“They said too many parents would be upset if they could not reach their children during the school day.”<p>This just seems so foreign to me. I could probably count on one hand the number of times my parents needed to get ahold of me during the school day.
This is a popular narrative - phones are causing anxiety and depression in kids, especially girls. Sounds great, but there's only one problem.<p>I'm pretty sure it's false.<p>My daughter had mental health issues that manifested itself in late high school. That's been over a decade ago. Neither her, her friends, or the overwhelming majority of her peer group at the time had smartphones. They were just too new and too expensive for kids.<p>Her group therapy was comprised of almost all girls (so many that one girl didn't even realize it was a co-ed group therapy, the single guy had already graduated before she started therapy). In talking with the therapists they mentioned they were seeing a sharp rise in the number of girls with mental health issues.<p>Any guesses as to what the didn't blame? Smartphones. They practically didn't exist at the time. Tablets practically didn't exist at the time. Most households at the time still only had one computer and kids weren't typically allowed to use it for long periods of time. Yet the mental health crises of teenage girls was already in full swing.<p>I've <i>never</i> heard anyone explain why this crises began before smartphones, tablets, and laptops became as ubiquitous as they are today. Unfortunately, what you hear in group therapy you're not allowed to repeat, but I can tell you the underlying problem is far more sinister than some stupid smartphone.
Is there any argument that phones are a good thing for kids to have in school?<p>There are a lot of things children are not allowed in school. Why are phones, which at best have little to no benefit, and at worst may impede learning, cause depression, cause bullying that follows the child all the way back home from the playground, cause social stratification, etc allowed until we have a better idea of their impact?
Yeah, good luck with that.<p>My wife is a high school teacher, parents get livid if you confiscate their kids phone for even a single period citing "I need to be able to reach him/her!"
I'm so happy to see the majority of responses here being in support of this argument.<p>Parent's get upset when you point this out, because admitting to yourself that you damaged your child is the most painful thing in the world. To those parents; it doesn't make you a bad person; the sooner you take it on the chin, the sooner you can do the (really hard work) of healing your child.
Ah, Jonathan
Haidt who has had two recent articles on HN -- that I've seen -- insisting he should be allowed to win this argument with less evidence than a criminal trial. Here's one of them:
<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35948332" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35948332</a><p>And the footer of this paywalled piece indicates he has a book coming out in 2024 that is probably about exactly this same topic.<p>I can't read most of this article, but I can see the promo for his next book. #Priorities