of depression, stress and other problems that are climbing in rates in schools because I turned out okay."

Carrying a backpack at a young age is healthy. I walked to school with it. Would be good exercise for all the sick & unhealthy kids these days,
Carrying weight on your back or from your shoulders is NOT healthy.

Yes you can. If there is no device to "talk" to or interact with, you'll be forced to interact with the person next to you.
That is the dumbest thing i've ever heard. Thats a great way to start a bullying spree.

That, and there are reports of schools spying on students.
From a cursory search.... https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-t...island-some-schools-think-they-have-right-spy
How is this not illegal.
 

manama

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The mental health crisis in the school has nothing to do with pro or anti iPads. Bullying has nothing to do with iPads. And iPads won’t solve either problem.
Its not about Ipads, its about having a distraction.
 

Karlysymon

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That is the dumbest thing i've ever heard. Thats a great way to start a bullying spree.
Did bullying exist in 1930 or 1840?
its about having a distraction
Didn't you say that distraction is a poor excuse by controlling teachers?
"I turned out okay, so everyone else will too. Let me just ignore the high rates of depression, stress and other problems that are climbing in rates in schools because I turned out okay."
Reading books is good for the mind. I think i've seen a study showing there is a huge difference between reading paper books and e-books.
Oh, btw, South Korea has these camps for tech-addicts. Most of them are under 24.
 

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How is this not illegal.
IIRC, in the early reports of this schools were justifying it because they had supplied the technology.

On another side of it, if I-pads can be used for school and schools can (or have) use them for spying...What is the point of a physical school other than babysitting? I guess that's why virtual school hasn't really caught on. Schools are just giant day care centers.
 

justjess

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Its not about Ipads, its about having a distraction.
The distraction isn’t solving that, it’s just impacting education. You have to get to the root of why this is happening and address it, not offer some fantasy land to temporarily escape it. NYC just implemented social emotional programs in all its schools. I posted about it in the trump thread. It is sorely needed. iPads neither hurt or help the problems you are mentioning.
 

manama

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The distraction isn’t solving that, it’s just impacting education. You have to get to the root of why this is happening and address it, not offer some fantasy land to temporarily escape it. NYC just implemented social emotional programs in all its schools. I posted about it in the trump thread. It is sorely needed. iPads neither hurt or help the problems you are mentioning.
Programs like that haven't ever worked before, they won't now.

IIRC, in the early reports of this schools were justifying it because they had supplied the technology.

On another side of it, if I-pads can be used for school and schools can (or have) use them for spying...What is the point of a physical school other than babysitting? I guess that's why virtual school hasn't really caught on. Schools are just giant day care centers.
This is the exact reason I am very against students getting work for home. If my kid was going to learn and study and do work at home anyways, why would I send him to school in the first place?

Did bullying exist in 1930 or 1840?
I don't know about that since I'm pretty sure both times the world was under multiple wars. Whats your point? Bullying is because of technology?

Didn't you say that distraction is a poor excuse by controlling teachers?
Distraction in limits is not a bad thing, making it out to be something awful is infact a bad excuse.

Reading books is good for the mind. I think i've seen a study showing there is a huge difference between reading paper books and e-books.
Oh, btw, South Korea has these camps for tech-addicts. Most of them are under 24.
South Korea is also the hub of plastic surgery or body modification, runs one of the world's most toxic entertainment system and its youth is pretty much living in hell where anything that is not a skill like dancing or straight A's in studying, is considered an embarrassment. SK is the last place you want to look at for inspiration.
Heck any Asian country, when it comes to education, is an awful example.
 

Karlysymon

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I don't know about that since I'm pretty sure both times the world was under multiple wars. Whats your point? Bullying is because of technology?
You said that there'd be a bullying spree and i went back in time to show you that bullying has always existed.
South Korea is also the hub of plastic surgery or body modification, runs one of the world's most toxic entertainment system and its youth is pretty much living in hell where anything that is not a skill like dancing or straight A's in studying, is considered an embarrassment. SK is the last place you want to look at for inspiration.
Heck any Asian country, when it comes to education, is an awful example.
Atleast they are trying....cautionary tale for introducing devices too early.
 

justjess

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Programs like that haven't ever worked before, they won't now.


This is the exact reason I am very against students getting work for home. If my kid was going to learn and study and do work at home anyways, why would I send him to school in the first place?


I don't know about that since I'm pretty sure both times the world was under multiple wars. Whats your point? Bullying is because of technology?


Distraction in limits is not a bad thing, making it out to be something awful is infact a bad excuse.


South Korea is also the hub of plastic surgery or body modification, runs one of the world's most toxic entertainment system and its youth is pretty much living in hell where anything that is not a skill like dancing or straight A's in studying, is considered an embarrassment. SK is the last place you want to look at for inspiration.
Heck any Asian country, when it comes to education, is an awful example.
We’ve never tried “programs like that” - not universally. I work in a program like that but I’m only assigned the worst kids as a last resort when if it was dealt with earlier it would have helped greatly and there’s tons more kids who need the help and don’t get it.
 

manama

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You said that there'd be a bullying spree and i went back in time to show you that bullying has always existed.
No you said whether bullying existed in the 1800s or the 1900s to which i guess anyone would say "i don't know, wasn't there a war going on?"

Atleast they are trying....cautionary tale for introducing devices too early.
They aren't trying. Those camps aren't helping, they are ruining the kids and making them possible target of abuse. There is a reason why Asia has such a massive amount of suicides that is related to school. The amount of kids that kill themselves because their grades weren't good enough is horrifying.

We’ve never tried “programs like that” - not universally. I work in a program like that but I’m only assigned the worst kids as a last resort when if it was dealt with earlier it would have helped greatly and there’s tons more kids who need the help and don’t get it.
Maybe. But in some cases all a teen needs is a hobby. Sometimes its art or music and sometimes its games. Those extracurricular things should be encouraged rather than discouraged. Books are not bad. Replace ipad with kindle and its still the same thing. But this would probably lead to the need to carry books which will further lead to other problems. Some of it might be mental but most of it will be physical.
 

justjess

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Yes sometimes all a teen needs is a hobby. And schools and PARENTS should be encouraging that. Unfortunately those are the first things to get cut from school budgets and fall to the wayside when parents are struggling working crazy hours just to pay the rent.

But a lot of times it’s more than that.. and these problems aren’t only just surfacing in adolescence. They are becoming more and more evident at younger and younger ages. There is very little room for spontaneous peer interaction anymore in the school setting. Everything is entirely regimented. Kids aren’t going outside to play after school anymore - they are stuck inside on video games and this isn’t just because the tech exists but a result of multiple factors (parents aforementioned work responsibilities, fear to let them outside because of predators, laws which punish parents for failure to supervise ridiculously), adolescents especially are dealing with surging hormones they’ve never experienced before throwing their emotional state out of balance... id need an hour and I don’t have it right now. All I do know is iPads won’t solve any of this.

Yes heavy book bags can cause back problems, there are ways to remedy that without entirely discarding books. Use books in school and iPads at home. Or cut the home component completely.
 

manama

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Yes sometimes all a teen needs is a hobby. And schools and PARENTS should be encouraging that. Unfortunately those are the first things to get cut from school budgets and fall to the wayside when parents are struggling working crazy hours just to pay the rent.

But a lot of times it’s more than that.. and these problems aren’t only just surfacing in adolescence. They are becoming more and more evident at younger and younger ages. There is very little room for spontaneous peer interaction anymore in the school setting. Everything is entirely regimented. Kids aren’t going outside to play after school anymore - they are stuck inside on video games and this isn’t just because the tech exists but a result of multiple factors (parents aforementioned work responsibilities, fear to let them outside because of predators, laws which punish parents for failure to supervise ridiculously), adolescents especially are dealing with surging hormones they’ve never experienced before throwing their emotional state out of balance... id need an hour and I don’t have it right now. All I do know is iPads won’t solve any of this.

Yes heavy book bags can cause back problems, there are ways to remedy that without entirely discarding books. Use books in school and iPads at home. Or cut the home component completely.
The home thing needs to be cut out. Its not even limited to the "why send to school then" argument. Some kids have horrifying home lives or living conditions in general. Or maybe parents are garbage, maybe the teen is working a job to support themselves and or maybe they don't have a home at all. Giving work for home makes the kid unable to do it plus all the stress and then failing the next day is not healthy. They are studying at school, that should be enough. Let them figure out their other hobbies at home.
 

justjess

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The home thing needs to be cut out. Its not even limited to the "why send to school then" argument. Some kids have horrifying home lives or living conditions in general. Or maybe parents are garbage, maybe the teen is working a job to support themselves and or maybe they don't have a home at all. Giving work for home makes the kid unable to do it plus all the stress and then failing the next day is not healthy. They are studying at school, that should be enough. Let them figure out their other hobbies at home.
I agree.
 
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What a coincidence you should make this thread as I heard a DJ just the other day state that in a recent study, people actually prefer hard copies of books, rather than Kindle. :)

I find it noteworthy that in the study, it’s the grade 11 and 12 students themselves that preferred the textbooks, rather than reading the information online. Also, I thought it was a thought-provoking interview as Gabor Maté makes some key points regarding social media and the use of it. He discusses how social media is a simulacrum to who we really are, and I think he’s right. There are tonnes of people, not only children, who use it to their detriment and learn more regressive, anti-social traits. With children, however, I think more so because as Maté says, they’re not emotionally mature to use it for what it’s intended for, which is communication and information. One sad (and unfortunately, not unusual) case that comes to mind is Amanda Todd.

I suppose the bottom line is balance and learning how to maintain it. I personally found that while studying online education, one can definitely feel like Freeman Lowell in Silent Running! Despite the fact I was in online study groups or had an online partner, I certainly appreciated and even yearned for social interaction.
 

Vulpesrex

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I’m in a trades program and they gave us the cheapest tablets they could find instead of regular books. They take forever to charge and at least a quarter of the class has broken them since they’re so flimsy. Two other kids and I have discussed pooling some money and buying a used set of physical textbooks to share since “I couldn’t get my tablet to charge to access my book” isn’t an acceptable reason to not have your homework done. The school said they did it because “we need to use modern technology and get used to it since that’s how the world works now” but think they did it to save money since e-books (and before that, the physical books) are part of tuition costs and one tablet costs as much as one real book for them. All of us complain about the tablets during the end-of-term anonymous surveys and request real books instead.
 

Karlysymon

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But a lot of times it’s more than that.. and these problems aren’t only just surfacing in adolescence. They are becoming more and more evident at younger and younger ages. There is very little room for spontaneous peer interaction anymore in the school setting. Everything is entirely regimented. Kids aren’t going outside to play after school anymore - they are stuck inside on video games and this isn’t just because the tech exists but a result of multiple factors (parents aforementioned work responsibilities, fear to let them outside because of predators, laws which punish parents for failure to supervise ridiculously), adolescents especially are dealing with surging hormones they’ve never experienced before throwing their emotional state out of balance... id need an hour and I don’t have it right now. All I do know is iPads won’t solve any of this.
^This is depressing
Close roads so children can play in the street like their parents did, say public health experts

Children as young as six calling Childline because they feel lonely
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...alth-internet-self-harm-suicide-a7683226.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39580234

Three-quarters of UK children spend less time outdoors than *prison inmates* – survey
What a coincidence you should make this thread as I heard a DJ just the other day state that in a recent study, people actually prefer hard copies of books, rather than Kindle. :)

I find it noteworthy that in the study, it’s the grade 11 and 12 students themselves that preferred the textbooks, rather than reading the information online. Also, I thought it was a thought-provoking interview as Gabor Maté makes some key points regarding social media and the use of it. He discusses how social media is a simulacrum to who we really are, and I think he’s right. There are tonnes of people, not only children, who use it to their detriment and learn more regressive, anti-social traits. With children, however, I think more so because as Maté says, they’re not emotionally mature to use it for what it’s intended for, which is communication and information. One sad (and unfortunately, not unusual) case that comes to mind is Amanda Todd.

I suppose the bottom line is balance and learning how to maintain it. I personally found that while studying online education, one can definitely feel like Freeman Lowell in Silent Running! Despite the fact I was in online study groups or had an online partner, I certainly appreciated and even yearned for social interaction.
The thread made me wonder though; if schools are already indoctrination centers, throwing in ipads (re-wiring brain effects) because as the poster above said ; The school said they did it because “we need to use modern technology and get used to it since that’s how the world works now”, plus the WIFI, whose detrimental effects to developing brains is already well established, is this or the next generation going to have any brains left?
 

saintroserosalia

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Reading books is good for the mind. I think i've seen a study showing there is a huge difference between reading paper books and e-books.
Yeah, I agree. I prefer reading physical books to e-books. The feel of papers and the smell of the book is just wonderful. I only read e-books when the novels/books I wanted to read were hard to find.
 

Scars512

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Technology can be great, but too much of it can actually be detrimental in a learning environment. For instance, taking notes by hand is superior to typing notes.

https://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away

Writing by hand actually reinforces what you learn. So, no, we don't need ipads and laptops in every classroom. Students should have access to this technology because they need to understand how to use it in order to enter the workforce one day. Nearly every job (even menial ones) require some ability to interact with technology. But, too much of it isn't just distracting (although it is) -- it actually impedes the way that our brains stores information and makes it harder for us to retain that information later.

Heavy backpacks can be a problem, but we have merely traded back problems for neck problems. When going for an x-ray a couple of years ago, there was a young teen boy who was there (glued to his phone) to have his neck x-rayed. The doctor told him that he was seeing a lot of cases -- especially in teens -- of this because we are all hunching over our devices. His mother was trying to lecture him about what the doctor said, but the kid wouldn't even make eye contact with her because he was too busy looking at his phone. The number of kids with bad backs due to heavy backpacks is likely much smaller than the number of kids who are developing neck problems. In fact, human's have started growing spikes on the back of their skulls because we use technology so much:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/humans-have-started-growing-spikes-in-the-back-of-their-skulls-because-we-use-smartphones-so-much/ar-AACTeeJ

I don't think heavy backpacks have done nearly as much damage as technology has to our bodies, our psyches and our attention spans.
 
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