I saw this in the Netherlands: Chromebooks with which the children did their research online, submitted their homework online, got them graded online, organized their workgroups, schedules and meetings online ...
Actually </s> they were learnig vital skills like Agile Sprint management! (I don't know if they ever physically met for standup meeetings)
Using a dumb-phone is the reason a pre-teen neighbor of mine got bullied. So much that she ended up stealing money to get herself a smartphone. Shortly afterwards the parents folded and became less strict with their anti-consumerism stance.
Absolutely smartphones should be banned, at least during lessons, and at best during the whole time in the school, recess, etc.
Giving a child a dumb-phone in an environment where everybody else uses a smartphone doesn't work. If smarphones are not banned then _all_ will end up with a smartphone, and socialisation difficulties, etc...
This is a case where individual freedoms end up in collective damage. Maybe I'm an outlier here but I'd ban all kinds of social media all the time.
To add another case: When I was 14 or so, a science teacher taught the whole classroom that the reason stars twinkle is because of light being waves. I considered interrupting and mentioning pockets of air with different densities, refraction, etc... I decided not to. I didn't want to be branded (again) a troublemaker. I hope nobody else in that classroom remembers that lesson.
Some teachers start with high spirits but most turn into regular slobs trying to get to the end of the month once they realise that their job is to mind the children while the parents work.
I was lucky enough to meet just a handful of teachers that tought me some values, the rest were just ... forgetable people.
There is a minor but growing trend of schools (even whole countries, see Australia) banning social media or smartphones for under-16s. I tentatively agree. Are your kids now overly impressed/influenced by celebrities or influencers? Do they build and value close relationships among themselves and others?
My kids are not impressed by celebrity culture whatsoever, though they do support artists they like. They spent half their lives living next to celebrities. Not a speck of interest. They are both very good at building and maintaining relationships. They’re in their twenties and have no social media presence.
Even though the amount may be small this touches a very sensitive spot in Spain. In 1981 hundreds of people died and thousands fell ill due to adulterated rapeseed oil.
The origin of the disease was a mystery for many weeks and even afterwards there was a lot of misinformation and suspicion of news sources.
The risk was seen as high enough to forgo consuming any kind of oil, or even using it for frying (using butter instead).
For a south european olive-oil-loving country like Spain the words "adulterated oil" still send a chill down the spine.
To all the sibling repliers:
PICO-8, TIC-80, Load81 and probably others are somewhat Lua oriented.
What is it about Lua that makes it so popular in this area?
The new law introduces quite a few other rules as well: you can't leave your dog alone on the street (e.g. tied to a street lamp while you enter a shop), you can't leave your dog alone on a balcony or in a car, you can't leave your dog alone for 24 hours anywhere, mandatory pet owner course if you have a dog -- although the Spanish article says it's for all pet owners, even birds -- that said, currently the course is postponed because they couldn't prepare it on time; mandatory insurance for your dog, steep fines for breaking these rules, etc.
Working dogs are exempt from these rules. Not only are they being discriminated, but they also don't have a right to minimum wage despite having a job.
Actually </s> they were learnig vital skills like Agile Sprint management! (I don't know if they ever physically met for standup meeetings)