Mobile Phones To Be Banned In Schools In England Under New Plans (theguardian.com) 48
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: A ban on mobile phones in schools in England is to be introduced by the government to ensure that "critical safeguarding legislation" is passed. The government will table an amendment to the children's wellbeing and schools bill in the House of Lords after the bill was held up by peers on opposition benches. It will make existing guidance on mobile phone bans in schools statutory, a move that ministers have resisted until now.
The government had consistently argued that the vast majority of schools had already banned mobile phones, and that there was no need to add a legal requirement. They finally capitulated, however, describing it as "a pragmatic measure" to get the bill through. [...] The bill is regarded by many as the biggest piece of child protection legislation in decades and includes proposals for a compulsory register for children who are not in school, a crackdown on profiteering in children's social care, and a "single unique identifier" to help agencies track a child's welfare.
The government had consistently argued that the vast majority of schools had already banned mobile phones, and that there was no need to add a legal requirement. They finally capitulated, however, describing it as "a pragmatic measure" to get the bill through. [...] The bill is regarded by many as the biggest piece of child protection legislation in decades and includes proposals for a compulsory register for children who are not in school, a crackdown on profiteering in children's social care, and a "single unique identifier" to help agencies track a child's welfare.
Re:Took You Long Enough (Score:4, Funny)
Its England, not New England. They'll be just fine.
A new National ID Card to track people (Score:3)
Generating a new national ID number ("single unique identifier) for students is the headline here.
"The bill is regarded by many as the biggest piece of child protection legislation in decades and includes proposals for a compulsory register for children who are not in school, a crackdown on profiteering in children’s social care, and a “single unique identifier” to help agencies track a child’s welfare."
So they add a new government ID number for each student which most likely is:
- Fr
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We already have NI numbers and NHS numbers in the UK, each of which is a unique identifier and a national scheme. This is in no sense an ID card
Re: A new National ID Card to track people (Score:2)
Which is why it will probably have less protection and be free to use because "we only want to protect.th children".
And once established, do you think that number won't continue to identify the adults once they reach that age?
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Its England
Stabbed. Not shot.
Good (Score:5, Insightful)
Not really (Score:2)
Also there is some indication that infinite scrolling and social media algorithms fuck with kids brains and weird ways but we can't talk about that because that would involve regulating companies owned by
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The fact that funding in the USA depends on race, religion, if you are red/blue, etc etc etc is complete BS.
Funding should be by pupil, same amount no matter where you are, who you are
The USA is Fk'd, its so broken I doubt its worth saving.
Bold move, but jolly good! (Score:5, Insightful)
Study after study shows kids do better in school, are more engaged, and more social when phones are out of the picture. 'Social' media is exactly the opposite, it's isolating and anxiety inducing for a lot of teens.
I think there's a lot of adults I know who might be better off too. I definitely have some friends / colleagues who waste so much time on it, and it mostly just seems to make them anxious or irate -- but as far as the platforms are considered, who cares as long as they're 'engaged' with it...
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Re: Bold move, but jolly good! (Score:2)
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Re:In other news (Score:5, Informative)
as students can't call for help.
On their way to and from school, pupils/students have their mobile phones, so there is no change in their ability to call for help on the public street. Inside school, they can call the staff for help.
Also you're missing that this policy isn't new. The only change is will become compulsory for the 0.2% primary schools and 10% secondary schools who still hadn't banned mobile phones.
TFA:
Research from the children's commissioner for England last year found that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools already had policies in place that limited or restricted the use of mobile phones during the school day.
The policy: https://www.gov.uk/government/... [www.gov.uk]
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The old guidance had "not seen, not heard" as a possible policy in the guidance. Only the most recent guidance made forbidding possession the clear default, likely triggered by the opposition amendment.
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The old guidance had "not seen, not heard" as a possible policy in the guidance. Only the most recent guidance made forbidding possession the clear default, likely triggered by the opposition amendment.
This is not something that NEEDS a law. The end of the article has a quote quite fitting for the bureaucratic totalitarians out there:
“Statutory guidance will give school leaders the clarity they need to implement a ban, and will remove any ambiguity or differences between how schools approach smartphone policies.”
'cause God forbid there be any differences or variance in policies or that some school not receive proper "statutory guidance"!
there was a time when the Britain made held itself opposite of
states where “everything that was not forbidden was compulsory.”
(it was popular in the 1930s apparently https://quoteinvestigator.com/... [quoteinvestigator.com])
what was that quote about "the sneaking suspicion that someone somewhere might be having a good time" ? ( appa
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bleh. too many quotes! (i thought of the sneaking suspicion first.... but then the forbidden/compulsory seemed more apt. ah well... so much for my punchy missive )
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> School violence projected to skyrocket in the United Kingdom as students can't call for help.
Monthly school shootings are not in fashion in the UK.
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Why can't students call for help because of no mobile phones? This doesn't apply to staff, or the countless phones throughout the school.
Wait... Did you raise your kid to tell them to call you on their mobile if they are bullied, or to call the police? Wow poor kid.
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Kids under say 16 shouldn't have "smart" phones.
Here in the US, you can get a learner's permit at 14 in a few states, and in the vast majority of states at 15 (with a few outliers at 16). I'm really not seeing how a freakin' car is somehow more age-appropriate than a smartphone. Anything you don't want your kid to access on a smartphone can be locked down with parental controls. Can't really say the same about sending 'em off into the real world with a vehicle.
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This reads like it's being written with the full chest of someone who doesn't have kids. I quite like my kids to have a device that holds money, a map, a travelcard for the tube and buses, multiple methods to contact me and others, books, a camera, etc. I don't have a fucking conniption over fucking Insta, and there's more than enough pernicious behaviour that my kids get exposed to whether I want them to or not with or without social media
Burying the lede (Score:2)
The government had consistently argued that the vast majority of schools had already banned mobile phones
Assuming this is true, headline is a no-op. However,
The bill is regarded by many as the biggest piece of child protection legislation in decades and includes proposals for a compulsory register for children who are not in school, a crackdown on profiteering in children's social care, and a "single unique identifier" to help agencies track a child's welfare.
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I think they did this years ago, as a means of proving the education (stream) a child received. This suggests, a second identifier will be a de facto SSN.
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And its likely only of use during primary/secondary schooling, tertiary schooling will be different.
And this will be different to the health ID, different to their driver ID, different to their tax ID, different to their passport ID, etc etc etc etc
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Different ... and all tied back to NIN (or the "it's not a NIN" number before they hand it out officially at 16, in the database it's all the same).
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And if its already that way, what change has ben made ?
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You call it paranoia, I call it common sense.
Even if every department does their own identity check based on historical paper chains, like they are supposed to in the UK, they still need something unique to cross reference when inevitably the need to cross reference arrives ... and look, the NIN is right there. So it becomes the universal identifier regardless of the revulsion anglo's feel for that.
As for issuance at birth, it's the same number used for child benefits and pension plans. I assume that's beca
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Jesus Christ. We already have unique identifiers from birth in the UK in the form of NHS numbers, and a National Insurance (not SSN, because we don't actually live in the states) from 15.5
Ban Phones at Lunch and Between Classes (Score:3, Informative)
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I think some schools do ban phones during what should be students' "free" time. That's great if your goal is to send a message that you can't trust them to be responsible with their device usage after laying down rules as to when it is and isn't appropriate to use their phones. Also, making something into contraband almost never backfires. /s
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I dont see an issue with that, as UK schools also ban a lot of other things during "free time" (its not actually time without restriction), for example leaving the school grounds for most of the school body (when you get into sixth form, you gain more freedoms as you are deemed to be there voluntarily).
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Oooh... they "banned" cell phones! Are they searching the kids on the way in, or do they just assume the kids simply won't break the rule and have their phone on silent in a pants pocket?
Easier to just wrap the building in copper mesh... if the parent(s) need(s) to get ahold of the kid, they can call the school.
I don't think my kid needs a thousand dollar iPhone... maybe a limited flip phone.
Back to slide rules and log tables (Score:2)
Are they banning calculators as well?
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Anecdotal evidence (Score:4, Informative)
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more personal interactions between students.
That a euphemism for swirlies in the public toilets?
single unique identifier (Score:2)
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They get a national insurance number when registered as born already ... but in true British fashion, they will probably just make a new number (and then tie it back to NIN any way, the one number to rule them all).
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Perhaps the government has some store of all pre 15.5 year old's NINOs, but they don't issue NINOs to individuals till 15.5. But everyone gets an NHS number at birth
Re: single unique identifier (Score:2)
NI numbers are automatically allocated three months before a child's 16th birthday, but only when the parent's have claimed child benefit. Everybody else has to apply for an NI number, if they want to work. Theoretically, somebody could get by without an NI number, but Iâ(TM)m sure that's a niche reserved for people with silver spoons.